Conflict of Interest

Public trust in the scientific process and the credibility of published articles depend in part on how transparently conflicts of interest are handled during the planning, implementation, writing, peer review, editing, and publication of scientific work. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients' welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain). Perceptions of conflict of interest are as important as actual conflicts of interest.

Financial relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership or options, honoraria, patents, and paid expert testimony) are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and of science itself. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships or rivalries, academic competition, and intellectual beliefs. Authors should avoid entering in to agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose. 

Purposeful failure to disclose conflicts of interest is a form of misconduct. The areas below indicate requirements for appropriate handling of any conflicts of interest:

1. Participants

All participants in the peer-review and publication process—not only authors but also peer reviewers, editors, and editorial board members of journals—must consider their conflicts of interest when fulfilling their roles in the process of article review and publication and when necessary recuse themselves from the review process. Authors have the ability to exclude reviewers as part of their submission process to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

a.Authors
When authors submit a manuscript of any type or format they are responsible for disclosing all financial and personal relationships that might bias or be seen to bias their work. Authors must complete their conflict of interest form when submitting their manuscripts for peer review.

b. Peer Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose to editors any conflicts of interest that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and should recuse themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if the potential for bias exists. Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work they’re reviewing before its publication to further their own interests.

c. Editors and Journal Staff
Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts should recuse themselves from editorial decisions if they have conflicts of interest or relationships that pose potential conflicts related to articles under consideration. Other editorial staff members who participate in editorial decisions must provide editors with a current description of their financial interests or other conflicts (as they might relate to editorial judgments) and recuse themselves from any decisions in which a conflict of interest exists. Editorial staff must not use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain. 

2. Reporting Conflicts of Interest
Articles should be published with statements declaring the Authors’ conflicts of interest, sources of support for the work, including sponsor names along with explanations of the role of those sources if any in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; or the decision to submit the report for publication.  

Conflict of Interest Policy: All authors are expected to disclose any significant financial interest or other relationship(s), (1) with the manufacturers of any commercial product(s) to be discussed in the submitted manuscript, and (2) with any commercial supporters of the manuscript, (i.e., grants, research support, employee, consultant, stock holder, honoraria). All conflicts of interest should be disclosed in the acknowledgement section at the end of the manuscript prior to the reference section. 

(Modified from ICJME http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/author-responsibilities--conflicts-of-interest.html)