Conflict of Interest Policy

Authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any conflicts of interest at the earliest opportunity—for instance, when a manuscript is submitted or when a review task is accepted. A conflict of interest is defined as any personal, professional, or financial interest that could introduce bias into the journal's publication process.

Examples of Conflicts of Interest:

• Financial support from commercial entities that have an interest in the results;
• Personal relationships that could compromise objectivity during the review or publication process;
• Professional competition that would prevent an objective assessment of a submitted manuscript.

Disclosure of a conflict of interest by an author does not necessarily mean that the manuscript will be rejected by the journal. If it is discovered that an author has a conflict of interest that was not disclosed during the submission and review process, the editor will determine an appropriate course of action, which may include publishing a correction or issuing a retraction.