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Industry research

Response to Letter from Bero et al.

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 74, pages 353–354 (2020)Cite this article

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The research world is hectic these days. A track record of published research is central to future promotion and in attracting research grants. Such continuous pressures to succeed present an environment for scientific misconduct, be it inadvertent or overt [1]. There is also the related, and often subtler issue, of a conflict of interest (COI). The latter is a complex area that is most often discussed in terms of a financial and a non-financial COI, though it can encompass much more [2]. Bero et al. [3] have provided some comments on our editorial [4], where we had highlighted a process for flagging financial COI; namely those papers that stemmed from grants provided by industry. As stated in that editorial, ours was a first step and meant to stimulate discussion in our journal. Consequently our response to Bero et al. [3] will not encompass a point by point rebuttal or it would defeat our purpose.

The EJCN has been an international journal of nutrition for over 30 years and during this period our author base has evolved. About half our submissions now come from Europe, USA and Australia combined, while the remaining 50% of submitting authors write from China & SE Asian countries, India, Central & South America and Africa. From our experience, ethics in publishing [5] and COI are topics that need frequent dialogue to allow a better understanding of their nuances by all. In many ways, industry based grants (financial COI) and co-authorship with industry staff is easier to declare, and for us to flag. That was the main purpose of our editorial [4]. There is, however, a non-financial side to COI that can be subtle and not easily appreciated. While that aspect is still in discussion for nutrition research [6, 7], it would require significant self-reflection and courage to declare, and even more sensitivity in receiving and managing it [2, 8]. Clearly, we need more work on non-financial COI and guidance on how journals should proceed to implement any decision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Public Health, Curtin University, Kent Street, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    M. J. Soares

  2. Institute of Human Nutrition & Food Science, Christian Albrechts Universität, Kiel, Germany

    M. J. Müller

  3. Department of Nutritional Science and Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    T. M. S. Wolever

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  1. M. J. Soares
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  2. M. J. Müller
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  3. T. M. S. Wolever
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Correspondence to M. J. Soares.

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Conflict of interest

MJS and MJM have no conflicts of interest to declare. TMSW is a part owner and receives payment as the President and Medical Director of INQUIS Clinical Research, Ltd. (formerly GI Labs, a contract research organization). He has authored or co-authored several books on the glycaemic index for which has received royalties from Phillipa Sandall Publishing Services and CABI Publishers. He has received research support, consultant fees or honoraria from or served on the scientific advisory board for Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Canadian Diabetes Association, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Agriculture Agri-Food Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, GI Labs, GI Testing, Abbott, Proctor and Gamble, Mars Foods, McCain Foods, Bunge, Temasek Polytechnic Singapore, Northwestern University, Royal Society of London, Glycemic Index Symbol program, CreaNutrition AG, McMaster University, University of Manitoba, University of Alberta, Canadian Society for Nutritional Sciences, National Sports and Conditioning Association, Faculty of Public Health and Nutrition—Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon, Diabetes and Nutrition Study Group of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). His wife is part owner of INQUIS and receives payment as chief financial officer.

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Soares, M.J., Müller, M.J. & Wolever, T.M.S. Response to Letter from Bero et al.. Eur J Clin Nutr 74, 353–354 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-019-0546-2

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