Competing Interests of the PLoS Medicine Editors

PLoS is a tax-exempt, 501(c)3, nonprofit corporation that has received financial support in the form of grants from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Sandler Family Supporting Foundation, the Irving A. Hansen Memorial Foundation, the Open Society Institute, and the Joint Information Systems Committee. PLoS also receives financial support in the form of manuscript publication charges, donations, sponsorships (including from the pharmaceutical corporations Genentech and Merck), and memberships from private citizens, universities, and other organizations. 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). More details about the funding of PLoS are here.

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 2009, 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.

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.

Travel to London in July 2008 to speak on impact factors at a meeting of the Association of University Professors was paid for by the Association.

One night's accommodation and meals in August 2008 were paid for by the University of Brisbane, where I gave a talk on Open Access.

Travel to London to speak on peer review was paid for by ALPSP for a meeting they organised in October 2008.

One night's accommodation, meals and travel to Rome to speak on impact factors was paid for by the Società Italiana di Cardiologia in December 2008.

• 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 no idea what they specifically invest in.

Other competing interests

• I am a member of the UK Labour Party, and financially support Amnesty International, Greenpeace, and various refugee charities in the UK.

Larry Peiperl

• 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 work as a physician at not-for-profit clinics in San Francisco and hold a faculty appointment at the University of California San Francisco.
• Stocks or Shares
  I have investments in several retirement plans from past and present employers including mutual funds; I do not determine nor am I aware of which individual companies are included.

Other competing interests

• No.

Gavin Yamey

• 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. In February 2008, I spent a week in the UK training an editor from the Tropika.net project, an online portal for tropical disease research and information, and my return flight and per diem expenses were paid for by TDR, the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases. I am a Consulting Editor at PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, which is a formal partner of TDR's Tropika.net project.  In September 2008 I spoke at a panel organized by Harvard University, in Cambridge MA, called "Creating on Open Forum to Advance Global Health and Social Justice." My flight and accommodation were paid for by university, but I received no fee for the lecture.  In October 2008, I gave a talk at a meeting on open access (the "Bethesda II meeting") at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in Maryland—PLoS paid for my flights but HHMI covered accommodation, meals, and local ground transportation.
• Fees for speaking. See Above.
• 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 contributed for 5 years into the United Kingdom's National Health Service pension scheme, and for 18 months into the British Medical Association pension scheme. I have two building society savings accounts (ISAs) and a high street bank savings account in the UK. In the US, I contribute to the PLoS 401k pension scheme and I have three different types of savings account with my high street bank. I have no knowledge of what any of these savings are invested in.

Other competing interests

• I financially contribute to a variety of charities, non-profit organizations, and humanitarian aid agencies.  I am a paid member of the US branch of Amnesty International and of San Francisco's bicycle coalition. I am pro-choice and have donated to Planned Parenthood.  I volunteered for the "Obama for America" election campaign, and donated 2,070.00 towards the campaign (I am a permanent resident of the US, and so I could legally contribute to the campaign, although I cannot vote in the US).  I have a keen interest in global health, which affects my decisions on the editorial content of the PLoS Medicine magazine section. I am member of the editorial board of the journal Health and Human Rights, which recently transitioned from a subscription-based model to an open access model, and my role at that journal is largely to advise on issues related to the open access model.  I am on the board of a charity called EquityEdit, which supports a rural health equity initiative in Nepal called Nyaya Health.  

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
• I gave two workshops on medical writing at the National University of Singapore in September 2008 for which my travel and accommodation expenses were reimbursed.
• Fees for speaking. No.
• Fees for organizing education. No.
• Funds for research or for a member of staff. No.
• Fees for consulting.
  I have consulted for the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health.
• 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 by the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health 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.
• 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 (2002-2007) and my academic positions, I know personally some of the authors who submit articles to PLoS. I support charities focused on social justice issues.

Susan Jones

• 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
  During 2007 and 2008 I carried out freelance editing of grant applications and two research papers for the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. I will not be involved in the peer review process of any manuscripts submitted to PLoS by individuals from the LSTHM that I have worked for in the past.
• Stocks or Shares
  I have contributed to the USS and Macmillan Publishers pension schemes. I have no specific information nor influence about which companies the funds invests money into. My mortgage and current account are with UK high street banks

Other Competing Interests

• I have donated to Amnesty International, Shelter, Medical Foundation for the care of victims of torture, Crisis, Oxfam and Whizz-kidz. Through my research appointments and editorial work at NPG (2003-2009) I personally know authors who might submit articles to PLoS journals.

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 accepted reimbursement for travel expenses to contribute towards a Publication Workshop at the Vienna School of Clinical Research in 2008.
• Fees for speaking. No.
• Fees for organizing education. No.
• Funds for research or for a member of staff. No
• Fees for consulting. No. I have acted as a member of the advisory group of Global Trial Bank and have accepted a breakfast and several cups of coffee during meetings with other members of the group.
• 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, bbut I would recuse myself from involvement with any future papers submitted by them or their close colleagues.
• 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, and 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.