[Implementation of Guidelines on Conflict of Interest in Clinical Research of the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology: actual status and future perspectives].

In May 2011, the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology released their Guidelines on Conflict of Interest (COI) in Clinical Research and detailed regulations. These guidelines cover clinical research, although each committee of the society may have a policy to cover basic research as well as clinical research. The COI Committee implemented the guidelines, including a one-year trial period. According to the guidelines, members of the society have to disclose their COIs at the time of presentations, manuscript submissions, and publications; the board and committees members have to submit their COIs to the president of the society. During the trial period, the latter was limited to the four committees involved in the development of the guidelines: Conflict of Interest; Pharmaceutical Affairs; Research Ethics; and Editorial Committees. The COI Committee reviewed the COIs submitted by the board and committee members. The COI Committee found that, among the 382 board and committee members, 298 were without COI; 31 COIs were regarded by one committee member as not necessary to be circulated to all the attending members (total of these 2 categories: 329, 87%); 31 COIs (8%) were regarded as necessary to be circulated; and 18 cases (4.7%) were problematic: not submitted or explicit rejection of submission. Considering the seriousness of scientific misconduct by a researcher in another disease area who resigned his professorship and is now under investigation, we should further discuss the implementation of our COI guidelines.