 |  Best Practices
Mason faculty members are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the minimum standards required for compliance with the law and to strive for “best practices” above and beyond the law. In this context, the appearance of a conflict of interest can be as damaging as the legally actionable reality. Faculty should ask themselves whether they would feel confident defending their behavior to the public. While federal law, state law and university regulations stipulate the minimum requirements for avoiding conflicts of interest, this document lays out best practices that go beyond those basic requirements.
- Faculty should not take on so many external obligations that they cannot honor their primary commitment to Mason, whether this be teaching, research, or other responsibilities.
- Faculty and staff should discuss possible conflicts of interest with department chairs, supervisors, associate deans for research, or members of the Conflict of Interest Committee. Such conversations may be particularly helpful where possible conflicts are complex or ambiguous.
- Faculty and staff should think not only about conflicts of interest that arise from their own personal financial relationships but also about conflicts, or appearances of conflict, that may arise from the financial affairs of close associates, especially family members and romantic partners.
- It is wise not to accept gifts from sponsors of one’s research, especially if the sponsor has an interest in a particular research outcome. In general, when accepting gifts, it is wise to reflect on the motive of the donor as well as the appearance created by accepting the gift.
- Whether formally required or not, researchers should disclose to journal editors or other audiences all funding sources for their research as well as consulting relationships that might be perceived by an audience as introducing a bias into their research.
- Academic research only has integrity if those who fund it are not allowed to influence its results or the reporting of those results. In the course of sponsored research or consulting activities outside the university, researchers should not sign contracts that allow research sponsors to edit substantively, or even block, publications arising from their research. (There have been cases of companies seeking to block publication of research they funded).
- As a rule, researchers should only claim authorship where they have done the work generally associated with authorship. Some researchers have accepted fees to claim authorship of articles substantially written for them by companies seeking to promote products. Such arrangements are best avoided.
- Faculty should exercise extreme care in offering employment outside the university to junior faculty in their department or to students they supervise since the combination of power asymmetries and competing obligations inside and outside the university can lead to powerful conflicts of interest. Junior faculty or students may feel unable to say no to the offer of employment, or they may feel unable to exercise independence in one role because of the power relationship between the individuals. Alternatively, attachments in one role may lead to perceptions of nepotism in the other. Ideally, such dual loyalties should be avoided. If this is not possible, they should be managed by recusal in the competing role.
- If one is evaluating a product (for a government agency, a foundation, a publication, or any other institution), it is best to avoid any financial relationship with the producer of that product. If that is not possible, one should recuse oneself from the process of evaluation.
- Faculty should not disclose proprietary or confidential information acquired in the course of outside consulting work (unless disclosure would be essential in revealing a breach of the law or of ethics).
We welcome feedback on these and possible additions to the list of “Best Practices”. The Mason Conflict of Interest Committee will continue to revise these “Best Practices” with insights gleaned from new situations around the country.
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