Science stories need more independent commentary, says study

When covering medical or scientific studies, journalists are encouraged to seek commentary from experts other than the authors of the studies being reported. But New Zealand researchers have found that only one in six news stories included quotes from independent commenters, and one-quarter of commenters lacked relevant expertise.

Writing in CMAJ, the study authors wrote that observations from independent sources “may be important because media coverage of medical research affects the views and behaviour of the general public, and academic and clinical communities”. Yet not only did they find that 25% of commenters studied lacked both relevant clinical and academic expertise, but academic conflict of interest was present for 54% and financial conflict of interest was present for 32% — and most of these conflicts of interest were not explicitly disclosed.

“Readers of news stories would reasonably expect independent commenters to be knowledgeable, and any financial or academic conflicts that might affect interpretation of the work to be explicitly reported,” the study authors noted.

“It is not surprising that academic conflicts of interest were frequently present for editorialists (about 40%), but it is surprising that financial conflicts of interest were equally common and that only a minority were disclosed.

“If commenters’ conflicts of interest are not reported, it might affect the ability of readers to evaluate the comments, and influence their overall response.”

The study certainly seems to suggest that conflicts of interest may affect comment on research findings, with more positive views expressed when academic or financial interests aligned with the results of the research.

“When commenters’ conflicts of interest were congruent with the findings of the source research, 97% and 93% of comments associated with academic and financial conflicts of interest, respectively, were favourably disposed toward the research,” the authors said. “These values were 16% and 17%, respectively, when the conflicts of interest were not congruent with the research findings.”

The study authors concluded that all the journals included in their analysis require disclosure of financial conflicts. They also suggested that strategies to improve the quality and independence of comments in health news stories, including the disclosure of conflicts of interest, should be developed and tested.