“For research or other work to achieve the highest possible level of public trust, it doesn’t just have to be free of the influence of conflicts: it has to be seen to be. But many people will never accept a position that doesn’t accord with their own beliefs – or even anything ever done or said by a person they have a grudge against, or whom they envy or just plain dislike. And then if they dig enough, or get creative enough, they can find a personal COI to try to discredit the person’s research or opinions.
There’s a rich vein to mine here. Sandro Galea has published a typology of potential non-financial conflicts (with a rejoinder by Bero and Grundy). Galea includes career interest, clique-ish academic networks, and ideological conflicts of interest. I agree these can be serious conflicts that lead everyone astray. The next cartoon is from a post I wrote about ideological conflicts of interest while I was working on a vaccine issue: “