A competing interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients' welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal rivalry). It may arise for the authors of a BMJ article when they have a financial interest that may influence -- probably without their knowing -- their interpretation of their results or those of others.

We, the editors of the BMJ, believe that to make the best decision on how to deal with a paper we should know about any such competing interest that authors may have. We are not aiming at eradicating competing interests -- they are almost inevitable. We will not reject papers simply because you have a competing interest, but we will make a declaration on whether or not you have competing interests.

We used to ask authors about any competing interests, but we have decided to restrict our request to financial interests. This is largely a tactical move. We hope that it will increase the number of authors who disclose competing interests. Our experience, supported by some research data, was that authors often did not disclose them.

How to decide whether you have a competing interest

1. Have you or your co-author(s) in the past five years accepted the following from an organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the results of your study or the conclusions of your review, editorial, or letter:
   • Reimbursement for attending a symposium?
   • A fee for speaking?
   • A fee for organising education?
   • Funds for research?
   • Funds for a member of staff?
   • Fees for consulting?
2. Have you or your co-author(s) in the past five years been employed by an organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the results of your study or the conclusions of your review, editorial, or letter?
3. Do you or your co-author(s) hold any stocks or shares in an organisation that may in any way gain or lose financially from the results of your study or the conclusions of your review, editorial, or letter?
4. Do you or your co-author(s) have any other competing financial interests? If so, please specify.

If you have answered "yes" to any of the above four questions, we consider that you may have a competing interest, which, in the spirit of openness, should be declared. Please draft a statement to publish with your rapid response. It might, for example, read:

RS has been reimbursed by Shangri La Products, the manufacturer of elysium, for attending several conferences; TD has been paid by Shangri La Products for running educational programmes and has her research registrar paid for by the company; JS has shares in the company.

We are restricting ourselves to asking directly about competing financial interests, but you might want to disclose another sort of competing interest that would embarrass you if it became generally known after publication. The following list gives some examples.

• A close relationship with, or a strong antipathy to, a person whose interests may be affected by publication of your paper.
• An academic link or rivalry with somebody whose interests may be affected by publication of your paper.
• Membership of a political party or special interest group whose interests may be affected by publication of your paper.
• A deep personal or religious conviction that may have affected what you wrote and that readers should be aware of when reading your paper.

If you want to declare such a competing interest then please add it to your statement.

To learn more about the thinking that has led to this policy please read the editorial Beyond conflict of interest by Richard Smith.