Disclosure Requirement

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose relationships or circumstances that could reasonably be perceived to influence the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of the work.

What Counts as a Competing Interest

• Financial: Grants, consulting arrangements, honoraria, employment, equity interests, or paid expert work relevant to the subject.
• Professional: Leadership roles, advisory positions, or direct competition that could affect impartiality.
• Personal: Family relationships or other interests that could reasonably be perceived as relevant.
• Intellectual Property: Commercial interests directly related to the methods, intervention, product, or findings under study.

Funding Disclosure

All sources of research support are disclosed, including the funder’s role, if any, in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit or publish — or a statement that the funder had no such role.

Reviewer and Editor Recusal

Reviewers decline where a material conflict could affect impartiality. Editors recuse themselves when they are authors, hold a material conflict, or otherwise cannot act independently; an independent editor handles the manuscript instead.

No Conflict Statement

Where there are no relevant competing interests, authors state: "The authors declare no conflicts of interest."

Post-Publication Changes

Undisclosed competing interests discovered after publication are assessed for their effect on the integrity and interpretation of the article and may lead to a correction, expression of concern, or other appropriate action.