An official Cochrane policy. First published 2014. Last updated March 2022.

1. Scope:

This policy supports the Conflict of Interest Policy for Cochrane Library Content. It applies to current and potential Cochrane Geographic Groups, Methods Groups, and Fields. Rules for Cochrane Review Groups are set out in Section 6.2 of the Conflict of Interest Policy for Cochrane Library Content.

2. Policy:

The independence of the Cochrane Library must be ensured. Geographic Groups, Fields, and Methods Groups are not permitted to accept funds from commercial sponsors or commercial sources that have a financial interest in the topic areas covered by the Cochrane Library.

Cochrane Groups which violate this policy may be de-registered by the Governing Board.

3. Governance:

The funding sources of Cochrane Groups are monitored annually by the Charity. All sources must be in line with this policy for Geographic Groups, Fields, and Methods Groups, and with the Conflict of Interest for Cochrane Library Content for Cochrane Review Groups.

If there are questions about how this policy should be implemented, under what conditions the policy applies or if conflicts of interest are unclear, the matter should be referred to the Research Integrity Editors and Conflict of Interest (CoI) Panel, who will assess the potential conflict of interest and make a recommendation.