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 must disclose all relationships that could be viewed as potential conflicts of interest.
Authors: When they submit a manuscript they are responsible for disclosing all financial and personal relationships that might bias or be seen to bias their work. The ICMJE has developed a Form for Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest to facilitate and standardize authors’ disclosures. If there is no potential conflict of interest, please include on the title page a notice ‘Conflict of interest: none declared’.
Reviewers: Reviewers are asked at the time they are invited to critique a manuscript if they have conflicts of interest, that could complicate their review. 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.
Editors and Journal Staff: Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts or other editorial staff members who participate in editorial decisions should recuse themselves from proceeding if they have conflicts of interest or relationships that pose potential conflicts related to articles under consideration. Editorial staff must not use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain. Guest editors should follow these same procedures.
Reporting Conflicts of Interest: Manuscripts are published with an appropriate notice whether there is not or is a conflict of interest detailing its type and character. All sources of funding should be acknowledged in the manuscript.
