Conflict of Interest Policy

Public trust in the peer review process and the credibility of published articles depend in part on how conflicts of interest are managed during writing, peer review, and decision-making by editors.

Conflicts of interest can arise when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that, whether apparent or not, could influence the preparation or evaluation of manuscripts. Conflicts of interest can be personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial in nature.

When authors submit a manuscript, they are responsible for acknowledging and disclosing financial or other conflicts that may have influenced their work. Authors should acknowledge in the manuscript all financial support for the work and other financial or personal connections to the research. The reviewer should disclose to the editors any conflicts of interest that could influence his or her opinion of the manuscript and, where appropriate, should declare himself or herself unqualified to review it.