A conflict of interest may occur when an author or an author's employer or sponsor has a financial, commercial, legal, or professional relationship with other organizations or with the people working with them that may exert an influence on that author's research.
A conflict can be actual or potential and as such disclosure in full is required at the point of submission by the author. All manuscript submissions to the Journal must include the disclosure of any and all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. Once disclosed, the Journal Editor may use such information for making editorial decisions and may publish such disclosures if they are held to be important to readers in judging the manuscript. Additionally, a decision may be made by the Journal Editor or peer reviewers not to publish on the basis of any declared conflict.
Personal conflicts of interest
A list of potential conflicts of interest in relation to the submitted manuscript could include:
Consultancies
Employment
Grants
Fees & Honoraria
Patents
Royalties
Stock or share ownership
If necessary, please describe any potential conflicts of interest in a covering letter. All funding sources supporting the work should also be acknowledged.
Institutional conflicts of interest
Are you aware that your employer has any financial interest in or a financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript? If 'Yes' then please also provide additional detail in a covering letter.
Disclosure statement
Authors should also include a relevant Disclosure Statement along with the text of their article, in conjunction with any Acknowledgments and Details of Funders.