Conflicts of Interest Policy

Purpose: Reiterate and expand on conflict-of-interest policies for authors, editors, and reviewers.

Content and Elements:

• Definitions: Briefly define what constitutes a conflict (financial ties, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, personal relationships, academic competition).
• Authors: Require authors to disclose any COI related to the research or its funding. Provide a sample disclosure format: “Author A reports grants from X; Author B has a patent pending on Y.”
• Editors/Reviewers: State that editors and reviewers must disclose conflicts and recuse themselves if needed.
• Non-Disclosure Consequences: Mention that undisclosed conflicts can lead to retraction.
• Forms: Link to a COI declaration form if used.

Sample Wording: “All authors, editors, and reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest. If an author has any financial or personal relationships that could influence the work, these must be disclosed in the manuscript. If none exist, authors should explicitly state ‘The authors declare no conflict of interest.’ The Editor will reassign papers if a conflict exists among reviewers or editors.”