Maintaining scientific integrity in a world where academic research and profit-seeking industry overlap is a challenge for many nations and individual scientists. This is a science world that must deal with conflicts of interest among academic scientists with industry ties and the increasing commercialization of research following the 1980 Bayh–Dole Act in the United States that allowed universities and non-profit institutions to own the rights to their inventions. In 2004, the US National Institutes of Health was forced to introduce new codes of conduct to reveal employees' financial ties (see Nature 427, 385; 2004), and the US Food and Drug Administration has endured plenty of recent criticism over poorly regulated pharmaceuticals. Meanwhile, many medical journals are struggling to ferret out industry influence over drug assessments.

On page 1138, we explore an aspect of academia's involvement with industry: the limitations placed on academics as they pursue industry-funded research and how such proposals might be approached. Vilifying industry is certainly not the point, nor is it fair — many scientists benefit from industry support and conduct good science, with few complications. But researchers, especially fledgling researchers in an often limited funding environment, should tread carefully. Contracts may have undesirable provisions and institutional policies are inconsistent.

In his 2007 book Science for Sale, Daniel Greenberg, a long-time Washington DC science-policy journalist, tempers his criticisms with a touch of optimism. “Overall, for protecting the integrity of science and reaping its benefits for society, wholesome developments now outweigh egregious failings — though not by a wide margin,” he writes. Still, some wish to draw a sharp dividing line between industry and academia. “Reformers,” Greenberg writes of such critics, “are at liberty to dream, rail, scold and campaign.” But prying apart academic science from business is an impossible task. Better to embrace the benefits, control the complications born of monetary interests, and guard against missteps or unforeseen circumstances that could affect one's reputation — and potentially one's career prospects.