Declaring interests that could affect judgment.

A conflict of interest (competing interest) exists when financial, professional, or personal relationships could influence, or could reasonably be seen to influence, a person's judgment about a manuscript. Having a conflict is not wrong in itself; failing to declare it is.

Types of Interest

• Financial: funding, employment, consultancy, shares, honoraria, patents, or paid expert testimony related to the work.
• Professional: collaboration, shared institutional affiliation, supervision, or direct academic competition.
• Personal: family relationships, friendships, or personal animosity.
• Ideological or political: strong beliefs or affiliations directly relevant to the topic.

Authors

Declare all interests in the manuscript's declarations and in the submission form, including the role of any funder in the study design, data collection, analysis, or decision to publish. If there are none, state: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Reviewers

Decline to review, or inform the editor, if you work at the same institution as an author, have co-authored with an author in the last three years, supervise or were supervised by an author, know the author personally, or have a financial or competing interest. Do not use information from the manuscript for your own advantage.

Editors

Editors do not handle manuscripts from their own institution, collaborators, students, or relatives, or in which they have any other interest; another editor takes over and the conflicted editor has no access to the review. Editors' own submissions are handled under the Peer Review Process.

Undisclosed Conflicts

A conflict discovered after publication may lead to a correction or, if it affects the conclusions, an expression of concern or retraction under the Corrections and Retractions policy.

Science Infotech (SEIN) · Last updated: [DD Month 2026]