Conflict of interest policy

What counts as a conflict of interest

Any circumstance that may unduly influence how a paper is presented or interpreted, such as financial, employment, personal, academic or institutional relationships that compromise, or appear to compromise, the impartiality of anyone involved in the editorial process.

Duty to disclose

Authors. They must include a conflict of interest statement and a funding statement in the manuscript, even if the answer is negative. The source of funds, or its absence, must be stated.

Reviewers. Before accepting a review, they must disclose whether in the last five years they have worked at the same institution as any of the authors, co-authored with them or supervised their academic work. They must also disclose any personal or financial relationship with them and whether they compete directly with the research under review.

Editorial team. Members must refrain from taking part in decisions on papers where a conflict exists and hand the process over to another member of the team.

Effect of disclosure

Disclosing a conflict does not exclude anyone from the process; it allows the editorial team to decide with complete information. Concealing it is a breach of the integrity of the process and may lead to the retraction of the published paper.