Competing Interests of the PLoS Medicine Editors

PLoS is a tax-exempt, 501(c)3, nonprofit corporation. PLoS' overall revenues and funding information for 2009, are listed in the 2009 Progress report http://www.plos.org/downloads/progress_update_lo.pdf. PLoS Medicine's direct revenue from 2009 is as follows: Total income US $187,640.59 comprised of US $179,220.00 in author fees, US $8,339.81 of advertising and other revenue and US $80.78 in reprint revenues. 2010 revenues and funding information will be available after April 2011.

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 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.
  • The Polish Academy of Sciences paid my travel and accommodation for a talk I gave in Warsaw in May 2010.
  • Edinburgh University paid my accommodation and travel for a meeting I attended in May 2010.
  • My travel and accommodation at some COPE meetings, including one in Washington, USA in December 2010, have been reimbursed.
  • I attended an EQUATOR group meeting in Ottawa in December 2010. My fare, accommodation and meals were paid for by the Canadian Institutes of Health.
• 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 reimbursement for costs associated with attending scientific conferences and symposia.
• Accommodation and travel.
  • My travel and accommodation costs for participation in the Editors' panel discussion at the International Society of Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) 2009 annual conference were reimbursed.
  • 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 small 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 have investments in several retirement funds and mutual funds in the US. I have no idea what companies these funds invest in.
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.

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.
  • In the past 3 years I have consulted on a freelance basis for the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. In 2010, on my unsalaried time, I taught two courses on publication ethics to a workshop organized by the European Society for Clinical Investigation for which I was paid expenses and an honourarium.
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 (2002-2008) 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.

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.
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 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.
  • I have also received reimbursement for travel expenses to speak at a symposium on Reporting Randomized Trials at the University of Oxford in 2010.
  • I contributed to a panel discussion as part of the "StaR Child Health" initiative in Amsterdam in 2009 and received a small gift (china mug) for participating.
  • I gave a number of talks at various universities in the Netherlands in 2010 and received reimbursement for local travel expenses.
• 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, but 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, the Disasters Emergency Committee, 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.

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.