A conflict of interest is a situation in which some person (whether an individual or corporate body) stands in a certain relation to one or more decisions. Often such persons are engineers, scientists, or organizations of engineers or scientists. On the standard view, a person has a conflict of interest if, and only if, that person (a) is in a relationship with another requiring the exercise of judgment in the other's behalf and (b) has a (special) interest tending to interfere with the proper exercise of such judgment.

Key Features of Conflict of Interest

The crucial terms here are relationship, judgment, interest, and proper exercise. Relationship is quite general, including any connection between persons or organizations justifying one's reliance on the other for a certain purpose. A relationship may be formal (as is that between the Academy of Science and the government it advises...