The Brazilian Meeting on Research Integrity, Science and Publication Ethics (BRISPE) has been held every two years since 2010 in Brazil. The BRISPE has been the major forum for discussion of research integrity in the country. Although it is a national meeting, it has strengthened the role Brazilian science has played in international conversations on the responsible conduct of research. In 2010, the I BRISPE (www.ibrispe.coppe.ufrj.br) focused on research integrity issues related to research projects, to the submission and review process of manuscripts, and to authorship. In 2012, the II BRISPE (www.iibrispe.coppe.ufrj.br) addressed research integrity and leadership in science. The meeting looked at the country's responsibility to foster responsible research, considering its scientific leadership in Latin America. The meeting led to the publication of the Joint Statement on Research Integrity, (www.iibrispe.coppe.ufrj.br/ images/IIBRISPE/JoinStatement/JointStatementonResearchIntegrity_IIBRIS-PE_2012_English.pdf). In 2014, the III BRISPE (http://www.fapesp.br/8788) focused on institutional policies to foster research integrity initiatives at universities and research centers in Brazil. Locally, the III BRISPE was also a preparatory meeting for the 4 th World Conference on Research Integrity, which was held in Rio de Janeiro, in 2015 (www.wcri2015.org). In 2016, the IV BRISPE (www.brispe2016.org) drew upon the role of mentors, editors and funders to strengthen a research integrity culture in Brazilian science. The event was held at the Federal University of Goiás (UFG), November 17-18, 2016, with 260 participants. For this fourth edition of the meeting, there was a call for submissions for oral and poster sessions on research and education and on science policy. From 40 submissions, 34 were accepted. The Proceedings of the IV BRISPE contain the abstracts of oral and poster presentations of authors who agreed to have them published. The V BRISPE will be held in 2018.

In the last decade, dialogue between science and society has found a forum in an increasing number of publications on topics such as public engagement with science and public trust in science. Concerning the latter, issues that include cases of research misconduct, accountability in research, and conflicts of interest (COIs) have shaped global discussions on the communication of science. In the publication setting, the perception that hiding COIs and/or not managing them well may affect public trust in the research record has grown among editors. We conducted a search for editorials addressing COIs between 1989 and 2011, using four major databases: Medline/PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge. We explored the content of these editorials and the relationship they established between COIs and the public trust in science. Our results demonstrate that the relationship between disclosure of COIs and public trust in science has become a major concern among editors. We, thus, argue that COIs should be discussed more openly and frequently in graduate courses in the sciences, around the globe, not only in biomedical but also in non-biomedical areas. This is a critical issue in contemporary science, as graduate students are the future voices and decision-makers of the research community. Therefore, COIs, especially in the broader context of science and society, merit closer attention from policymakers, researchers, and educators. At times of great expectations for public engagement with science, mishandling of COIs may have undesirable consequences for public engagement with science and confidence in the scientific endeavor.