Ann Surg. 2021 Jun 02; doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004929. Epub 2021 Jun 02.
Reviewing the Reviewers: Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest in Editorial Boards of Surgery Journals.
Annals of surgery
Basheer Elsolh, Amanpreet Brar, Bishal Gyawali, Sunil V Patel
Affiliations
Affiliations
- Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada Department of Oncology, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada Department of Surgery, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada.
PMID: 34091509
DOI: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000004929
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence, magnitude, and disclosure status of industry funding in editorial boards of surgery journals.
SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Financial conflicts of interest (COI) can bias research. While authors seeking to publish in peer-reviewed surgery journals are required to provide COI disclosures, editorial board members' COI disclosures are generally not disclosed to readers.
METHODS: We present a cross-sectional analysis of industry funding to editorial board members of high-impact surgery journals. We reviewed top US-based surgery journals by impact factor to determine the presence of financial COI in members of each journal's editorial board. The prevalence and magnitude of COI was determined using 2018 industry reported payments found in the CMS Open Payments database. Journal websites were also reviewed looking for the presence of editorial board disclosure statements.
RESULTS: A total of 1,002 names of editorial board members from the top 10 high-impact American surgery journals were identified. Of 688 individual physicians based in the USA, 452 (65.7%) were found to have received industry payments in 2018, totaling $21,916,503 with a median funding amount per physician of $1,253 (IQR $156 - $10,769). Funding levels varied by surgical specialty and journal. Editorial board disclosure information was found in only 3.3% of physicians.
CONCLUSIONS: Industry funding to editorial board members of high impact surgery journals is prevalent and underreported. Mechanisms of disclosure for COI are needed at the editorial board level to provide readers full transparency. This would acknowledge this COI of editorial board members, and thereby attempt to potentially further reduce the risk of bias in editorial decisions.
Copyright © 2021 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.
Conflict of interest statement
Financial conflicts of interest (COI) can bias research. While authors seeking to publish in peer-reviewed surgery journals are required to provide COI disclosures, editorial board members’ COI disclo
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