Conflict of Interest

The journal requires all authors and reviewers to declare any conflicts of interest that may be inherent in their submissions. Conflict of interest for a given manuscript exists when a participant in the peer review and publication process – author, reviewer, or editor – has ties to activities that could inappropriately influence his or her judgment, regardless of whether or not judgment is in fact affected. Financial relationships with industry, for example, through employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, expert testimony, either directly or through immediate family, are usually considered to be the most notable conflicts of interest. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion.

Editors — Editors may request that authors of a study funded by an agency with a proprietary or financial interest in the outcome be required to sign the following statement: "I had full access to all of the data in this study and I take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis."

Authors — When they submit a manuscript, whether an article or a letter, authors are responsible for recognizing and disclosing financial and other conflicts of interest that might bias their work. All financial support for the work and/or other financial and personal connections to the work shall be clearly acknowledged by the author in the manuscript.

Reviewers — External peer reviewers should inform the editors of any conflicts of interest that could bias their review of the manuscript and shall refrain themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if they deem it appropriate. The editors must be made aware of reviewers’ conflicts of interest in order to interpret the reviews and determine whether the reviewer should be disqualified. Reviewers shall not use findings of any research work prior to its publication to further their own interests.