A new method for scoring financial conflicts of interest

Area of Science:

• Scientific integrity
• Research ethics
• Conflict of interest management

Background:

• Industry-funded research often yields biased, pro-industry conclusions.
• Current financial conflict of interest (FCoI) disclosure methods are inconsistent and burdensome for the public.
• A quantitative measure for FCoI is currently lacking.

Purpose of the Study:

• To address the compromise of scientific integrity by ongoing financial conflicts of interest (FCoI).
• To propose a novel solution for evaluating and managing FCoI in research.

Main Methods:

• Development of the FCoI Scale for scoring and comparing financial conflicts of interest.
• Establishing a system for describing potential biases associated with FCoI.

Main Results:

• The FCoI Scale yields a quantifiable score, expressed in numbers and decimal fractions.
• The scale correlates scores with descriptive terms for potential biases across 11 distinct levels.
• Provides concrete examples of financial conflicts at each level.

Conclusions:

• The FCoI score (FCoIS) offers a standardized, concise, and flexible disclosure method.
• Promotes transparency and encourages reporting of relevant financial conflict information.
• The FCoI Scale has the potential to become a universal standard for measuring and comparing FCoI across scientific and medical disciplines.