Editorial Conflict of Interest?

“During the act of knowledge itself, the objective and subjective are so instantly united, that we cannot deter-mine to which of the two the priority belongs.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Bibliographia Literaria, 1827 Conflict of interest statements are commonplace now-adays. We are asked to sign them when we deliver lec-tures, teach courses, serve as society officers or committee members, or submit papers to journals. Does that mean that conflicts of interest are more prevalent today than in the past—or just that we are more aware of them? In the world of medical journals, a conflict of interest could be defined as “an association that might prevent an individual from reporting or evaluating research with complete objectivity. ” Note the use of the word “might ” in this definition. Declaring a conflict of interest should no