Kevin C. Elliott, an assistant professor of philosophy at the University of South Carolina at Columbia, asserts in the January issue of the journal "Accountability in Research" that the three pillars of academe's attempts to police conflict of interest--disclosure, management, and elimination of conflicts--are beset by serious flaws. Charges of mismanaged conflicts at the National Institutes of Health and plagiarism in the biomedical literature, aired during the past two weeks, underline the importance of Mr. Elliott's points.