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Research Ethics & Compliance

Conflict of Interest

Engaging with outside entities helps to translate research into beneficial products and services. Transparency and appropriate oversight of these relationships protects and promotes public trust in University of Alabama research.

To manage potential conflicts caused by an investigator’s outside financial interests, the university has adopted a policy that requires researchers to disclose certain outside interests to the Research Integrity and Conflict of Interest Program (RICIP). RICIP conducts a financial conflicts of interest assessment to determine whether there is a risk that the financial interest could lead to bias. 

Please remember that the disclosures described throughout this page do not alleviate the obligation that certain employees have to disclose to the Office for Compliance, Ethics, and Regulatory Affairs federal sponsors or  to federal research sponsors

Conflict of Interest Financial Disclosure in Research and Other Sponsored Programs Policy

General Inquiries 
UA Research Integrity and Conflicts of Interest Program 
Emilee Belk, Research Integrity and Conflicts of Interest Program Lead 
eahooper@ua.edu 
(205) 348-6749 
Rose Administration Building, Suite 158 

Program

Disclosure of outside professional activities and financial interests that relate to your role(s) and responsibilities at The University of Alabama is required by UA’s Policy on Conflict of Interest and Conflict of Commitment.

What to Disclose

Tips for what to disclose or not disclose include:

  • Is the activity related to what you do at UA? If so, it should be disclosed. If not, it likely does not need to be disclosed.
  • Mutual funds or holdings in a retirement account do not need to be disclosed.
  • The disclosure asks about outside activities and financial interests that relate to your role at UA, not just self-identified conflicts of interest. While self-identified conflicts should definitely be disclosed, responding honestly and completely is an important best practice that allows UA to demonstrate that UA work is free from even the perception that decisions were biased by personal gain.

When to Disclose

Other times disclosure is required: 

  • New SFI. faculty and staff who are involved in sponsored research are subject to research disclosure requirements, which require updates on a rolling basis within 30 days of acquiring (or becoming aware of) a new significant interest. 
  • New outside activity. If faculty or staff initiate a new outside activity that is related to their UA responsibilities (e.g., a new freelance business that works with / is seeking to work with UA) it is prudent to update your disclosure. 

Tip! This is also an opportunity to provide documentation or a summary of the conversation you had with your supervisor/chair/dean’s office obtaining prior approval for the activity or discussing how the activity will be handled so that it does not detract from your UA responsibilities. 

Note: if updates are submitted outside of the annual process, that information will be saved and pre-populated for you during the annual process. It will not be necessary to enter the information twice. 

Examples of when researchers need to update their disclosure: 

  • Cumulative payments for the past 12 months from an entity exceeding $5,000. The FCOI policy, which is based on federal regulations, requires faculty and staff who are involved in research to update their disclosures if they receive more than $5,000 in cumulative payments from a single company over the previous 12 months. 
  • A start-up company is formed. If a faculty or staff member is a founder or co-founder of a start-up company, and consequently is a part owner of the company, that relationship needs to be disclosed within 30 days of creating a legal entity. While we understand that often companies exist “only on paper,” because that paperwork creates a legal entity, legally, those companies exist. Ownership (including being co-founder of a company, having options in a company, or any other equity holding) in a non-publicly traded entity is considered to be an SFI and disclosure is required within 30 days of acquiring that interest. If may be decided, after discussion with the faculty or staff member, that the nascent company does not create a COI given its early stage, but the policy and regulations require disclosure of SFIs, not only COIs. 

What happens if disclosures are not submitted when required by policy? 

Annual Disclosure

If your annual disclosure is not completed during the annual disclosure period in September, the following repercussions may occur: 

  • If you are involved in research, and you have not updated in the last 365 days, you may not be able to submit new proposals, and new projects may not receive chartstrings until a disclosure is completed. 
  • If you are on active research projects from federal sponsors, UA may not be able to invoice the sponsor for work performed on grants until a disclosure is completed. 

We understand that faculty and staff at the University are busy and balancing many tasks at any given time. For most individuals, disclosure only takes a few minutes and we appreciate the cooperation of the university community in completing their disclosure during the month of September. 

New interest that requires an update.

If a person who is involved in research does not submit an updated disclosure when they have a new SFI, there is a risk that the University will need to conduct a retrospective review. In the instance where someone involved in research has a new SFI that is not disclosed in a timely manner, and it is determined that that SFI is a COI with a research project, the University must review all research activity on that project (methods, data, results, publications – all research activity). 

Significant Financial Interest

Federal regulations and the COI in research policy require disclosure of Significant Financial Interests (SFIs) prior to submitting a proposal and within 30 days of receiving a new interest.

Significant Financial Interests (SFIs) are defined as:

Nature of SFIThresholdExcluded (Do Not Disclose)
Compensation and/or other payments for serviceExceeds $5,000*Compensation received less than $5,000, as well as any compensation received for lectures, seminars, teaching engagements, or service on advisory committees or review panels relating to federal, state, or local government agencies, an institution of higher education, an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute that is affiliated with an institution of higher education, and compensation received from UA funds.
Equity interests in a publicly traded entityExceeds $5,000*Interests in publicly traded entities valued at less than $5,000 as well as interests in an entity through personal retirement accounts and mutual fund
Equity interests in a non-publicly traded entity0 / AnyInterests in an entity through personal retirement accounts and mutual funds
Intellectual property rights and interests upon receipt of income related to such rights and interestsExceeds $5,000*Royalties received from UA funds, and unlicensed intellectual property that does not generate income
Sponsored or reimbursed travelExceeds $5,000*Travel administered through UA funds, and travel reimbursed or sponsored by a federal, state, or local government agency, an institution of higher education, an academic teaching hospital, a medical center, or a research institute that is affiliated with an Institution of higher education