Office for Responsible Outside Interests

Please work with your college to determine what is and is not considered to be part of your UArizona duties and responsibilities.  The following disclosure scenarios may be helpful:

• An Investigator receives personal compensation or an honorarium of $5,000 or more for editing journal articles. In this instance, the editing work must be disclosed as a Significant Financial Interest for conflict of interest (COI) review even though it is part of the individual’s professional service requirement.  The Investigator would not need to submit a COC form for approval if the activity is part of their professional service.

• An Investigator serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for a professional society but does not receive any remuneration.  The Investigator must disclose this board membership as a Significant Personal Interest for conflict of interest (COI) review.  The Investigator would not need to submit a COC form for approval if the activity is part of their professional service.

• An Investigator receives an honorarium of $300 from a foreign funding agency to review research proposals. In this instance, the Investigator must disclose the review work as a Foreign Interest for conflict of interest (COI) even though the remuneration is less than $5,000 and the work may be part of the individual’s professional service.  The Investigator would not need to submit a COC form for approval if the activity is part of their professional service.

Overlap between an Outside Interest and a Research Project occurs when there is Relatedness.

“Relatedness” is the condition in which it may reasonably appear that decisions made by the Investigator in the performance of his/her institutional responsibilities could directly and significantly affect the value of his/her Significant Financial Interests or be in conflict with Significant Personal Interests or Foreign Interests.

Relatedness includes situations in which an Investigator’s Outside Interests would reasonably appear to affect, or to be affected by, the individual’s Research or other institutional responsibilities, as well as situations in which the Outside Interest involves an entity whose financial interests would reasonably appear to affect, or be affected by, the Investigator’s Conduct of Research or other institutional responsibilities.

Relatedness is not a judgment on whether the Investigator would deliberately make choices in the Conduct of Research or the performance of his/her Institutional Responsibilities based on considerations related to his/her Significant Financial Interest, Significant Personal Interest or Foreign Interest. Rather, “Relatedness” refers to the condition in which it may reasonably appear that choices made in the Conduct of Research or other performance of the individual’s institutional responsibilities could be directly and significantly influenced by the existence of Outside Interests.

COI:  Income received from the University of Arizona is exempt from the COI disclosure requirements

COC:  Please work with your college/unit leadership to determine if they consider this to be an Outside Commitment.  Pursuant to policy, Outside Commitments (1) are professional and other activities that are related to a University Employee’s professional expertise, outside of their University duties and responsibilities; (2) are for the benefit of an external entity or individual and are not covered by a fully executed written agreement between the University and the external entity; and (3) require a time commitment.  Here, the teaching commitment is not for the benefit of an external entity or individual. With that said, an individual’s supervisor/department/college could require submission of a COC form for review and approval to ensure the individual’s institutional duties and responsibilities are properly covered if they desired to do so.

Outside Commitments require prior approval.  In an ideal world, the COC form would be submitted in eDisclosure 4 weeks prior to the start date to ensure college and department reviewers have an opportunity to review the form, resolve concerns and/or implement a management plan.  Realizing that submission 4 weeks prior to the start date is not always possible, we ask that individuals email us to flag a fast-approaching start date so that we can work with the approvers to ensure all questions are answered, etc. 

If the Outside Commitment is not approved, the individual cannot engage in the Outside Commitment.

OROI is available to work with college/department approvers to discuss concerns and develop a COC management plan.  More details about the COC review process are available on our COC & COI Review Processes webpage. 

Outside Commitments require prior approval.

Both.  Outside Commitments must be disclosed in eDisclosure, at which time OROI will initiate the review process.  

More details about the COC review process are available on our COC & COI Review Processes webpage. 

Research and Research Project mean any organized program of scientific inquiry that involves a systematic investigation, study, or experiment designed to develop or contribute to generalizable knowledge that is performed at or under the auspices of the University. Research includes non-sponsored research, research fellowship and training programs, and research-related activities in undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral education.  It also includes some educational activities that are supported by a research sponsor.

Federal funding agencies indicate that Research can be thought of as:

1. "a process to discover new knowledge,"
2. "a scientific study of nature that sometimes includes processes involved in health and disease," and/or
3. "creative and systematic work undertaken in order to increase the stock of knowledge—including knowledge of humankind, culture and society—and to devise new applications of available knowledge."

Federal funding agencies further indicate that one can consider whether the project includes:

• "a systematic, intensive study directed toward greater knowledge or understanding of the subject being studied, or
• a systematic study directed specifically toward applying new knowledge to meet a recognized need, or
• a systematic application of knowledge to produce useful materials, devices, and systems or methods, or
• development [which] may include designing, developing, and improving prototypes and processes to meet specific requirements."

See:  HHS, NCI, NSF

Investigators must:

1.    Complete the Required COI Disclosure Training after July 1, 2021.
2.    Complete the Required COI Disclosure Training once every 4 years thereafter.
Note:  OROI may direct an Investigator to complete the training more frequently.
3.    Submit an annual certification.  This can be an Annual Disclosure Certification or Research Certification.
4.    Update their certification within 30 days of a change to an existing Outside Interest.
5.    Update their certification within 30 days of acquiring a new Outside Interest.
6.    Submit a Research Certification for all non-sponsored and sponsored Research.