Conflicts of Interest as Corrupting the Checks and Balances in the Postpublication Oversight of Academic Business Journals
本文通过案例探讨利益冲突如何像病毒一样在学术商业期刊的出版后监督中扩散，导致多层制衡机制失效，并分析其危害、成因与可能的解决方案。
In this case-based essay, we explore how conflicts of interest can corrupt the postpublication oversight process in academic business journals. We build on Carson’s comprehensive definition of the conflict of interest construct by arguing that it is, in a practical sense, not isolated and dyadic but instead is multirelational to the point of being viral. Specifically, we argue that conflicts of interest produce further conflicts of interest; this occurs at any oversight level that is tasked with investigating and addressing any allegations of conflict of interest violations at lower levels. A real recent case illustrates that this complexity is not understood in our social sciences—five different levels of “checks and balances” in our postpublishing oversight failed to address an obvious initial conflict of interest. A discussion covering the harms of the violations, the causes, and the possible solutions fleshes out our arguments about this core ethical construct.