Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to the publication or handling of the manuscript to the Editorial Office.

Authors

Authors must disclose any relationships or interests that pose direct or potential conflicts related to their research. These include, but are not limited to, employment, consultancies, stock ownership or options, patents, paid expert testimony, research funding, or honoraria for lectures. In addition, authors must declare any other potential competing interests that readers or editors might reasonably consider relevant to the publication, such as personal relationships, academic competition, or religious beliefs.

The corresponding author is responsible for including each author’s conflict of interest disclosure statement on the manuscript’s title page. Where there is any uncertainty about a potential conflict, authors are encouraged to complete the Disclosure of Interest form.

If there are no conflicts of interest to declare, please provide the following statement under Conflict of Interest:

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

Editors

Editors (including Editorial Board Members and Guest Editors) may submit manuscripts to the journal. In such instances, the peer review process will be handled under independent oversight by another editorial board member. The submitting individuals will be excluded from the decision-making process. The final decision will be made by an editorial board member with no conflict of interest regarding the author(s).

Reviewers

Editors should consider potential conflicts of interest when assigning reviewers. Reviewers are required to inform the editor of any relationships or activities that might reasonably be expected to influence—or be perceived to influence—their evaluation of the manuscript, and to recuse themselves by declining the review if such a possibility exists.

For a detailed definition of conflicts of interest, please refer to the “Conflicts of Interest” section of the ICMJE Recommendations.