10-14 Writing and Publishing Scientific Articles
Any possible conflict of interest that could bias a person’s view or be used to influence another person’s view needs to be divulged when the manuscript is submitted by the author or received by the reviewer or journal editor. If you are an author , you need to reveal any special relationship you have with the topic that might influence the way in which you present and interpret the data. If you are a reviewer , you need to excuse yourself from doing the review. If you are a journal editor , you need to ask another editor to make the decision on the manuscript. It is always better to play it safe and indicate any potential conflict to the journal’s editor from the start. This gives the editor an opportunity to review the matter and make his or her own determination about how to handle it. Furthermore, not divulging something, even though minor, may be seen as a deliberate attempt to hide the information. Giving a Friend a Boost The following case illustrates some of the conflict of interest principles described above. Please read it and decide whether Dr. Brown has a reportable conflict of interest. Case Study: Dr. Wilma Brown has just received a manuscript for review from Journal ABC . She knows the manuscript was written by Dr. Jill Bartlett, who worked as a postdoctoral fellow in her laboratory a year ago. Wilma has been proud of Jill’s rapid rise, which Wilma believes is at least partly a reflection of the training she gave her. Wilma welcomes another chance to advance Jill’s career by reviewing her manuscript. She knows there are many scientists who could give a good review of the subject, so she is glad for the good fortune of being assigned to review it. Questions: What are Wilma’s obligations to the journal regarding review of this manuscript? Should she review Jill’s manuscript? As a close colleague of Jill, could Wilma mention the review to her?
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