Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) means an Outside Interest is Related to, or can be perceived to be Related to, an individual’s institutional responsibilities.
FCOI determinations answer the question: Could it reasonably appear to someone outside of UA (e.g., front page of the newspaper) that a decision made in the conduct of research was influenced by your Outside Interest? That influence could affect the design of the project, a decision to exclude data, a decision to delay publication of research results, a decision to overemphasize or underemphasize research results, etc. for the benefit of your Outside Interest.
Related to is a defined term that refers to 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.
Relatedness is not a judgment on whether an Investigator would deliberately make choices in the Conduct of Research or the performance of their Institutional Responsibilities based on considerations related to their Outside 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 an Outside Interest.