TY - JOUR T1 - Conflict of interest disclosure and the polarisation of scientific communities JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 356 LP - 358 DO - 10.1136/medethics-2014-102114 VL - 41 IS - 4 AU - Thomas Ploug AU - Søren Holm Y1 - 2015/04/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/41/4/356.abstract N2 - In this article, we introduce and define the notion of polarised scientific communities. We show how polarisation may generate genuine conflicts of interest that require specific efforts to be identified and reported, and suggest a simple heuristic for the identification and reporting of the polarisation of research. We use examples from the debates about breast cancer screening and the prescription of statins to people at low risk of heart disease. ER -