The authors and organisations producing patient-directed knowledge tools should declare their financial and intellectual conflicts of interest (COI). This includes patient or consumer representatives and their organisations. It should be clear what influence, if any, individuals and organisations had, or could be perceived to have had, on the content of the patient version. The same COI declaration forms as used for guideline development groups may be used, showing that patient versions are linked to the guideline not only in terms of content but also in terms of methods and transparency. If all authors of the patient version have already been part of the guideline panel, a new declaration of COI might not be necessary.