This is a web version of a series of emails sent to authors. Other emails in the series:

Your Cochrane Review: start here / Cochrane Learning: free to review authors! / Cochrane Methods Support: online guidance and live web clinics

Your Review: involving patients and the public / Sharing Cochrane evidence: plan ahead! / Ready to submit your Cochrane protocol? Read this first

Research Integrity: be aware of Conflict of Interest

Cochrane Reviews are known for the highest standards of trustworthiness and transparency. As a Cochrane author, you will therefore be asked to make sure that you and all members of your team comply with our Conflict of Interest Policy prior to submitting your review.

The policy exists to assure our readers that Cochrane authors do not have any relevant financial interests in the outcome of the review. This would be the case – for instance – if an author working on a review comparing medical devices received consultancy payments from a commercial company making one of the devices being compared. This company could financially benefit from their device being found to be the most effective.

If an author or author team are found to be in breach of our Conflict of Interest Policy after submission, the review will be rejected. It is therefore worth familiarizing yourself with the policy as you start working on your review to make sure you are aware of some important rules, such as:

No member of the author team must have been employed by a for-profit enterprise with a financial interest in the topic of their review in the three years prior to submission
The first and last authors of the review must not have any financial ties to any such enterprise at all
Over two thirds (67%) of the entire author team must have no financial ties to any such enterprise

Our policy is quite comprehensive and at first can look a little daunting! But by familiarizing yourself with the rules, you can make sure that your author team is put together in a compliant way and avoid bumps in the road later on, when much work has already been accomplished. Ultimately, the purpose of our policy is to assure our readers that our reviews are as unbiased and reliable as possible – your collaboration helps us to continue reaching this goal!

If you have any questions regarding Conflict of Interest, please do not hesitate to contact COIArbiter@cochrane.org

Best Wishes,

Steph Grohmann

Research Integrity Editor

The Cochrane Collaboration, a charity (no. 1045921) and a company limited by guarantee (no. 03044323) registered in England & Wales.