(NaturalNews) The clinical trial analysis and research studies published in some medical journals -- and that are used directly by doctors to diagnose and treat patients -- could be posited in biased language due to secret financial ties to drug or medical device companies, and nobody would ever know it.

Of 131 cancer journals sampled, a research team found that only 112 of them had any kind of policy requiring published research to state potential conflicts of interest -- the other 19 had absolutely no policies whatsoever.

Research that appears favorable to a new chemotherapy drug, for instance, might have been secretly prompted and funded by a drug company. But this disclosure would not be required in the 19 cancer journals sampled -- and among the other 112, it may or may not be disclosed in a meaningful or consistent manner, the team found.

Researchers presenting the findings on the drug in the journal could additionally have been paid to speak highly of it and minimize its side effects -- and doctors and other readers would never know the difference.

"Journals can't even agree on what a conflict of interest means," said Dr. Aaron S. Kesselheim from Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass., to Reuters Health concerning the findings. "It is certainly confusing to authors and to readers."

Back in 2009, an analysis by researchers from the University of Michigan (U-M) Comprehensive Cancer Center found that many clinical cancer studies published in reputable medical journals are directly connected to pharmaceutical companies.

The analysis, which itself was published in the American Cancer Society journal CANCER, stated that conflicts of interest cause some researchers to report results that are favorable to drug companies, rather than those that are favorable to the actual truth (http://www.naturalnews.com/026314_c...).

Kesselheim and his colleagues pored through 1,700 reports derived from various "high-impact" journals, and among the 27 that included editorials, only about half had any sort of conflict of interest disclosures. The others were falsely presented as having come from objective sources.

"Physicians -- like other professionals -- are influenced by incentives, especially financial incentives," added Kesselheim concerning the findings. "Conflicts of interest and financial relationships can have an impact on the research process and on the reporting of research, and they can also have an impact on physician behavior."