Accuracy of Conflicts in Interest in General Surgical Journals

To evaluate the accuracy of self-reported conflicts of interest (COIs) for articles published in prominent minimally invasive and general surgical journals.

Accurate reporting of industry relationships and COIs is crucial for unbiased assessment of a particular study. Despite the enactment of COI laws, such as the Physician Payments Sunshine Act in 2010, prior work suggests that 40% to 70% of self-reported COIs have discrepancies.

We utilized 3 public databases-Open Payments (USA), Disclosure UK, and Disclosure Australia-to assess the accuracy of COI disclosures among authors of 918 published articles from these respective countries. Seven journals were utilized to review the COIs for authors of manuscripts published in 2022- JAMA Surgery, Annals of Surgery, British Journal of Surgery (BJS), Journal of American College of Surgeons (JACS), Surgical Endoscopy, Obesity Surgery , and Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases (SOARD) .

Among the analyzed 6206 authors, 5675 belonged to countries of interest: United States (4282), UK (718), and Australia (213). Of these, 774 authors (12.5%) self-reported a conflict of interest in their papers. Overall, only 4055 researchers (69.1%) reported COIs accurately. Authors from the United States had the lowest accuracy of reporting COI at 69% as opposed to the UK (93%) and Australia (96%). Inaccurate COI reporting was most common in corresponding/senior authors (39%) and least common among first authors (18%). Most payments in excess of $50,000 made to authors by an industry sponsor were not disclosed appropriately.

Our study shows that inaccuracy of self-reported COIs in general surgery journals remains high at 31%. While our findings should encourage authors to overreport any possible COI, journals should consider verifying the authors' COI to facilitate more accurate reporting.