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In the last two decades, scientists, government officials, and science policy experts have expressed concerns about the increasing role of financial interests in research. Many believe that these interests are undermining research by causing bias and error, suppression of results, and even outright fraud. This paper seeks to shed some light on this view by (2) explicating the concept research bias, (2) describing some ways that financial interests can cause research biases, and (3) discussing some strategies for mitigating or managing the influence of financial interests. These strategies include (a) using government funds to counter-balance privately funded research, (b) increasing public input into government funding decisions, (c) disclosing and managing conflicts of interest in research, (d) auditing data, (e) expanding access to data. Since it is neither possible nor desirable to eliminate financial interests from research, the wisest policy is to manage and counter-balance these interests for the good of science and society., Introduction The influence of financial interests on research and development (R & D) has grown steadily since the 1970s. Prior to World War II, research funding (public or private) was [...]

Even as sequencing groups are struggling to finish the human genome--two-thirds of it remains in rough form--they're taking on a big new assignment. Last week, the U.S. government plunked down [...]

BETHESDA, MD. WITH the National Institutes of Health awash in money and acclaim from Congress, but without a permanent leader, some university officials say the agency is set to run [...]

Breaking its 150-year-old tradition as a prominent scientific advisory group for the US government, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is quietly preparing to launch a major research-grant programme. The [...]

Biotechnology and biomedical research may fare better in Congress than other Federally funded programs, but they still face tough scrutiny. Balancing the federal budget by the year 2002 would require [...]