The Influence of Industry Sponsorship on the Research Agenda: A Scoping Review
Open accessAbstract
Background. Corporate interests have the potential to influence public debate and policymaking by influencing the research agenda, namely the initial step in conducting research, in which the purpose of the study is defined and the questions are framed. Objectives. We conducted a scoping review to identify and synthesize studies that explored the influence of industry sponsorship on research agendas across different fields. Search Methods. We searched MEDLINE, Scopus, and Embase (from inception to September 2017) for all original research and systematic reviews addressing corporate influence on the research agenda. We hand searched the reference lists of included studies and contacted experts in the field to identify additional studies. Selection Criteria. We included empirical articles and systematic reviews that explored industry sponsorship of research and its influence on research agendas in any field. There were no restrictions on study design, language, or outcomes measured. We excluded editorials, letters, and commentaries as well as articles that exclusively focused on the influence of industry sponsorship on other phases of research such as methods, results, and conclusions or if industry sponsorship was not reported separately from other funding sources. Data Collection and Analysis. At least 2 authors independently screened and then extracted any quantitative or qualitative data from each study. We grouped studies thematically for descriptive analysis by design and outcome reported. We developed the themes inductively until all studies were accounted for. Two investigators independently rated the level of evidence of the included studies using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine ratings. Main Results. We included 36 articles. Nineteen cross-sectional studies quantitatively analyzed patterns in research topics by sponsorship and showed that industry tends to prioritize lines of inquiry that focus on products, processes, or activities that can be commercialized. Seven studies analyzed internal industry documents and provided insight on the strategies the industry used to reshape entire fields of research through the prioritization of topics that supported its policy and legal positions. Ten studies used surveys and interviews to explore the researchers’ experiences and perceptions of the influence of industry funding on research agendas, showing that they were generally aware of the risk that sponsorship could influence the choice of research priorities. Conclusions. Corporate interests can drive research agendas away from questions that are the most relevant for public health. Strategies to counteract corporate influence on the research agenda are needed, including heightened disclosure of funding sources and conflicts of interest in published articles to allow an assessment of commercial biases. We also recommend policy actions beyond disclosure such as increasing funding for independent research and strict guidelines to regulate the interaction of research institutes with commercial entities. Public Health Implications. The influence on the research agenda has given the industry the potential to affect policymaking by influencing the type of evidence that is available and the kinds of public health solutions considered. The results of our scoping review support the need to develop strategies to counteract corporate influence on the research agenda.
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This bias is of special concern when research is funded by an entity that has an interest in outcomes that are favourable to its own commercial, academic, or other interests.
“This bias is of special concern when research is funded by an entity that has an interest in outcomes that are favourable to its own commercial, academic, or other interests.123”
From Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology using Mendelian Randomisation (STROBE-MR): explanation and elaboration. (2021) · cites this paper as [123]
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Resnick, D., & Swinnen, D. R. J. (2023) · doi:10.1093/oso/9780198882121.001.0001 · Cited by 29 · see citing works
The commercialization of the biomedical sciences: (mis)understanding bias
de Melo‐Martín, I. (2019) · History & Philosophy of the Life Sciences · doi:10.1007/s40656-019-0274-x · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Ienca, M., Valle, G., & Raspopović, S. (2025) · The Lancet Digital Health · doi:10.1016/s2589-7500(24)00222-x · Cited by 27 · see citing works
Stellingwerff, T., Burke, L. M., Caldwell, H. G., Gathercole, R. J., McNeil, C. J., Napier, C., Purcell, S. A., Boegman, S., Johnson, E. A., Hoar, S., et al. (2025) · Sports Medicine · doi:10.1007/s40279-025-02227-0 · Cited by 28 · see citing works
“Suggestions have been put forward to carefully manage corporate interests while ensuring scientific integrity in science [51, 52].”
Challenges for Economic Evaluations of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products: A Systematic Review
Lima, A. O. D. L., Ponce-Polo, Á., García‐Mochón, L., Ortega‐Ortega, M., Pérez-Troncoso, D., & Epstein, D. M. (2022) · Value in Health · doi:10.1016/j.jval.2022.07.004 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“Nevertheless, industry-funded models sometimes seem to make subtle choices that favor the sponsor, and payers need to be mindful of the risk of bias when evaluating such models, ensure thorough validation, and continue evidence generation.(100)”
BackgroundMaking nutrition guidelines fit for purpose
Bero, L. A., Norris, S. L., & Lawrence, M. A. (2019) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.l1579 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citationKearns, C. E., & Bero, L. A. (2019) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(19)31277-2 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Self-citationAnastasiou, K., de Melo, P. R., Slater, S., Hendrie, G. A., Hadjikakou, M., Baker, P., & Lawrence, M. A. (2022) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s1368980022002580 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
“Historically, nutrition science agendas have been influenced by prevailing interests, views (2) and available funding (7) .”
BackgroundGolder, S., Garry, J., & McCambridge, J. (2020) · European Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckaa172 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Testoni, F. E., Carrillo, M. G., Gagnon, M., Rikap, C., & Blaustein, M. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0249661 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
Aguilera-Cobos, L., Rosario-Lozano, M. P., Ponce-Polo, Á., Blasco‐Amaro, J. A., & Epstein, D. M. (2022) · Health Policy · doi:10.1016/j.healthpol.2022.10.007 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Donanemab: Conflicts of interest found in FDA committee that approved new Alzheimer’s drug
Lenzer, J., & Brownlee, S. (2024) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj.q2010 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Kearns, C. E., Glantz, S. A., & Apollonio, D. E. (2019) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7401-1 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
“international nutrition experts, deceptive marketing to children, targeting of minorities and emerging economies, [86] influencing research agendas, [87] and undisclosed conflicts of interest, [74] among others.”
BackgroundCullerton, K. B., Adams, J. M., Forouhi, N. G., Francis, O., & White, M. J. (2024) · BMJ · doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-077908 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Mapping actor networks in global multi-stakeholder initiatives for food system transformation
Akker, A. V. D., Fabbri, A., Slater, S., Gilmore, A., Knai, C., & Rutter, H. (2024) · Food Security · doi:10.1007/s12571-024-01476-7 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
“Research continuously shows that academic institutions, which we have coded as independent, take funding from food and agricultural industries, which has been known to grant industry influence over their research agenda (Fabbri et al., 2018).”
Self-citationMisinformation: an empirical study with scientists and communicators during the COVID-19 pandemic
Parker, L., Byrne, J. A., Goldwater, M. B., & Enfield, N. J. (2021) · BMJ Open Science · doi:10.1136/bmjos-2021-100188 · Cited by 24 · see citing works
The importance of psychology for shaping legal cannabis regulation.
Borodovsky, J. T., Sofis, M. J., Grucza, R. A., & Budney, A. J. (2020) · Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology · doi:10.1037/pha0000362 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Mansuri, Z., Reddy, A., Vadukapuram, R., Trivedi, C. G., & Amara, A. W. (2022) · PubMed Central · Cited by 20 · see citing works
Conflict of Interests in the Scientific Production on Vitamin D and COVID-19: A Scoping Review
Passini, C. S. M., Cavalcanti, M. B., Ribas, S. A., de Carvalho, C. M. P., Santos, C. R. B., & Lamarca, F. (2022) · Frontiers in Public Health · doi:10.3389/fpubh.2022.821740 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“There is an urgent need to denaturalize such relationships, since industries seem to be able to steer research findings according to their interests and drive research agenda in their favor (64), which means, in this case, an incentive to unrestricted supplementation.”
BackgroundTo Be Scientific Is To Be Communist
Bright, L. K., & Heesen, R. (2023) · Social Epistemology · doi:10.1080/02691728.2022.2156308 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“…engineer favorable outcomes (Lexchin et al. 2003; McGarity and Wagner 2008; Doucet and Sismondo 2008; Elliott and McKaughan 2009; Lundh et al. 2018; Fabbri et al. 2018), rhetorically spinning unfavorable outcomes into favorable ones (Doucet and Sismondo 2008; Elliott 2016), selectively funding…”
BackgroundVeroniki, A. A., Wong, E. K. C., Lunny, C., Molina, J. C. M., Flórez, I. D., Tricco, A. C., & Straus, S. E. (2023) · Systematic Reviews · doi:10.1186/s13643-023-02235-z · Cited by 19 · see citing works
“Empirical evidence showed that private industry-sponsored RCTs reported favourable efficacy results and conclusions, and fewer harms for the sponsoring company’s intervention compared to RCTs with non-conflicted sources of funding [3, 4, 15, 16].”
BackgroundCampos, P. A., Alfaro–Ponce, B., Pérez, B. M. R., Bernal-Serrano, D., Contreras-Loya, D., & Wirtz, V. J. (2024) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117646 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Toolkit for detecting misused epidemiological methods
Soskolne, C. L., Kramer, S., Ramos-Bonilla, J. P., Mandrioli, D., Sass, J. B., Gochfeld, M., Cranor, C. F., Advani, S., & Bero, L. A. (2021) · Environmental Health · doi:10.1186/s12940-021-00771-6 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Self-citationÖzdemir, V., & Springer, S. (2022) · OMICS A Journal of Integrative Biology · doi:10.1089/omi.2022.0041 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
“Industry funding, if it is left unchecked, can shift and drift research frames and agendas away from those that are most relevant for planetary health (Fabbri et al., 2018a, 2018b).”
Oganesova, Z., Pembérton, J. H., & Brown, A. C. (2024) · Diabetic Medicine · doi:10.1111/dme.15369 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Neuroprotective Agents as an Adjuvant Treatment in Patients With Acute Spinal Cord Injuries
Joaquim, A. F., Daniel, J. W., Schroeder, G. D., & Vaccaro, A. R. (2019) · Clinical Spine Surgery A Spine Publication · doi:10.1097/bsd.0000000000000861 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
Clearing the Air: Conflicts of Interest and the Tobacco Industry’s Impact on Indigenous Peoples
Maddox, R., Kennedy, M., Waa, A. M., Drummond, A., Hardy, B.-J., Soto, C., Tautolo, E., Colonna, E., Gifford, H., Clark, H. W., et al. (2021) · Nicotine & Tobacco Research · doi:10.1093/ntr/ntab267 · Cited by 17 · see citing works
Philanthrocapitalism and Global Health
Wilson, J. (2021) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108692137.035 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Bloom, D. E., & Cadarette, D. (2021) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108692137.004 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Chillo, P., Mashili, F. L., Kwesigabo, G., Ruggajo, P., & Kamuhabwa, A. A. R. (2022) · Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine · doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.849007 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“In developed countries, funding for research is a common practice and has been the driver for major breakthrough in health sciences (72).”
BackgroundGallehzan, N. A., Khosravi, M., Jamebozorgi, K., Mir, H., Jalilian, H., Soleimanpour, S., Hoseini, S., Rezapour, A., & Eshraghi, A. (2024) · Health Economics Review · doi:10.1186/s13561-024-00478-7 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Industry sponsorship can be a source of bias as they may support a particular agenda and be influential at multiple stages of research design and implementation and influence the choice of research priorities [73].”
BackgroundInvolvement of the food industry in nutrition conferences in Latin America and the Caribbean
Mialon, M., Jaramillo, Á., Caro, P., Flores, M., González, L., Gutiérrez‐Gómez, Y. Y., Mendivil, L. L., López‐Arana, S., López-Bautista, F., Mata, C. L., et al. (2020) · Public Health Nutrition · doi:10.1017/s1368980020003870 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“Moreover, the involvement of the food industry in science is shaping the research agenda in ways that are favourable to market-driven solutions(22,23).”
BackgroundCommercial determinants of mental ill health: An umbrella review
Dun-Campbell, K., Hartwell, G., Maani, N., Tompson, A., van Schalkwyk, M. C., & Petticrew, M. P. (2024) · PLOS Global Public Health · doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0003605 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Efficacy of smokeless tobacco for smoking cessation: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Stjepanović, D., Phartiyal, P., Leung, J., Lim, C. C. W., Sun, T., Chung, J. Y. C., GARTNER, C. E., Hall, W., & Chan, G. (2022) · Tobacco Control · doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2021-057019 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Cannabis companies and the sponsorship of scientific research: A cross-sectional Canadian case study
Grundy, Q., Imahori, D., Mahajan, S., Garner, G., Timothy, R. K., Sud, A., Soklaridis, S., & Buchman, D. Z. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0280110 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“Scientists’ perceptions are confirmed by a body of meta-research associating industry sponsorship with patterns in research agendas that focus on products, processes, or activities that can be commercialized and marketed, and topics that support the industry’s policy and legal positions [9].”
BackgroundInfluentialSelf-citationOoi, S. L., Micalos, P. S., & Pak, S. C. (2023) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0290314 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
Industry influence on public health policy formulation in the UK: a complex systems approach
Akker, A. V. D., Fabbri, A., Bertscher, A., Gilmore, A., Knai, C., Cavill, N., & Rutter, H. (2024) · Health Promotion International · doi:10.1093/heapro/daae139 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
“12 and 13), as evidence indicates how industry funding of science influences research questions, methods and conclusions (Fabbri et al ., 2018; Legg et al ., 2021).”
Self-citationMitchell, G., & McCambridge, J. (2023) · Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs · doi:10.15288/jsad.22-00184 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“There are known to be wide-ranging impacts on research agendas (Fabbri et al., 2018), although formal documentation and study of global alcohol industry involvement in science is relatively recent (Babor, 2009; Babor & Robaina, 2013; Bartlett & McCambridge, 2021, 2022; Golder et al., 2020; Golder &…”
BackgroundMcCambridge, J., & Golder, S. (2023) · Addictive Behaviors · doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107932 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
The intersections of industry with the health research enterprise
Akl, E. A., & Khamis, A. M. (2019) · Health Research Policy and Systems · doi:10.1186/s12961-019-0457-7 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
“The study showed how corporations could bias the published evidence towards their interests and drive the research interests away from the most relevant public health problems to avoid blame for the public health problems [14, 15].”
BackgroundSmith, M. J., Baxter, A. J., Skivington, K., McCann, M., Hilton, S., & Katikireddi, S. V. (2021) · PLoS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0255604 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“argue that disclosure of COI and funding should be mandatory [34, 35].”
BackgroundChartres, N., Sass, J. B., Gee, D., Bălan, S. A., Birnbaum, L. S., Cogliano, V. J., Cooper, C., Fedinick, K. P., Harrison, R. M., Kolossa‐Gehring, M., et al. (2022) · Environmental Health · doi:10.1186/s12940-022-00926-z · Cited by 12 · see citing works
The State of Research Funding for Interventional Chronic Pain Therapies
Agarwal, S., Gharibo, C. G., & Schatman, M. E. (2023) · Journal of Pain Research · doi:10.2147/jpr.s418801 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Further, industry-funded research can create a perception of bias to outside readers, potentially leading to the dismissal of the findings of the studies.(10) As a result, some may view industry-funded studies with skepticism and distrust, even if the studies are well-designed and executed, and have undergone rigorous…”
BackgroundGorman, D. M., & Ferdinand, A. O. (2020) · Research Integrity and Peer Review · doi:10.1186/s41073-020-00098-9 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Makady, H., & Liu, F. (2022) · Lecture notes in computer science · doi:10.1007/978-3-031-05311-5_6 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Moheb, M. N. E., Karam, B. S., Assi, L., Armache, M., Khamis, A. M., & Akl, E. A. (2020) · World Journal of Surgery · doi:10.1007/s00268-020-05771-0 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
How pharmaceutical companies misappropriate fat acceptance
Bombak, A. E. (2023) · Critical Public Health · doi:10.1080/09581596.2023.2273201 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“The pharmaceutical industry cultivates a series of compromised policy, media, and clinical relationships (Fabbri et al., 2018).”
BackgroundOldac, Y. İ., & Olivos, F. (2025) · Review of Education · doi:10.1002/rev3.70021 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Graham, S. S., Grundy, Q., Sharma, N., Edward, J. S., Barbour, J. B., Rousseau, J. F., Majdik, Z. P., & Bero, L. A. (2025) · Research Integrity and Peer Review · doi:10.1186/s41073-025-00164-0 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“…industry affiliation, and conflicts of interest (COI) with positive results bias [1, 2], diminished trust [3], biases in setting research agendas [4, 5], and possible patient harm [6], too little has been done to implement meaningful policy change when it comes to preventing and managing COI…”
Self-citationKitagawa, T., Isaji, Y., Sasaki, D., Onishi, K., Hayashi, M., & Okuyama, W. (2025) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2024-093163 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
SRNT's Racial Equity Task Force, Piper, M. E., Maddox, R., Castro, Y., Hinds, J. T., Henderson, P. N., Clark, H. W., Guy, M. C., & Choi, K. (2022) · Addiction · doi:10.1111/add.15964 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Drivers of medicalization in the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines
Bombak, A. E., Adams, L., & Thille, P. (2022) · Canadian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.17269/s41997-022-00662-4 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Buchman, D. Z., & Rosenbaum, D. (2024) · Public Health Ethics · doi:10.1093/phe/phae002 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Industry sponsorship may also serve to shift research agendas in directions that may, knowingly or unintentionally, be harmful to public health (Goldberg, 2016; Fabbri et al. , 2018).”
BackgroundChartres, N., Fabbri, A., McDonald, S., Diong, J. H. L., McKenzie, J. E., & Bero, L. A. (2020) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-039036 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Self-citationGenuis, S. K., Luth, W., Campbell, S., Bubela, T. M., & Johnston, W. S. W. (2021) · Frontiers in Neurology · doi:10.3389/fneur.2021.683197 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Perceived status threat and health among White Americans: A scoping review
Efird, C. R., Bennett, F., Metzl, J. M., & Siddiqi, A. (2022) · SSM - Population Health · doi:10.1016/j.ssmph.2022.101326 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
“Our findings are limited by the inherent constraints of scoping reviews, which aim to provide breadth rather than depth of information about a given topic (Fabbri, Lai, Grundy, & Bero, 2018; Tricco et al., 2016).”
Baldez, D. P., Biazus, T. B., Rabelo‐da‐Ponte, F. D., Nogaro, G. P., Martins, D. S., Signori, J. P. S., Gnielka, V., Passos, I. C., Czepielewski, L. S., & Kunz, M. (2023) · Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy · doi:10.47626/2237-6089-2023-0664 · Cited by 9 · see citing works
- Authors
- Fabbri, A., Lai, A., Grundy, Q., & Bero, L. A.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Venue
- American Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- American Public Health Association
- Published
- 2018-11
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- e9-e16
- ISSN
- 0090-0036 (ISSN-L)
- 1541-0048
- PMC
- PMC6187765
- OpenAlex
- W2892388218
- Cited by
- 317
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 46 · 2024: 45 · 2023: 37 · 2022: 43 · 2021: 71 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 15 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 5.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmaceutical industry and healthcare
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Political Influence and Corporate Strategies
- Keywords
- industry funding, research agenda setting, corporate influence on research, research funding, conflicts of interest, commercial bias, research priorities, industry lobbying, research regulation, public health research, research ethics committees, research ethics training, research ethics oversight
- MeSH terms
- Industry, Policy Making, Research Support as Topic, Conflict of Interest
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