Definition

A conflict of interest is any circumstance that could reasonably be perceived to influence, or appear to influence, the judgement of authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, journal staff, or the publisher. Conflicts may be actual, potential, or perceived. Disclosure does not automatically prevent publication or participation, but it allows the journal to manage the matter transparently.

What Must Be Disclosed

• financial support, grants, sponsorships, paid consultancies, honoraria, travel support, employment, advisory roles, shareholding, patents, royalties, or commercial relationships;
• institutional affiliations or organisational relationships relevant to the manuscript;
• personal, family, supervisory, mentoring, collaborative, or competitive relationships;
• political, ideological, religious, or advocacy interests directly relevant to the study;
• academic rivalry, intellectual bias, or personal involvement in the subject under review; and
• funder or sponsor involvement in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.

When Disclosures Are Collected

• Authors must disclose conflicts of interest and funding at submission and update them during revision, acceptance, and post-publication if new information arises.
• Reviewers must disclose conflicts before accepting a review and at any point if they become aware of a conflict.
• Editors, Editorial Board members, and editorial staff must disclose conflicts before handling a manuscript and must recuse themselves where impartiality may be affected.
• The publisher or owner must not influence editorial decisions and must disclose any policy-level interest that could affect journal management.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must identify all sources of funding and describe the role of the funder or sponsor. Where no funding was received, authors may state: “This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”

Management of Conflicts

The journal may request clarification, publish conflict-of-interest disclosures with the article, appoint independent reviewers or editors, remove conflicted individuals from the process, reject a manuscript, issue a correction, publish an expression of concern, retract an article, or refer the matter to an institution where undisclosed conflicts compromise integrity. Failure to disclose relevant conflicts may be treated as publication misconduct.