Conflict of Interest Policy

A declaration of conflicting interest policy refers to a formal policy a journal may have to require a conflict of interest statement or conflict of interest disclosure from a submitting or publishing author.

In Guidelines on Good Publication Practice (2003), (COPE) Committee on Publication Ethics states that:

When the authors, reviewers or editors have some interest that are not expressed properly and due to which judgement is influenced in the publication, conflicts of interest arise. They are like questions when and which; which can later misguide the reader or can make them feel deceived.

There can be some potential conflicts of interest by the scholars, researchers and potentials and their conflict of interest can or could be seen to have an effect on their research. This is the reason journals need a formal statement of conflicting interests letting a statement to be carried within the paginated published articles

The judgments, actions or the results can be influenced due to the potential conflicting interest that might be because of the relationships, commitments or conflicts between some particular organization, group or interest. If such interest becomes the means of personal gain or private, the issue becomes quite sensitive.

Articles cannot be rejected on the basis of competing interest rather they are evaluated fairly.

Some of the examples of conflict of interest are as follows:

• Receiving fees for consulting
• Receiving research funding
• Getting employed by an associated company
• Having stocks or shares in a business which might be affected by the publication of your paper.
• Having reimbursed funds for attending a related symposia or talk.

If there are any other reasons which might affect the analysis of the reader regarding the research, these must be declared.

*Please note that the financial arrangements should not be disclosed while declaring competing interest.

Author obligations regarding conflicting interests

The things you will be asked to certify in Journal Publishing Contributor Agreement:

1. Any financial support during research, even pharmaceutical company should be acknowledged in the contribution.
2. Any commercial or financial involvements that might present an appearance of a conflict of interest related to the Contribution should be disclosed in a covering letter accompanying the Contribution and all such potential conflicts of interest will be discussed with the Editor as to whether disclosure of this information with the published Contribution is to be made in the journal.

1. That you have not signed an agreement with any sponsor of the research reported in the Contribution that prevents you from publishing both positive and negative results or that forbids you from publishing this research without the prior approval of the sponsor.

1. That you have checked the manuscript submission guidelines to see whether the journal requires a Declaration of Conflicting Interests and have complied with the requirements specified where such a policy exists.

How do I check the Manuscript Submission Guidelines to see if the journal to which I am submitting or publishing requires a declaration?

Before submitting the manuscript, the author needs to consult the manuscript submission guidelines on the journal’s page to check the policy to ensure the specific requirements to be fulfilled.

Editor obligations regarding conflicting interests

Obligations

The responsibilities for editor and guest editors who will be writing articles to be published in the journal will be the same.

How do I make a declaration?

If the author needs to make a declaration of conflicting interest for publishing the article in a journal, the declaration at the end of the manuscript should be after the acknowledgment but before the funding acknowledgement, References and Notes under the heading of ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interest’. It is important to mention if there is no conflict of interest.

*Please note, if journal does not require conflict of interest, the conflict of Interest statement will not be presented in the journal. In the journals where conflict of interest is required, the information should be specific and the financial relationship of the author with the sponsoring organization should be mentioned.

Additional Information  

For more information regarding conflict of interest policies the following code of practices in relation to general publication ethics should be considered:

COPE, Committee of Publication Ethics can provide the guidelines on good publication and the code of conduct.

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) can also provide the author with guidelines.

A common standard for Conflict of Interest Disclosure published by Center for Science in the Public Interest can also provide guidelines for authors.