Policy on consultancies, honoraria or other personal benefits
Acceptance of Honoraria Payments and Participation in Industry Meetings
Honoraria are payments made for activities notionally provided without charge. Staff may accept honoraria payments, but care should be taken to ensure that the source of the funding does not raise conflict of interest issues. (For example, funding from a potentially conflicted source may be made to appear legitimate by channeling it through a University.)
Oxford Population Health has an explicit policy of not accepting any personal honoraria payments directly or indirectly from the pharmaceutical and food industries. It only seeks reimbursement to the University of Oxford for the costs of travel and accommodation to participate in scientific meetings. This approach is intended to help ensure that decisions to give lectures or advice are determined by the scientific value of doing so, and not by personal financial gain.
Invitations from pharmaceutical or food companies to participate in meetings should be considered carefully to ensure they are scientifically legitimate, or that a specific scientific interest of the department would be served by acceptance. If not, such invitations should be declined.
Consultancy agreements
The University’s view is that consultancy can be an important means by which staff make their knowledge and expertise available to government, public sector organisations, community groups and business. Any consultancy activity by staff must be approved by both the Head of Group and the Head of Department. It must fulfil the following criteria:
- The purpose of the consultancy should be clearly stated.
- It should not pose or appear to cause a conflict of interest.
- No payments directly or indirectly from pharmaceutical or food companies.
- It should be limited to provision of advice and assistance, and not include undertaking of substantial research for external bodies (which should be funded by a research grant).
Anyone considering any paid activity outside the department should first discuss it with their line manager and Head of Group. In addition, any external activities leading to consultancies, should be reviewed by Oxford University Consulting, which will carry out due diligence checks to ensure compliance with relevant University ethics and funding policies.
Please see the relevant University guidance on outside appointments, including consultancy agreements.
Investments
It is recognised that pensions are based on investments in companies over which staff have no control. However, it is recommended that staff do not hold shares directly in tobacco companies, or in pharmaceutical, biotechnology or food companies that might be affected by research or publications in which they are involved or by their public statements.
If in doubt about any of these issues, staff are encouraged to discuss these with their line manager or with members of the department’s HR team.