Saturday, September 27, 2003

"Nature" Adopts Financial Disclosure Policy

The New York Times reports in today's edition that the scientific journal "Nature" and its sister publications will begin requiring authors to disclose any financial ties with companies or products that could profit from what the authors write. The new requirements stems from a previous incident in which an author extolled the benefits of antidepressant products in which he had undisclosed financial interests. According to the Times, similar policies are in place at some other journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine, but far from all.

It seems surprising that rigorous conflict-of-interest rules at scholarly scientific publications are not already prevalent, and it may fairly be considered a chink in a peer-reviewed journal's armor, if they are not.

posted by pn at 1:00 PM  

Fed. R. Evid. 702: If scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue, a witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education, may testify thereto in the form of an opinion or otherwise, if (1) the testimony is based upon sufficient facts or data, (2) the testimony is the product of reliable principles and methods, and (3) the witness has applied the principles and methods reliably to the facts of the case.