An increasing amount of [[funding]] in [[neurosurgery research]] comes from [[industry]], which may create a [[conflict of interest]] (COI) and the potential to [[bias]] [[result]]s. The reporting and handling of COIs have become difficult, particularly as explicit policies themselves and definitions thereof continue to vary between medical [[journal]]s. In a study, de Lotbiniere-Bassett et al. sought to evaluate the [[prevalence]] and [[comprehensiveness]] of COI policies among leading [[neurosurgical journals]].

The authors conducted a [[cross-sectional]] study of publicly available online [[disclosure]] policies in the 20 highest-ranking neurosurgical journals, as determined by [[Google Scholar]] Metrics, in July 2016.

Overall, 89.5% of the highest-impact neurosurgical journals included COI policy statements. Ten (53%) journals requested declaration of nonfinancial conflicts, while 2 journals specifically set a time period for COIs. Sixteen journals required declaration from the corresponding author, 13 from all authors, 6 from reviewers, and 5 from editors. Four journals were included in the [[International Committee of Medical Journal Editors]] ([[ICMJE]]) list of [[publication]]s that follow the [[Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals]] (currently known as[[ Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals]]). Five journal policies included COI declaration verification, management, or enforcement. The neurosurgery journals with more comprehensive COI policies were significantly more likely to have higher h5-indices (p = 0.003) and higher impact factors (p = 0.01).

In 2016, the majority of, but not all, high-impact neurosurgical journals had publically available [[COI]] disclosure policies. Policy inclusiveness and comprehensiveness varied substantially across neurosurgical journals, but COI comprehensiveness was associated with other established markers of individual journals' favorability and influence, such as [[impact factor]] and [[h5-index]]
((de Lotbiniere-Bassett MP, Riva-Cambrin J, McDonald PJ. Conflict of interest
policies and disclosure requirements in neurosurgical journals. J Neurosurg. 2018
Aug 1:1-7. doi: 10.3171/2018.4.JNS172751. [Epub ahead of print] Review. PubMed
PMID: 30117775.
)).