Electronic Conflict of Interest Reporting

Conflict of Interest (COI) reporting for faculty and researchers is conducted annually and at “transactional” time points via InfoEd. When submitting COI Reporting Forms, it is important to remember that reporting criteria and thresholds are not limits on what type of activities faculty can engage in or how much money one can receive for such activities. Rather, these are criteria and thresholds at which an interest or activity has to be reported to the University.  

When engaging in outside professional activities, faculty must follow Brown’s Policy on Outside Professional Activities for Faculty, which sets forth guidelines to ensure that outside professional activities are conducted in accordance with all applicable University policies and procedures. See here for more information about engaging in outside activities. 

Annual COI Reporting

The Brown University Conflict of Interest (COI) in Research Policy requires that certain members of the Brown faculty, as well as all Investigators on Brown administered research complete a COI Reporting Form annually. The annual COI cycle runs between February and March of every year. Annual reporting is conducted electronically through InfoEd.

When the annual cycle kicks off in February of each year, anybody who is required to complete the annual COI Reporting Form will receive an email from the Vice President for Research with instructions and a link to InfoEd. The information collected is for the previous calendar year (January – December), to align with the receipt of income forms/statements and preparation of taxes. If you have questions about the annual reporting cycle, please contact the COI Administrators.

Transactional COI Reporting

COI Reporting Forms must also be completed at certain “transactional” time points. Transactional COI reporting includes, but is not limited to, submitting or updating a COI Reporting Form or certifying the accuracy of an existing COI Reporting Form when:

  • Reporting a new potential conflict of interest to the University;

  • Participating as an Investigator on a new sponsored research proposal submission; 

  • Participating as an Investigator on a new human subject research study or being added to a study via an amendment; and

  • Being added as a new Investigator to an ongoing Research project;

  • Acquiring a new Significant Financial Interest (this only applies to PHS and Department of Energy (DoE) funded Investigators. Please see here for more information);

Additionally, the University may, at its discretion, require the submission or revision of a COI Reporting form at any time. 

University administrative staff

The Conflict of Interest and Commitment reporting process for staff is facilitated and administered by Brown Human Resources. Staff submit their COI Reporting forms through Workday. For more information about the staff COI process, please see here.