Conflict-of-Interest.net

Here’s a story that caught my attention in the last few days, because its not about one of the “usual suspects” of drug companies, the need for policy in med schools or journals, etc. While financial interests are at the heart of the case, the mechanisms and harms are somewhat different and so worth thinking about…

Conflict of Interest and Textbooks

The issue here is about profs using their own textbooks in classes they teach. The COI is a financial one, because in choosing one’s own textbook, the prof receives royalties on the sale of the book. In the context of large Intro classes with hundreds of students, the royalties (e.g., 3-5% per text, on a $100 book, for a few hundred students) could be in the order of thousands of dollars. The concern then is that this not insubstantial interest could bias the judgment and choice of text for the class. There’s also the indirect interest of having students read the prof’s own textbook (good for the ego!), and the fact that this may stymie freedom on the part of students to critique or critically engage with the text, undermining another important element of the university learning environment. So the challenge, like with many COI, is twofold. 1) Determine the extent and magnitude of harm, and 2) Decide what to do about the situation.

1. Potential Harm: bias in choice of text (maybe not the best), loss of critical judgment on the part of the class. Clearly this will vary based on factors such as the size of class (a large Intro class vs a small advanced undergrad or grad class), and also maybe the subject – we can imagine that in some areas there simply aren’t many texts to choose from, or the contrary, that there’s so much choice that one text is as good as another. In both cases, this factors may reduce our perception that there’s a real bias at play.
2. What to do? Eliminating such COI by banning a prof’s right to choose their own teaching material seems like an extreme measure, and also an undue restriction on academic freedom. After all, if I’m hired to teach a course, surely there should at least be the presumption of confidence in my ability to choose appropriate material. And an extreme measure such as prohibition also undermines the possible positive impact of disclosure of the COI to the class, debate about the issue (a great learning opportunity!), and the development of innovative solutions to separate the interest such as deciding (together with the class) that royalties from sales of the text will go to fund research, for extra resources or opportunities for the class (a trip, a party, etc.), or to a charity.

This story brings to our attention the fact that COI can occur outside the bioscience lab, in the classroom, and thus should also be a concern for scholars in the humanities and social sciences. It also leads us to think about appropriate responses to COI, and in particular, question the scope and magnitude of harms and possible appropriate (and innovative) mechanisms to deal with the conflict.

Thanks to Chris MacDonald of the BusinessEthicsBlog for discussions on this subject and thinking through possible responses…

Bryn Williams-Jones