Conflict of Interest
Policies / Conflict of Interest
Conflict of Interest Policy
What authors, reviewers and editors must disclose as competing interests, and how undisclosed conflicts are addressed.
A conflict of interest arises when a secondary interest — financial, professional or personal — has the potential to influence judgement about a primary interest, such as the validity of research, the welfare of participants or the fairness of a review. Disclosing an interest does not imply impropriety; the risk to trust lies in non-disclosure. This policy applies to authors, reviewers and editors and follows the ICMJE approach.
Interests that must be disclosed
Both financial and non-financial interests fall within scope, commonly including:
| ▸ | employment, consultancy, paid advisory, expert-witness or speaker roles, and honoraria; |
| ▸ | research grants, industry funding, share ownership, patents and royalties; |
| ▸ | relationships with pharmaceutical, device, diagnostics or other commercial organisations with an interest in the subject matter; and |
| ▸ | close personal relationships, academic rivalry, or strongly held professional or advocacy positions relevant to the topic. |
In medical and healthcare research, authors should give particular attention to relationships with companies whose products or services are studied or discussed, and to the funder’s role in the study.
Authors, reviewers and editors
Every manuscript must carry a conflict-of-interest statement disclosing the relevant interests of all authors, or affirming that none exists, together with all funding sources and the funder’s role; an undisclosed interest found after publication may lead to a correction or retraction. A reviewer must decline, or inform the editor, where a competing interest could compromise an impartial assessment. An editor must not handle any manuscript in which they hold a competing interest, including work by themselves or close collaborators; such manuscripts are reassigned, and Editorial Board members’ submissions receive no preferential treatment.
