Editorial: Discussing conflicts of interest during a Kettil Bruun Society symposium, June 2014, Turin (Italy)

Allamani, A., & Beccaria, F. (2016). Editorial: Discussing conflicts of interest during a Kettil Bruun Society symposium, June 2014, Turin (Italy).  The International Journal Of Alcohol And Drug Research, 5 (1), 1-3. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.7895/ijadr.v5i1.226 Human beings have always sought after truth and made efforts to define and measure objects and events outside and inside themselves. In the last four centuries, since the time of Galileo, scholars came to agree more and more on a scientific method that could be shared in order to obtain replicable results that could become a common good for humanity. The results of a study can in fact lead to technological applications in various sectors of human life, like education, commerce, industry, and health. The search for scientific truth and its relationship with the economy has always had a complicated life: first, because in any given moment there will be different ideas about truth, and second, because researchers need both the means and the time to conduct their work. This is why a researcher must either support him- or herself and/or be financially supported by someone that may have different expectations about the research results. Thus, this involves the integrity of both the individual researcher and his/her referral network—the "scientific community"—that can call into question their ethical sphere by a potentially problematic relationship with truth, economy, and utility.