Conflict of Interest

A competing interest is a relationship or activity that could affect, or reasonably appear to affect, impartial judgment. It may be financial or non-financial, including employment, consultancy, funding, shareholdings, patents, personal relationships, recent collaboration, academic rivalry, or strongly held interests relevant to the work. Disclosure does not by itself establish wrongdoing.

Authors must disclose relevant interests at submission, update them when necessary, and identify funding and the funder’s role. An explicit statement is required when no relevant competing interests exist. Appropriate author disclosures will accompany the published article.

Reviewers must disclose relevant interests before accepting an invitation and decline or stop reviewing when impartiality cannot be maintained. Editors and staff must withdraw from affected decisions; submissions involving an editor require independent handling. The publisher must not allow its financial interests to determine editorial outcomes.

Newly discovered interests will be assessed for their effect on the work and the decision-making process. A published disclosure may be corrected; more serious concerns may require further investigation or other action under Correction and Retraction.