Editorial Message- Neurology 1998;51:1527-1528 Avoiding conflicts of interest Responsibilities of authors, reviewers, and editors

MD The level of concern about conflicts of interest in medical literature is at an all-time high. A recent Neurology editorial1 and American Academy of Neu-rology (AAN) position statement2 focus on financial conflicts of interest in the patient care setting, in academic institutions, and for members of AAN committees and AAN office holders. Equally impor-tant conflicts of interest pertain to the publishing of Neurology. A conflict of interest exists when an individual (e.g., an author, reviewer, or editor) must make a judgment concerning a primary interest (publishing high-quality research), but is unduly influenced by secondary interests (such as financial gain or per