We are planning to run a study validating a commercially available product (i.e. software) and while we initially planned to do it independently of the manufacturer, they heard about our intention and got in touch saying they would provide the software. Now I am wondering if we have to sign a contract in which we state that they give us software but they do not have the access to the whole data-set and do not have any say on the final manuscript. Has anyone been in a similar situation and can provide some advice?
Common situation. Since the software would be considered research support, upon submission of the manuscript to a journal, you'll be asked about any "conflict of interest". Answer yes. When asked to expand on it, you'll need to add " partial research support from _______". Prior to accepting the software, however, provide the company with your ground rules of expectations. An email is fine. Companies that are professional will respect your wishes. If not, don't accept the software; purchase it yourself. It's your data, your study. You can share the final journal article with them when it's published.
Dear Tim,
I was wondering that did they demand anything in exchange for providing the software? Some companies putting all the published articles on their webpages regardless of the topic to provide deeper insight for possible customers. I reckon you should openly ask your questions to the provider and create a contract with them just to err on the side of caution indicating your rules and regulations. However, this situation has to be mentioned as a conflict of interest during the publication process.
--With my best wishes,
Thanks Michael C. Meyers and Ismail Bayram . Both very useful!
It is an interesting situation. This company keeps promoting their method to be scientifically validated but there are no studies out there. And we simply wanted to validate it ourselves. Because even if they do validate it themselves, we (public) would question the validity of a study funded by them. We will end up with an agreement with them as Michael suggested.
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