EDITORIAL Conflict of Interest and Ethics at IFAR
The International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology (IFAR), under the leadership of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy and the American Rhinologic Society, has experienced outstanding success and growth in its young life, recognized by its 2013 Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Impact Factor of 2.371, 6 of 44 among otolaryngology journals. Key to this growth has been the maintenance of the highest standards of integrity at all levels of publication, including authorship, review, editorial, and publishing. However, as an organization, we have recognized that in order to maintain this reputation of integrity and to avoid even the appearance of conflict, we need to codify the standards for the Journal in a palpable way for our readership. This has resulted in a new Ethics and Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy outlined below and found on the IFAR website at . . . . This policy is well aligned with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publications Ethics (COPE) and is intended to apply to authors and editors, as well as to the leadership of the journal from IFAR LLC members. In addition, this policy is also intended to include family members of any of these with whom income is directly shared. In several cases the actual wording of the policy has been adapted with permission from guidelines available from the International Journal of Clinical Practice and the British Medical Journal. In developing this policy, Journal leadership recognized that COI can take many forms, including financial, professional, and personal. And although the bulk of the policy is focused on financial interests, it is important that these other forms of COI not be ignored. Indeed, it may be reasonably argued that professional and personal conflicts create more problems in the day-to-day publication of a high-quality journal than financial conflicts. It is not uncommon for individuals to harbor professional jealousy and grudges against others doing similar work, seeking a degree of notoriety, thereby negatively impacting editorial reviews and decisions. Unfortunately, however, these types of conflicts are immeasurable and rely mostly on the
DOI: 10.1002/alr.21535 View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. How to Cite this Article: Senior BA and Kennedy DW. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2015;5:273–273.
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International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, Vol. 5, No. 4, April 2015
professionalism of the individuals involved in order to prevent. In contrast, financial COI is something objective and measurable and as such, makes up the majority of the COI policy. Although the details of the COI policy are beyond the scope of this editorial, the lynchpin upon which the policy rests is transparency. Transparency helps to mitigate both actual and perceived COI and, as such, the journal has elected to not have cutoffs for disclosure of financial relationships, but to require sharing of all information, in order to allow the reader to review and decide. A roadmap for actual and perceived conflicts on the editorial side has been established, allowing for conflict management through a defined process involving substitution of reviewers and editors, including the Editor in Chief, if needed. The policy also provides guidance on authorship, the need for ethics approval for studies, appropriate patient consents, the role of professional medical writers, and proper reporting of clinical trials, including those sponsored by companies. Notably, authorship COI must be reported and will be listed in the front matter of the article. Serious misconduct may result in authors being banned of from all future publication in the International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology. Regarding how to go bankrupt, Ernest Hemingway once said “gradually, then suddenly!” In many ways, this sentiment mirrors the slow creeping of ethical breaches that may impact any scientific journal leading to the loss of readership confidence. We are committed to ensuring that such creep does not occur with IFAR. The leadership is humbled by the remarkable success and impact that this journal is having on the fields of rhinology and allergy in such a short time. We hope that with the establishment of this Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy, IFAR will remain a trustworthy source of relevant, cutting-edge knowledge in allergy and rhinology for many years to come. Brent A. Senior, MD, FACS, FARS Chair, IFAR LLC Guest Editor David W. Kennedy, MD Editor-in-Chief
The International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology (IFAR), under the leadership of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy and the American Rhinologic Society, has experienced outstanding success and growth in its young life, recognized by its 2013 Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Impact Factor of 2.371, 6 of 44 among otolaryngology journals. Key to this growth has been the maintenance of the highest standards of integrity at all levels of publication, including authorship, review, editorial, and publishing. However, as an organization, we have recognized that in order to maintain this reputation of integrity and to avoid even the appearance of conflict, we need to codify the standards for the Journal in a palpable way for our readership. This has resulted in a new Ethics and Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy outlined below and found on the IFAR website at . . . . This policy is well aligned with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publications Ethics (COPE) and is intended to apply to authors and editors, as well as to the leadership of the journal from IFAR LLC members. In addition, this policy is also intended to include family members of any of these with whom income is directly shared. In several cases the actual wording of the policy has been adapted with permission from guidelines available from the International Journal of Clinical Practice and the British Medical Journal. In developing this policy, Journal leadership recognized that COI can take many forms, including financial, professional, and personal. And although the bulk of the policy is focused on financial interests, it is important that these other forms of COI not be ignored. Indeed, it may be reasonably argued that professional and personal conflicts create more problems in the day-to-day publication of a high-quality journal than financial conflicts. It is not uncommon for individuals to harbor professional jealousy and grudges against others doing similar work, seeking a degree of notoriety, thereby negatively impacting editorial reviews and decisions. Unfortunately, however, these types of conflicts are immeasurable and rely mostly on the
DOI: 10.1002/alr.21535 View this article online at wileyonlinelibrary.com. How to Cite this Article: Senior BA and Kennedy DW. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2015;5:273–273.
273
International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, Vol. 5, No. 4, April 2015
professionalism of the individuals involved in order to prevent. In contrast, financial COI is something objective and measurable and as such, makes up the majority of the COI policy. Although the details of the COI policy are beyond the scope of this editorial, the lynchpin upon which the policy rests is transparency. Transparency helps to mitigate both actual and perceived COI and, as such, the journal has elected to not have cutoffs for disclosure of financial relationships, but to require sharing of all information, in order to allow the reader to review and decide. A roadmap for actual and perceived conflicts on the editorial side has been established, allowing for conflict management through a defined process involving substitution of reviewers and editors, including the Editor in Chief, if needed. The policy also provides guidance on authorship, the need for ethics approval for studies, appropriate patient consents, the role of professional medical writers, and proper reporting of clinical trials, including those sponsored by companies. Notably, authorship COI must be reported and will be listed in the front matter of the article. Serious misconduct may result in authors being banned of from all future publication in the International Forum of Allergy and Rhinology. Regarding how to go bankrupt, Ernest Hemingway once said “gradually, then suddenly!” In many ways, this sentiment mirrors the slow creeping of ethical breaches that may impact any scientific journal leading to the loss of readership confidence. We are committed to ensuring that such creep does not occur with IFAR. The leadership is humbled by the remarkable success and impact that this journal is having on the fields of rhinology and allergy in such a short time. We hope that with the establishment of this Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy, IFAR will remain a trustworthy source of relevant, cutting-edge knowledge in allergy and rhinology for many years to come. Brent A. Senior, MD, FACS, FARS Chair, IFAR LLC Guest Editor David W. Kennedy, MD Editor-in-Chief
