The NHMRC Disclosure of Interests and Management of Conflicts of Interest Guide (Guide) and the Code for Responsible Conduct of Research (the Code) requires researchers to disclose to an institution all interests that are relevant, or could appear to be relevant, to proposed or ongoing research.
A conflict of interest in research exists where there is a real, perceived, or potential divergence between the individual interests of a person and their professional responsibilities. Disclosure and, where necessary, management of conflicts of interest is crucial to maintaining the transparency and trustworthiness of research undertaken at the University.
Conflicts of interest are often thought of in financial terms, but can take almost any form, including familial, scholarly, and professional conflicts.
Conflict of interest in a research setting:
In a research setting, conflicts may affect your professional judgment in conducting, evaluating, or reporting on research. It may affect, or be seen to affect, not only the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, but also the hiring of staff, procurement of materials, sharing of results, choice of protocol, involvement of human subjects, and the use of statistical methods. In short, a conflict of interest can affect almost anything you do as a researcher, and it is important to be creative when considering how your research might be improperly influenced by your situation.
As a general guide, use the ‘trust test’ – would others (e.g. employer, clients, colleagues, or the general public) trust my judgment if they knew I was in this situation? You can also use the checklist for identifying whether or not you have a COI, available on our website.
I might have a conflict of interest, what do I do?
It’s normal to have a conflict of interest! It’s how you manage it that counts. The first principle of conflict of interest management is to disclose that conflict to others. To do this at the Australian Catholic University, you should usually complete a disclosure of interest (via Service Central) form in conjunction with your Supervisor. If your Supervisor agrees that you likely have a conflict of interest, they will work with you to create a conflict of interest management plan.
The approval email from your Supervisor must include details of the conflict of interest and how it would be managed and it should be submitted via Service Central’s Declaration of Interest Disclosure process.
Any staff involved in research must tick the Researcher tick box which ensures this information is forwarded to the Director, Research Services and Manager, Research Ethics and Integrity for review.
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