Abstract
Epilepsy Currents published its first issue in September 2001, nearly a decade ago. In the intervening years, there has been increasing concern voiced by professionals and the public that competing interests may unduly influence the objectivity of authors and degrade the integrity of the biomedical research literature to the detriment of patients. It is now generally accepted that readers have a right to know of relevant competing interests and that transparency will enhance objectivity. To this end, many journals have adopted policies for the disclosure of competing interests. The approaches taken have varied from journal to journal (1). To reduce the burden on authors in complying with these diverse disclosure requirements, the International Committee of Journal Medical Editors (ICJME), a group of medical journal editors originally constituted to define uniform requirements for manuscript submission, recommended a uniform set of disclosures, which was recently updated as a fill-in PDF form (2). Authors are asked to disclose the following types of relationships: (1) financial support to the author or institution for the work being submitted; (2) relevant financial relationships in the biomedical arena outside the submitted work during the 36 months prior to submission; and (3) any other relationships or activities that could be perceived as relevant. Many high profile medical journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and Annals of Internal Medicine, now use this uniform disclosure form. The form itself is often provided to interested readers separately from the article, which has the advantage of allowing for complete disclosure without consuming space in the article itself.
When Epilepsy Currents was founded, expressions of public concern about the influence of conflicts of interest on biomedical research were much more muted than today. At the same time, Epilepsy Currents does not publish original research, so standards were not clear. In recent years, the visibility of Epilepsy Currents has increased and it has emerged as an important vehicle for interpreting epilepsy research and communicating diverse viewpoints on key concepts in the field. With its expanding stature has come the recognition that the journal should adopt best current practices regarding the disclosure of competing interests to fulfill its responsibilities to readers and ultimately to patients. Indeed, the editors recognize that objectivity and trust are ever more critical given the journal's unique educational role and the potential that information presented in the journal will inform clinical practice. Therefore, we will now require all authors to complete ICJME forms disclosing relevant competing interests. These forms will be available for public review on the AES web site. We are confident that this new policy will enhance trust in the journal and improve its utility in the advancement of epilepsy research and clinical care.