Conflict of Interest Policy
A conflict of interest exists where financial, professional or personal considerations could reasonably be seen to compromise objectivity. Disclosure is required from authors, reviewers and editors alike — declaring an interest is not an admission of wrongdoing, and most declared interests do not prevent participation.
What must be declared
- Funding, grants and material support for the work, with grant numbers.
- Employment, consultancy, paid advisory roles, honoraria and speaking fees.
- Stock ownership, patents and patent applications, and royalties.
- Membership of boards, committees or advocacy groups relevant to the subject.
- Close personal relationships — family, close friendship or personal animosity.
- Recent collaboration, shared institution, or a supervisory relationship.
- Any competing project where the outcome of the manuscript could affect the individual.
Authors
Every submission must contain a conflict of interest statement covering all authors. Where there is nothing to declare, state: "The authors declare no competing interests." Funders' roles must be described — whether they had any part in study design, data collection, analysis, or the decision to publish.
Reviewers
Reviewers with a competing interest should decline the invitation, or disclose the interest to the handling editor and let the editor decide. Reviewers must not use knowledge gained from a manuscript to advance their own work or to delay a competitor.
Editors
An editor handling a manuscript by a colleague, recent collaborator, student, supervisor or relative — or on a topic where they have a competing interest — must recuse themselves and hand the manuscript to another editor. Where the Editor-in-Chief is an author, the manuscript is handled independently by another senior editor, and the Editor-in-Chief has no access to the review record.