What is a ‘Conflict of Interest’?
For all employees at UCSD, the basic definition of a conflict of interest refers to a situation in which outside financial interests or other personal considerations may compromise or have the appearance of compromising an employee’s actions or judgments in the administration, management, or performance of their professional activities. For researchers at UCSD, the definition is more specific as it refers to a situation in which outside financial interests may compromise, or have the appearance of compromising, a researcher’s professional actions or judgments in the designing, conducting, or reporting of their research results.
A conflict of interest is a situation in which financial or other personal considerations may compromise or have the appearance of compromising an employees actions or judgments in administration, management, teaching, research or any other professional activities. A financial conflict of interest in research refers to situations in which financial considerations may compromise or have the appearance of compromising, an investigators professional judgment in designing, conducting or reporting research.
A conflict of interest is a situation that occurs when the conduct of research could be compromised or appear to be compromised by a related financial interest of the principal investigator, the principal investigator’s spouse, domestic partner or dependent child, key personnel or the institution.
Any financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the work reported or the conclusions, implications or opinions stated – including pertinent commercial or other sources of funding for the individual author(s) or for the associated department(s) or organization(s), personal relationships, or direct academic competition.
For the purposes of the City’s Ethics Ordinance (PDF: 76K), a person has a conflict of interest when it is likely that the outcome of a municipal decision will have a significant impact on his or her economic interests, and that impact is distinguishable from its effect on the public generally. Top of Page Why does the City have conflict of interest rules? These rules exist to reinforce the public’s confidence that City leaders are acting in the public’s best interest, and not to further their own self-interest. City Officials may not use their official position to influence a municipal decision in which they have a personal financial interest. If it is likely that the outcome of a municipal decision will have a significant impact on the personal finances of a City Official, and if that impact is not also felt by a significant segment of the public, then it at least creates an appearance that the official may be acting out of self-interest as opposed to the public interest.
