Citation

Babor TF, Miller P, Edwards G. Addiction 2010; 105(1): 4-5.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02664.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The label ‘vested interest’ applies both to individuals and to groups. Individuals may have a special interest in promoting a theory or distorting a finding for reasons of personal gain, as when the results of a drug trial are biased or fabricated by an investigator who stands to gain financially from the study's outcome. Vested interests can also apply to organizations that seek to control research findings for private benefit, as when the tobacco industry funds research on the measurement of second-hand smoke in order to delay tobacco control legislation, or the alcohol industry pays consulting fees to academics to write papers critical of evidence-based policy. When an individual or an organization seeks to influence research in order to advance private advantage, those with vested interests may benefit at the expense of the public good or scientific integrity. Governments can also have a vested interest in scientific research, as when science is misused to benefit a particular political agenda, ideology or favored interest group.