Conflict of Interest
Declaration and Disclosure of Conflict of Interest (COI)
(Applicable to first/presenting authors, principal investigators, and session chairs for oral and poster presentations)
For oral and poster presentations at the Annual Meeting of the Japanese Cancer Association, disclosure of Conflict of Interest (COI) for the first (presenting) author, the principal investigator, and the session chair is mandatory at the time of presentation.
[The term “principal investigator” generally corresponds to the Principal Investigator (PI) of the laboratory or the Corresponding Author when the study is submitted as an original research article.]
The first (presenting) author and the principal investigator are required, at the time of abstract submission, to declare whether they have had any conflicts of interest with companies, organizations, or other entities during the past three years prior to registration. If any conflicts of interest exist, the names of the relevant companies or organizations must be disclosed.
Revision of COI Guidelines (April 2025)
The Japanese Cancer Association revised its COI Guidelines in April 2025. In addition to conflicts of interest related to the presented study, the following items must also be declared:
- Personal conflicts of interest not related to the presented study.
- All research funding related to the presented study, regardless of amount, including public funds.
- Holding a position as an officer or employee of a company or for-profit organization (hereafter referred to as “companies”), including researchers, students, working graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, part-time lecturers, etc., who are dispatched from other institutions.
o Conflicts of interest with the presenter’s own affiliated company need not be declared; however, the company name must be disclosed on the slide/poster.
o Conflicts of interest with companies other than the affiliated one must be declared (e.g., an employee of Company A owning ≥5% of shares in Company B → COI with Company B must be declared).
If the first author is not the principal investigator and the principal investigator’s COI declaration form has not been submitted, the abstract will not be subject to peer review.
If the first author is the principal investigator, a separate declaration is not required.
In accordance with the bylaws of the Japanese Cancer Association, researchers receiving research funding or other financial support from tobacco-related industries or organisations funded by such industries are not permitted to present at the Association’s Annual Meeting during the funding period. This restriction applies to all presenters, including first authors, co-authors and corresponding authors. If such circumstances are discovered after the submission of an abstract, it may be withdrawn.
Even when the first author is not the principal investigator, the principal investigator’s COI must be declared.
COI Guidelines and Q&A are available at:
Japanese: https://www.cancer.or.jp/modules/member/index.php?content_id=4
English: https://www.cancer.or.jp/modules/en/index.php?content_id=12
Disclosure must be made in accordance with the COI Guidelines. Failure to disclose may result in penalties under the JCA Disciplinary Regulations.
Thresholds for Declaration (All items 1–12 must be declared, including those not related to the presentation)
- Officer or advisory positions (including consultants) in companies: annual remuneration ≥1,000,000 JPY from a single company.
- Equity interests (stocks, stock options): annual profit ≥1,000,000 JPY or ownership ≥5% in a company; unrealized gains from stock options ≥1,000,000 JPY.
- Patent royalties or transfer income: ≥1,000,000 JPY per year from a single company.
- Honoraria for lectures, chairing, or advisory activities: ≥500,000 JPY per year from a single company.
- Manuscript fees: ≥500,000 JPY per year from a single company.
- Contract-based research funding (commissioned research, collaborative research, clinical trials, etc.): direct costs ≥1,000,000 JPY per year from a single company or company-funded nonprofit organization. Personal payments must be declared separately.
- Scholarship donations or research grants from companies or private foundations: annual amount under the declarer’s discretionary control ≥1,000,000 JPY.
- Endowed chairs or acceptance of company-dispatched researchers (if the declarer is the laboratory head).
- Fees for expert testimony or professional advice in legal matters: ≥1,000,000 JPY per year from a single company.
- Serving as a representative of a clinical research organization receiving funds from companies (regardless of amount).
- Other remuneration (travel, gifts, etc. not directly related to research): ≥50,000 JPY per year from a single company.
- If the primary affiliation is a university or research institute and the declarer is also an officer or employee of a company, the company name must be stated.
- All research funds related to the presented study, including public funding (e.g., MEXT/JSPS KAKENHI, AMED), regardless of amount, must be disclosed with the names of the funding organizations.
Method of Disclosure
Oral presentations:
Insert one COI disclosure slide for the first author and principal investigator as the second slide (immediately after the title slide), following the provided “COI Disclosure Slide Sample.”
Poster presentations:
State the COI status of the first author and principal investigator at the bottom of the poster.
Only items with actual conflicts should be listed, and company names must be shown in English.
If the first (presenting) author and the Principal Investigator are the same person
COI Sample 1
If the first (presenting) author and the Principal Investigator are NOT the same person
COI Sample 2
Chair
COI Sample chair
Note:
For presenters affiliated with a company, the company name must be shown on the first slide. Separate COI disclosure is not required unless there are conflicts with other companies, which should then be disclosed on the second slide.
If the first author or principal investigator has any of the following relationships (Items 1–13), list the relevant company names:
- Leadership position / advisory role for
- Stockholder in
- Patents and royalties from
- Honoraria (lecture fee) from
- Honoraria (manuscript fee) from
- Research support from
- Grant funding from
- Endowed chair
- Fees for testimony, judgment, comment, etc. from
- Representative of organization for clinical study receiving research expenses from
- Other remuneration from
- Officer or employee of companies while primarily affiliated with a university/research institution
- All research funds related to the presentation from
If none apply, state only:
“I and/or the responsible researcher have no financial relationships to disclose.”
Contact
- Japanese Cancer Association Secretariat
- E-mail：jca.office@imic.or.jp
- COI Declaration and Disclosure:
- https://www.cancer.or.jp/modules/en/index.php?content_id=12
- COI Q&A:
- https://www.cancer.or.jp/uploads/files/en/4%20cs_coi_qa_20250605_updated.pdf