COI: Disclosure and Review Procedures

Introduction

Stanford University provides two different web-based applications to facilitate the disclosure and management of potential conflicts of commitment and interest. Annually, all faculty at Stanford are required to certify their understanding of and compliance with our Faculty Policy on Conflicts of Commitment and Interest. Faculty use a web-based tool called the Outside Professional Activities Certification System (OPACS) to file these annual certifications and to disclose their outside professional activities, if any, for the previous year. In addition, whenever potential conflicts arise, individuals must submit a "transactional" disclosure. Transactional conflicts of interest can be triggered by any of the following:

• technology licensing arrangements (or other industrial contracts including Material Transfer Agreements)
• the filing of a protocol for the protection of humans, stem cells, or laboratory animals in research
• the submission of a proposal or contract to a research sponsor
• the acceptance of gifts
• certain procurement activities

When circumstances warrant, individuals can use the Transactional Conflict of Interest Disclosure (T-COI) application to file and review the necessary information.

Annual Outside Professional Activities Certification

OPACS (Outside Professional Activities Certification) is a secure site which allows members of the Academic Council and University Medical Line (UML) Faculty to certify and submit electronically their annual report on outside professional interests, as required by University policy. Access to this site is controlled by SUNet IDs. Use the link below to complete your annual OPACS Certification. If you have questions about this annual certification, please review the OPACS home page, and check the links to FAQs and Contacts on that site.

Transactional Conflict of Interest Disclosures

A conflict of interest (CoI) occurs when there is a divergence between an individual's private interests and his or her professional obligations to the University, such that an independent observer might reasonably question whether the individual's professional actions or decisions are determined by considerations of personal or financial gain. A conflict of interest depends on the situation, and not on the character or actions of the individual. Certain transactions, e.g., submission of research proposals or establishment of technology licensing agreements, may trigger the need for an "ad hoc" transactional disclosure. These disclosures are completed in the OPACS system.