A conflict of interest arises when a participant in the publication process (author, reviewer or editor) has financial, personal, professional or institutional ties that could affect their objectivity.

Authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest in their covering letter and, where necessary, in the manuscript itself. This includes funding sources, employment relationships, consultancy work, personal relationships, etc.

Reviewers must notify the editorial office of any conflicts of interest and decline to review manuscripts where such a conflict exists.

Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest. In such cases, the manuscript is reassigned to another member of the editorial board.