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Public sponsors must follow ethical rules too Editor—Bero’s editorial on commercial sponsorship for research is important1 because commercial interests can bias the conduct and reporting of research.2 It may, however, leave the impression that pressure on research is an issue only in relation to commercial sponsorship. I used to believe that public sponsors would allow the independent conduct of research, but experiences have taught me otherwise. Recent stories in the Norwegian mass media indicate that public sponsors may also breach ethical codes for research sponsorship. Newspapers have told their readers that the ministry of education tried to influence research into the effects of an educational reform,3 while a trade union tried to keep secret a report on privatisation of municipal services.4 The National Council of Tobacco and Health asked a research team to change its methods for analysing the economic consequences of smoking: the methods had been agreed on before the project started, but the council later asked the team to switch to a method that would make smoking seem more “costly” to society.5 In the end, the funding was stopped.
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