Step-by-Step Guide to Disclosure

If you believe you have a conflict of interest related to research, the following will assist you in making the appropriate disclosure of the conflict and explain what happens after your disclosure has been made.

• Initiate the conflict review process by answering “yes” to Question 11 on the USC Proposal Approval Record (PAR) (available at http://dcg.usc.edu/Propprep/Forms.cfm). 

• If your research involves human subjects, disclose the existence of the potential conflict via iStar when submitting your protocol for review by the Institutional Review Board (IRB).

• Go to http://ooc.usc.edu/ResearchCompliance/ConflictsOfInterest/documents/StatementofOutsideInterests.doc to access USC’s Statement of Outside Interests Related to Research. If you need assistance in completing the disclosure, please contact the Office of Compliance at (213) 740-8258.

• After you complete the Statement of Outside Interests, submit it to the Office of Compliance via email to Jeffrey Wigintton at jwigintton@ooc.usc.edu. 

• After you submit the Statement of Outside Interests, you will be contacted and informed of when the Conflict of Interest Review Committee (CIRC) will meet and consider your disclosure. You will also be contacted if additional information is required. 

• The CIRC meets and determines whether you have a conflict of interest, and if so, how the conflict should be managed, reduced, or eliminated.

• You are notified in writing of the CIRC's decision via a memo from the Vice Provost for Research Advancement.