In response to concerns brought to my attention in recent months, including those presented by Drs Owens and House, the Editorial Board now requires that authors of editorials and items of correspondence submit a Declaration of Interest, as authors of papers have been required to do for some time now. Similarly, assessors participating in peer review will in future be instructed not to assess material in which they have an interest. This change in policy is reflected in the Instructions for Authors, published in the July issue of the Journal, available on-line at http://bjp.rcpsych.org/misc/ifora.shtml and available upon request from the publishers. Declarations of Interest for papers and editorials will be published as a matter of course. In the interests of space, Declarations of Interest for items of correspondence will be published at the Correspondence Editor's discretion.

I have acted as proxy Correspondence Editor in the acceptance of the above letter and its response, in view of Dr Hotopf's interest in the matter.