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Industry perspective
S. JONNALAGADDA (1). (1) General Mills, Inc., Golden Valley, MN, U.S.A.
International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) defines conflict of interest as “a conflict between the private interests and official responsibilities of a person in a position of trust. A conflict of interest might arise when a person has to play one set of interests against another.” Industry sponsorship is a significant source of research funding which is essential for the advancement of science. Increase in industry sponsored research has fueled suspicion of systemic bias; respected scientists and organizations have been criticized due to their connections with industry. Sources of bias may be perceived, for e.g., in the research questions pursued, choice of research design, selection and retention of research participants, data collection techniques, interpretation and reporting of data, and decision to publish. The ultimate goal, regardless of funding source, should be to minimize bias and conflict of interest while upholding scientific rigor in the pursuit of scientifically valid research for the purpose of advancing science. With any research, transparency is critical; it is important to specify the roles of sponsors and authors in developing research protocols, funding support and role of sponsors in the conduct of the research and clarify individual author affiliations, associations, roles and potential financial conflict of interest. Industry sponsored research should ensure adherence to codes of ethics, such as, the code of research ethics of the Association of Institutional Research; conflict of interest guidance from ILSI; codes of ethics guidance relevant to specific professional societies; and follow guidelines to ensure humane and ethical treatment of animals and human subjects. Industry should continue to apply high scientific standards, maintain scientific integrity and rigor and minimize bias and conflict of interest.
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