Conflicts of Interest (COI)

A conflict of interest occurs when financial, personal, or professional relationships could influence or appear to influence the rigorousness of the research or the peer review process.

Author Obligations

Authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could bias their work.

Mandatory Declaration: Authors must include a "Conflicts of Interest" statement at the end of their manuscript (after the Conclusion).
Financial Disclosure: Researchers must reveal any financial support or funding sources provided for the research.
Funding Conflicts: If publication fees are covered by national or international organizations, this must be explicitly declared. Failure to disclose this information, especially if it leads to a conflict with grant authorities, will result in the immediate rejection or retraction of the paper.

If no conflicts exist, the authors should state: "The authors declare no conflicts of interest."

Reviewer Obligations

Reviewers must recuse themselves from the peer review process if they have a competing interest.

Reviewers must declare any financial, institutional, or personal conflicts with the authors or the work before accepting an invitation to review.
If a conflict exists (e.g., close collaboration with an author or working on a strictly competitive paper), the reviewer must decline the invitation.
Undisclosed conflicts of interest by reviewers are considered misconduct.

Editor Obligations

Editors are strictly prohibited from allowing financial factors or university administration to influence the acceptance process.

Editorial decisions are made solely based on scientific merit.
Editors must avoid coercive citation practices and must not allow personal biases to affect the fair review of a manuscript.