2008 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.

The statements below have been updated on January 2008, and relate to activities over the past 12 months.

Virginia Barbour

• Monetary 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
  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 and a share ISA no idea what they specifically invest in.

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

Jocalyn Clark

• Monetary 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 have occasionally been reimbursed my expenses for attending meetings and/or courses, but never by a single commercial company.
• Fees for speaking. No.
• Fees for organizing education. No.
• Funds for research or for a member of staff.
  Between 1998-2002 I received for my research program in women's health: $72,000 from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, $27,100 from the University of Toronto, $11,000 from the Ontario government, and $11,000 from the Canadian National Network on Environments and Women's Health (all Canadian dollars).
• 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 was employed by St Michael's Hospital in Toronto during 2006-2007. I am currently employed part time by the McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health at the University Health Network, Toronto, and will not be involved in the peer review process 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.

• 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.

Larry Peiperl

• Monetary 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 am employed as a clinic physician at San Francisco General Hospital, with an unpaid faculty appointment at the University of California San Francisco. My partner holds an administrative position at Lawrence Berkeley Labs.
• 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.

• No.

Emma Veitch

• Monetary 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 two nights' accommodation and a contribution towards travel expenses to participate in a panel at the International Publication Planning Association meeting in 2007. I have also given talks at Edinburgh University, Cardiff University, and University of California San Francisco and received reimbursement towards local travel expenses for these.
• 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 acting as editor with respect to any future papers that might conceivably be 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.

• I have contributed financially towards the following charities and organisations: Shelter, Trees for Cities, and the London Cycling Campaign.

Mai Luen Wong

• Monetary 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 have not personally received reimbursements for attending a conference or symposium but my partner has as a Consultant Oncologist within the UK National Health Service (NHS).
• Fees for speaking. As 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
  I am also employed, part-time, as a Staff Grade Psychiatrist by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Trust and am a Visiting Research Fellow (unpaid) at the Institute of Psychiatry, London. My partner is a Consultant Oncologist within the NHS.
• Stocks or Shares
  I contribute to the NHS pension scheme, Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) and invest in global mutual funds (unit trusts) but have no specific information nor influence about which companies the fund invests its money. I have some shares in Barclay's Bank.

• My partner and I financially contribute to a variety of humanitarian aid agencies and NGOs in the UK and abroad. I have a keen interest in global mental health and my work with the WHO Collaborating at the Institute of Psychiatry may affect my decisions on the editorial content of the PLoS Medicine.

Gavin Yamey

• Monetary 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 gave two lectures at the annual meeting of the Latin American Federation of Medical Student Scientific Societies (FELSOCEM) in Panama in October 2005. FELSOCEM reimbursed the cost of my return flight from San Francisco to Panama City, and my accommodation and meals. I received no fee for delivering the lectures. In October 2006, I gave a talk about open access at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City-the university reimbursed PLoS for the flight, and it paid for my accommodation and meals. I donated the fee for my talk to PLoS. In February 2008, I am spending a week in the UK working with an editor from the Tropika.net project (http://www.tropika.net/), an online portal for tropical disease research and information, and my return flight is being 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, which is why TDR is covering the cost of my flight.
• 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.

• In the past year I have financially contributed to a variety of humanitarian aid agencies, to a local non-profit public radio station in San Francisco, and to the city's bicycle coalition. I am a paid member of the US branch of Amnesty International. I have a keen interest in global health, which affects my decisions on the editorial content of the PLoS Medicine magazine section. I have recently been appointed to the editorial board of the journal Health and Human Rights, and my role at that journal is to advise on its transition to an open access model.