Professional Ethics in Biomedical Science: from Open Access to Conflict of Interest

Abstract

A really “open” biomedical science is an essential, widely shared asset for the progress and prosperity of modern society. Although current pathway in the communication of new scientific discoveries is good, there are gaps to be filled and areas of potential improvements, both in basic and in clinical research. These span from conflict of interest in the editorial field to the way in which new findings are conveyed to the public, and to the way in which databases from large clinical trials are analysed for the benefit of the community. However, the rapidly expanding editorial model of open access pursued by many journals may not necessarily serve the public interest because it has generated a huge amount of low quality publications without properly addressing some key issues regarding the conflict of interest.