| Revision as of 21:36, 30 August 2015 editSlimVirgin (talk | contribs)172,064 editsm + link← Previous edit | Revision as of 21:41, 30 August 2015 edit undoJytdog (talk | contribs)Autopatrolled, Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers187,951 edits →Common mistakes: add healthcare providersNext edit → | ||
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| * Deleting ] information about ] to make the product look safer or more effective | * Deleting ] information about ] to make the product look safer or more effective | ||
| * Deleting well-sourced, ] information about proprietary technology | * Deleting well-sourced, ] information about proprietary technology | ||
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| | Healthcare providers (physicians, surgeons, nurses, etc) | |||
| | | |||
| * Promoting your medical practice, department, or institution | |||
| * Promoting your medical theories, approaches, or inventions | |||
| |- | |- | ||
| | Healthcare advocates and ] | | Healthcare advocates and ] | ||
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| * Changing the page to make sure it has the ] information. | * Changing the page to make sure it has the ] information. | ||
| |- | |- | ||
| | Scientists in academia or companies | |||
| | Academics and other experts | |||
| | | | | ||
| * Citing your latest paper in the hope that increased visibility will drive up your ] | * Citing your latest paper in the hope that increased visibility will drive up your ] | ||
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| | Knowledge of sources regarding social movements and effects | | Knowledge of sources regarding social movements and effects | ||
| |- | |- | ||
| | Academics and other experts | | Academics and other experts, and healthcare providers | ||
| | Adding ] information to reflect the current expert opinion | | Adding ] information to reflect the current expert opinion | ||
| |} | |} | ||
Revision as of 21:41, 30 August 2015
 | This is an explanatory essay about the Misplaced Pages:Conflict of Interest page. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Misplaced Pages's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. | Shortcut |
On Misplaced Pages, a conflict of interest (COI) involves contributing to articles and discussions about yourself or your external relationships, including family, friends and clients. Conflict-of-interest editing is strongly discouraged. It risks causing public embarrassment to the individuals and groups being promoted (see Misplaced Pages is in the real world). "isrepresenting your affiliation with any individual or entity" is a violation of the Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use.
This essay outlines possible issues related to conflicts of interest in medicine-related articles on Misplaced Pages.
Who has a conflict of interest?
There is a distinction between an actual and potential conflict of interest. A pharmaceutical-company employee has a potential COI in relation to that company and its products, and an actual COI if she tries to edit the article or take part in discussions about it.
The Wikimedia Foundation's terms of use require editors who are paid for their contributions to disclose their employer, client and affiliation with respect to any edit for which they receive, or expect to receive, compensation; see WP:DISCLOSEPAY. WP:COI, a guideline, advises such editors not to edit affected articles directly, but to make suggestions for change on the articles' talk pages; see WP:FINANCIALCOI and WP:NOPAY.
"Being an expert", including being a licensed healthcare professional, has never been considered a conflict of interest by the Misplaced Pages community. However, in the past experts have tried to use Misplaced Pages to promote their own theories beyond their prominence within the scientific community, and that is inappropriate.
Common mistakes
Mistakes by editors with a conflict of interest can include:
| Possible conflict | Potential problems |
|---|---|
| Employees of pharmaceutical, dietary supplement, diagnostic, or medical device manufacturers, contract research organizations, and public relations representatives for such companies |
|
| Healthcare providers (physicians, surgeons, nurses, etc) |
|
| Healthcare advocates and activists |
|
| Scientists in academia or companies |
|
On the other hand, people with a close tie to the subject are often very knowledgeable, and their input can be very useful when it comes to the who, what, where, when, and how of complex topics. Examples include:
| Possible conflict | Potential expertise |
|---|---|
| Employees of pharmaceutical, dietary supplement, or medical device manufacturers | Knowledge of a product's regulatory and commercial history |
| Healthcare advocates and activists | Knowledge of sources regarding social movements and effects |
| Academics and other experts, and healthcare providers | Adding well-sourced information to reflect the current expert opinion |
In these cases, "knowledgeable" means knowing about reliable sources, not simply knowing about the topic: Personal experience is never a valid reason for adjusting a page. Once a source has been identified, the ability of any editor to integrate it into the page and summarize it accurately is limited only by their understanding of the material.
Disclosing a conflict of interest
If you have a conflict of interest, that involves direct pay for editing you are required to disclose that conflict of interest per the WP:TOU. Otherwise you are encouraged—but not required—to share that information with others.
Self-identification is a two-edged sword: You get points from most users for being honest, and editors often recognize your expertise, but a few have used it to harass editors. Do not disclose personal information that could put you at risk in the real world, such as by attracting stalkers to your home.
If your conflict of interest relates to your employment, you should check with your employer. Some companies require public disclosure of the conflict of interest, and a few prohibit their employees from editing Misplaced Pages. If editing from your workplace, or as part of your job, it may be worth establishing a legitimate second account to segregate work and personal editing.
- Ways to voluntarily disclose a conflict of interest
- Some editors have voluntarily chosen to disclose a conflict of interest by including their employers' names in their account names, e.g., these folks from GlaxoSmithKline. You may not, however, have an account used by multiple people.
- Other editors explain their situation on their user pages.
- Another option is to identify your conflict of interest on the talk pages of articles you edit.
- Editing without an account exposes your IP address to the world. Corporate IP addresses are highly traceable, and public reports are sporadically issued on abusive editing by unregistered users from corporate offices, leading to embarrassment and occasionally real-world disciplinary actions.
How to minimize abuse
Editors at medicine-related articles use several strategies to reduce the risk of abusing a conflict of interest. These include:
- Meeting obvious needs. Anyone is welcome to revert vandalism and to fix grammar problems. Please correct serious factual errors, although you might leave the fine points and controversies to others.
- Learning our standards. Read our advice on finding the best sources for medical information at WP:MEDRS. Read our style guide at WP:MEDMOS. Remember that Misplaced Pages does not provide medical advice and is not a patient guide or drug formulary.
- Adding non-controversial information. Employees in the medical manufacturing industries might be in a unique position to provide commercial, regulatory, and historical information for products. Healthcare professionals are often skilled at explaining complex disease processes. Patients with chronic medical conditions often understand the prognosis and social impact of a medical challenge. Within your expertise, focus on the 90% that everyone agrees on, rather than the 10% that is disputed.
- Supplying top-quality sources for everything. Adding high-quality independent, third-party sources is one of the best ways to show that your work is intended to benefit the reader, rather than yourself.
- Working together. Propose sources and improvements on the talk pages, explaining your reluctance to boldly add the material if you suspect that you might be accused of abusing a conflict of interest.
- Getting help with disputes. If you need help, post a message at WikiProject Medicine or WikiProject Pharmacology to request help.
What does a conflict of interest not mean?
See also: Misplaced Pages:PharmanoiaA conflict of interest does not mean a source or editor can be dismissed a priori. While pharmaceutical companies have put profits ahead of health in some situations, that does not mean a company employee is so biased their knowledge and interests can be ignored. While activists may place undue emphasis on "getting the message out" that does not mean every single edit is unavoidably slanted towards proselytizing. It just means on certain pages, some editors should be less bold, more respectful of consensus, more scrupulous about sourcing and neutrality, and more aware of their own potential biases.
See also
- Misplaced Pages:Conflict of interest
- Misplaced Pages:How to not get outed on Misplaced Pages
- Misplaced Pages:Misplaced Pages is in the real world
- Misplaced Pages:Ten Simple Rules for Editing Misplaced Pages
- Misplaced Pages:Expert retention
- Writing for the wrong audience
- Giving equal validity, on the need to present mainstream views as being mainstream, and minority views as being minority views
- WP:CITESELF You are allowed to cite your own papers, but within limits
References
- The Foundation's terms of use are Misplaced Pages policy, see Misplaced Pages:Terms of use.
- Cohen, J (2006-02-21). "Pharmanoia: Coming to a clinical trial near you". Slate. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
External links
- Guidelines for Participating in Misplaced Pages from NIH, example of an employer's policy on editing Misplaced Pages