Look Beyond Financial Conflicts of Interest in Evaluating Industry–Academia Collaborations in Burden-of-Illness and Outcomes Research Studies in Dermatology

Financial relationships exist among industry, scientific investigators, and academic medical centers. These relationships can foster research in the basic sciences, clinical trials, health economics evaluations, and other outcomes assessment studies. To govern the conduct of burden-of-illness and outcomes research studies involving collaborations between industry and academia, we propose voluntary standards related to: 1) the development of and adherence to standards for research conduct and reporting; 2) disclosure, discussion, and management of potential impacts of financial conflicts of interest; and 3) transparency in research methods and open access to study results.