Competing Interests of the PLoS Medicine Editors

PLoS is a tax-exempt, 501(c)3, nonprofit corporation. PLoS' overall revenues and funding information for 2010, are listed in the 2010 Progress report http://www.plos.org/about/what-is-plos/progress-updates/. PLoS Medicine's direct revenue from 2010 is as follows: Total income comprised of US $208,540.00 in author fees. The journal had no advertising or reprint revenues. 2011 revenues and funding information will be available in the summer of 2012.

The PLoS Medicine editors are paid a fixed salary (in particular, their salary is not linked to the number of papers published in the journal). Editors are required to declare all relevant competing interests and do not participate in the review of any paper for which they have a competing interest. The statements below have been updated on January 2011, and relate to activities over the previous 12 months. However relevant competing interests from previous years will also be taken into account when deciding whether it is appropriate for an editor to handle a paper. See the competing interest statements made in January 2011, January 2010, January 2009 and January 2008 by the PLoS Medicine editors.

Virginia Barbour

Monetary or in kind compensation for self or household member from an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially or in any other way from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine
• Reimbursement for attending a conference or symposium. No.
• Accommodation and travel.
  • I have advised MSF on several occasions. They have paid my train fare to London for this and provided lunch.
  • My travel and accommodation at some COPE meetings, including one in San Diego, USA in November 2011, have been reimbursed.
  • EI attended an PharmedOut meeting in Washington in June 2010. Some of my travel, accommodation and meals were paid for by PharmedOut.
  • My travel and accommodation at some meetings on guideline development, under the auspices of EQUATOR , CONSORT and related initiatives have been reimbursed.
• Fees for speaking. No.
• Fees for organizing education. No.
• Funds for research or for a member of staff.
  
  • My husband's research is funded by the UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust
• Fees for consulting. No.
Employment of self or household member by an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine

• My husband is a biomedical researcher at the University of Cambridge, UK. He is funded by the UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust.
Stocks or Shares

• Several hundred pounds in Halifax shares.
• Several pension schemes, including the UK NHS scheme, Reed Elsevier's scheme, and the UK Universities' Pension Scheme, and a share ISA. I have no idea what they specifically invest in.
Other competing interests

• I financially support Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and various refugee charities in the UK.

Melissa Norton

Monetary or in kind compensation for self or household member from an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially or in any other way from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine
• Reimbursement for attending a conference or symposium.
  • My husband has received reimbursements for costs associated with attending scientific conferences and symposia in relation to his work.
• Accommodation and travel.
  • My husband has received travel and accommodation reimbursement for invited lectures at conferences, symposia, and companies, as well as for serving on the scientific advisory boards of various academic projects.
• Fees for speaking.
  • My husband has received honoraria for speaking at conferences, symposia and academic institutes.
• Fees for organizing education. No.
• Funds for research or for a member of staff.
  • My husband's research is funded by the Wellcome Trust, the EU, and the NIH, amongst other government funding agencies.
• Fees for consulting.
  • My husband leads an academic project that has a collaboration agreement with a bioinformatics company. This agreement results in royalties and fees for services coming back directly to the academic project.
Employment of self or household member by an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine

• My husband is a researcher at the European Bioinformatics Institute.
Stocks or Shares
• My husband and I both hold mutual fund and retirement fund investments but have no specific information or influence about which companies the funds invests their money.
Other competing interests
• From September 2005 to November 2010, I was employed by BioMed Central, a commercial open access publishing company.
• I personally know authors who might submit research to PLoS Medicine.
• I have donated to charities focused on human and animal welfare.

Jocalyn Clark

Monetary or in kind compensation for self or household member from an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially or in any other way from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine
• Reimbursement for attending a conference or symposium. No.
• Fees for speaking. No.
• Fees for organizing education. No.
• Funds for research or for a member of staff. No.
• Fees for consulting. No.
Employment of self or household member by an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine

• I currently hold an adjunct academic appointment in the department of medicine at the University of Toronto, but this is unpaid. I am currently employed part time (one day per week) by the Sandra Rotman Centre for Global Health (formerly the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health) and Grand Challenges Canada (GCC) both based at the University Health Network, Toronto, and am not involved in the editorial or peer review processes of any manuscripts submitted to PLoS by colleagues from this Centre or GCC.
Stocks or Shares
• I invest in global mutual funds (unit trusts) but have no specific information nor influence about which companies the fund invests its money.
Other competing interests
• Through my editorial work at BMJ (2002-2008) and PLoS (2008-present) and my academic positions, I know personally some of the authors who submit articles to PLoS. I support charities focused on social justice issues.

Emma Veitch

Monetary or in kind compensation for self or household member from an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially or in any other way from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine
• Reimbursement for attending a conference or symposium.
  • I was a member of a panel at a meeting about development of core outcome sets for clinical trials in Bristol in July 2011 and received reimbursement for local travel expenses and attended the conference dinner.
  • I gave a talk about improving reporting of research at the EQUATOR meeting in Bristol in October 2011 and received reimbursement for local travel expenses.
  • I was a member of a group developing a consensus statement for patient-reported outcomes in clinical trials in London in January 2012 and attended the meeting dinner
• Fees for speaking. No.
• Fees for organizing education. No.
• Funds for research or for a member of staff. No
• Fees for consulting. No
Employment of self or household member by an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine

• My parents are employed by the UK National Health Service. They are very unlikely to benefit financially from publication of papers in PLoS Medicine.
Stocks or Shares

• I have several pension schemes but have no idea what they invest in.
• I have a deposit account with Intelligent Finance and an Individual Savings Account with Northern Rock. I don't know what these companies invest in.
• My mortgage is with the Nationwide.
Other Competing Interests
• I have contributed financially towards the following charities and organisations: Shelter, Trees for Cities, the Disasters Emergency Committee, Aspire, Maternal and Childhealth Advocacy International, the London Cycling Campaign.
• I have interests in publication ethics and publication bias (particularly with respect to clinical trials research), and these interests may affect my editorial views on submitted manuscripts.

Paul Simpson

Monetary or in kind compensation for self or household member from an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially or in any other way from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine
• Reimbursement for attending a conference or symposium. No.
• Fees for speaking. No.
• Fees for organizing education. No.
• Funds for research or for a member of staff. No.
• Fees for consulting. No.
Employment of self or household member by an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of papers in PLoS Medicine

• No.
Stocks or Shares

• I have contributed to the USS pension scheme. I have neither specific information nor influence about which companies the fund invests money into. My banks accounts are with UK high street banks.
Other Competing Interests
• From 2007-2011 my salary was funded by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America.
• Through previous academic positions I personally know authors who might submit articles to PLoS journals.
• I have previously donated money to Amnesty International.