EDITORIAL EDITORIAL

Fine prints at the bottom of the page

Wallace Chamon

Physician, Department of Ophthalmology, Federal University of São Paulo - UNIFESP - São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Some years ago the ABO changed its policy of articles 'additional information to suit the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). All papers submitted for publication in ABO come accompanied by three additional important information: Statement of Authors Participation⁽¹⁾, Statement of Approval of the Ethics on Research Committee, Declaration of Potential Conflicts of Interest of all authors involved⁽²⁾.

The form for declaration of authors' participation follows the guidelines universally accepted and well defined the ICMJE⁽³⁾. ABO's instructions to authors specify that authorship credits should be based on individuals who have contributed in concrete ways at all stages of the manuscript. The ABO also requires ensuring that all authors meet the criteria above and that no person who meets these criteria is denied authorship. The leading position alone of any individual does not delegate authorship; the ABO does not recognizes honorary authorship⁽⁴⁾.

A copy of the approval of the ethics committee on research is required to all studies, prospective or retrospective, involving humans or animals. The only exceptions are case reports. It is mandatory that the corresponding author send, as a supplementary document, the approval of the ethics committee on research or its opinion dismissing the project evaluation by the committee. It is not up to the author to decide on the need for evaluation by the committee. All clinical trials, in addition to the approval of the committee, shall indicate on the cover page, the registration number on an international basis registry that allows free access to the information.

The declaration of a possible conflict of interest does not diminish the quality or credibility of the work, the denial of an existing conflict will. Note that, although the word conflict can sometimes denote a military sense, the presence of a conflict of interest in any way means that the author with distinct interests will choose for the illegal or immoral⁽⁵⁾. In short, the declaration of potential conflict of interest established by the ICMJE defines that its purpose is to give the reader information that may interfere with the way that he or she interprets the article read⁽²⁾. Conflicts to be acknowledged refer to financial or non-financial compensation (equipment or material) that occurred within 36 months before the planning of the research until its submission for publication. Compensation are considered those that have actually happened or the expectation that may happen, whether directly related to the submitted paper or not. When compensation occurs through grants or research funding (public or private), only those related to the submitted paper must be declared, other funds which the author participates do not have to be declared as potential conflicts of interest. Provisional or issued patents related to the final work submitted are also considered as potential conflicts of interest⁽²⁾.

The authors to provide all information electronically and all authors who do not participate directly in the submission must be sure that this information is trustworthy. It is not up to the editorial office of ABO to confirm the information provided, but the electronic forms are kept on file for any future questioning.

As the transparency of information allows readers a more adequate interpretation of articles read, it is essential that these pay attention to the fine prints at the bottom of the page.

REFERENCES

1. Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia. Formulário de Contribuição dos Autores [Internet]. São Paulo: Conselho Brasileiro de Oftalmologia [cited 2013 Jul 25]; Available from: http://www.cbo.com.br/site/files/Formulario%20Contribuicao%20dos%20Autores.pdf        

2. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest [Internet]. British Columbia: ICMJE; 2013 [cited 2013 Jul 25]. Available from: http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf        

3. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: ethical considerations in the conduct and reporting of research: authorship and contributorship [Internet]. British Columbia: ICMJE; 2013 [cited 2013 Jul 25]. Available from: http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html        

4. Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia. Diretrizes para Autores. São Paulo: Conselho Brasileiro de Oftalmologia [cited 2013 Jul 25]; Available from: http://submission.scielo.br/index.php/abo/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions        

5. Chamon W, Melo LA Jr, Paranhos A Jr. Declaração de conflito de interesse em apresentações e publicações científicas. Arq Bras Oftalmol. 2010;73(2):107-9.         

Submitted for publication: July 25, 2013
Accepted for publication: July 25, 2013
Funding: No specific financial support was available for this study.
Disclosure of potencial of interest: W.Chamon, None.