Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when financial, professional, institutional or personal interests may unduly influence judgement on a manuscript. The existence of a conflict does not in itself preclude participation: what is unacceptable is failing to declare it.

Authors: Authors must declare in the manuscript all sources of funding, contractual relationships, links with organisations with an interest in the results, and any other interest that might be perceived as influential. Where no conflict exists, this must be stated explicitly: "The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest relating to the research, authorship or publication of this article."

Reviewers: Reviewers must decline to assess manuscripts from their own institution, from people with whom they have co-authored in the previous three years, or in respect of which they hold any personal, professional or competing relationship that compromises their impartiality.

Editorial team and committees: Members recuse themselves from any decision concerning their own manuscripts, those of their institution, or those affected by personal or professional relationships. Manuscripts authored by members of the editorial team are handled entirely by another editor, with no access to the file by the member concerned.

Editorial service providers: External production, copy-editing and translation services are publicly declared and take no part in decisions on the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts.