Conflict of Interest
Tufts University (the “University”) places extremely high value on Research (as defined below) integrity and academic freedom. Objectivity in the conduct of Research is critical to these institutional values. Relationships with industry and other outside entities are important to the support and advancement of Research but can present special challenges with respect to protecting and complying with these institutional values.
In the context of conducting Research, the primary interest of a researcher should be the objective conduct of the Research. Coupled with this, the researcher, the University, and the public share an interest in the complete, objective and timely communication of Research results. While the University expects that all of its faculty and other Research staff should carry out their professional responsibilities with the highest standards of personal integrity, it is necessary to provide measures to reduce, eliminate or manage situations in which a secondary interest could be reasonably expected to influence the design, conduct or reporting of Research. For this reason, the University has adopted this Research Conflicts of Interest Policy (the “Policy”).
The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily mean that a conflicted individual has acted, or is expected to act, inappropriately. It is the existence of the competing interests that gives rise to the conflict of interest and the need to reduce, eliminate or manage it.
All of the Tufts Conflict of Interests (COI) policies can be viewed on AccessTufts.
Please note: The University has implemented a new internal platform for the collection and review of COI disclosures. Unlike the prior system, the new platform will be accessible to Tufts personnel at all times using their Tufts username and password and will carry forward the submitted data year to year, reducing the burden on the discloser. Annual updates to the disclosure will continue to be required when prompted; however, after this initial disclosure, individuals with no updates to their disclosure will only need to review and certify the accuracy of the prior submissions rather than re-enter all requested information each year.
As a reminder, in addition to the annual disclosure process, Tufts employees are required to disclose new significant outside financial interests within 30 days of entering into a relevant outside financial relationship or acquisition of gifts or monies which could be perceived as a COI within the individual’s role at Tufts. The single sign-on functionality of the new COI platform enables Tufts employees to access and update their existing data at any time.
You may access the new COI portal via the below link or by copying https://coi.tufts.edu into your browser. Additional guidance on the use of the new system can be found at https://access.tufts.edu/conflict-interest-guidance.
Training
Each Investigator is required to complete training regarding FCOIs prior to engaging in Research related to any federally funded grant and at least every four years. If you have questions regarding the status of your CITI COI Training, please contact FCOI@tufts.edu.