Conflicts of interest that are bigger than money but never disclosed

Conflicts of interests in academia are indeed a web of intrigue, as eminently portrayed by Smith.¹ There are certain conflicts of interest though, which are married to research and are bigger than money, and yet are never disclosed. Glory of publishing and career progression are two such factors. The purpose of research is to answer a question; but are all researchers honest to this purpose? What happens when research becomes a means for achieving personal gain? Consider the case of young impassioned clinicians, who delve into research. Their goal is to append as much weight to their curriculum vitae as possible by ‘getting publications’. How committed are they towards forwarding science? Senior academics are no less prone to such conflicts of interest with elements such as the research assessment exercise lurking in the background. Hunger for authorship, recognition and position can be as corruptive as the apple of Adam. They will, unfortunately, probably remain the bugbears of research, forever.