Quick questions on Conflicts of interest in research: HSC Investigating Science Module 8

Andrew Wakefield's 1998 Lancet paper linking the MMR vaccine to autism failed to disclose:

The Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research (2018), jointly issued by NHMRC, ARC and Universities Australia, requires:

AusVaxSafety is an Australian vaccine safety surveillance program that monitors adverse events following immunisation using independent observational data. It is funded by the Department of Health but operates with clear protocols and transparent reporting, including conflict-of-interest declarations from all participating researchers. The program has been cited internationally as a model for managing the inherent conflict in vaccine safety research.

The researcher or their institution receives payment, stock, royalty or grant funding from a stakeholder.

Career advancement depends on positive results, attention or alignment with a research group.

Findings touch on contested public policy, exposing researchers to advocacy pressures.

Researcher has family, friends or strong personal beliefs affecting the topic.

Tobacco companies internally accepted by the late 1950s that smoking caused cancer. Externally, they funded research, recruited scientists and amplified doubt to delay regulation. The 1969 Brown and Williamson memo stated: "Doubt is our product."

Multiple Cochrane reviews show industry-funded drug trials are more likely to report results favourable to the sponsor. Vioxx (rofecoxib) was withdrawn by Merck in 2004 after researchers showed it caused heart attacks; subsequent analyses revealed Merck-funded studies had downplayed the cardiac risk.

ExxonMobil funded climate-sceptical research and think-tanks for decades despite internal scientific reports confirming anthropogenic warming. Documented in the 2015 Inside Climate News investigation.

A 2016 JAMA Internal Medicine article revealed that the Sugar Research Foundation (SRF) paid Harvard nutrition researchers in the 1960s to publish a literature review concluding fat (not sugar) was the main dietary cause of heart disease. This shaped US and global dietary policy for decades.

Major journals (NEJM, JAMA, Lancet, Nature, Science) require authors to declare all relevant financial relationships, including funding, stock holdings, consulting fees, patents and travel.

Hypotheses, methods and primary outcomes are publicly registered before data collection. Sites like ClinicalTrials.gov and the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (ANZCTR) host these.

Some journals require raw data to be made publicly available for independent re-analysis.

Journals accept papers based on methodology, before results are known. This prevents publication bias toward positive findings.