Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) Part 1: Declarations
Researchers under NHG Health must declare any financial interests annually via ECOS. Download the guide to understand your FCOI obligations.
PART I – FCOI Declaration Requirements
Investigators and study team members who are involved in research that is conducted under the oversight of NHG Health or partner institutions should not have conflicting interests that may adversely affect the protection of participants or the credibility of the human subject protection programme.
The definitions of Conflict of interest are as follows:
Conflicting Interest – A conflicting interest can be broadly defined to refer to any interest of the investigator and/or study team member or immediate family (includes parents, siblings, spouse and each dependent child) that competes with the investigator’s/study team member’s obligation to protect the rights and welfare of research subjects.
Financial Interest – Financial interest related to the research means financial interest in the sponsor, product or service being tested. Significant Financial Interest means anything of monetary value, including but not limited to, salary or payments for services (e.g., consulting fees or honoraria); equity interests (e.g. stocks, stock options or other ownership interests); intellectual property rights (e.g., patents, copyrights and royalties from such rights), and board or executive relationships.
Since 1st January 2015, all investigators and study team members who are involved in the design, conduct or reporting of research that is conducted under the oversight of NHG Health or its partner institutions are required to:
Read through the requirements and updates (if any) on the Financial Conflict of Interest (FCOI) Declaration Requirements during submission of a new ethics application (for new researchers), annually, whenever there is a revision (updates) to the requirements, or when required by the DSRB for researchers or study team members found to be non-compliant to financial conflict of interest requirements,
Declare that the FCOI Declaration Requirements have been read at the annual submission of their FCOI Declaration Form, and
Declare any Financial Interests related to their studies at the annual submission of their FCOI Declaration Form.
Download the Guide to the FCOI Declaration Requirements here (opens in new tab).
Submission of Annual FCOI Declarations
Investigators and study team members should submit FCOI Declarations via the Ethics and Compliance Online System (ECOS). You may refer to the ECOS User Guide for FCOI Module which can be downloaded from here. (opens in new tab)
Useful Links
Download the FCOI Frequently Asked Questions here (opens in new tab).
Learn more about the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations, PART 94 - RESPONSIBLE PROSPECTIVE CONTRACTORS here (opens in new tab)
Contact information
For any enquiries, please contact the FCOI Declaration Secretariat:
Email: nhggroup.DSRB.FCOI@nhghealth.com.sg (opens in new tab)
DID: 6471 3266
Office of Human Research Protection Programme (OHRPP)
NHG Health Group Research & Innovation