Academics with tobacco industry links are not declaring potential conflicts of interest in research

Co-author of research says conflict-of-interest declarations are important because academic papers inform public health practices and government policy. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

Researchers with links to tobacco and vaping industries are failing to disclose their potential conflicts of interest in work published in respected academic journals, prompting calls for journals to tighten their policies and consider penalties for inadequate declarations.

Research published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health on Wednesday analysed how often authors who directly or indirectly received funding from the tobacco industry declared this in their research.