Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest exists when one’s professional judgment about the execution of the research and/or the presentation of the content is, or could reasonably be perceived to be, influenced by other interests. Review the examples below regarding the 5-year time frame when preparing your competing interests statement.
Financial conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Awarded, planned, or pending patents, including individual applications or those belonging to the institution to which the authors are affiliated and from which the authors may benefit
- Ownership of stocks, shares, or stock options, even if not publicly traded
- Paid employment or consultancy
- Received payment for serving as a member of an Advisory Committee and/or as an officer/member of the Board for any entity engaged in activity related to the subject matter of this contribution
Non-financial conflicts of interest that could impact the research reported here include, but are not limited to:
- Acting as an expert witness
- Member of a government or other advisory board
- Relationship (paid or unpaid) with organizations and funding bodies, including nongovernmental organizations, research institutions, or charities
- Membership in lobbying or advocacy organizations
- Writing or consulting for a company whose activities might impact the objectivity of this paper
- Personal relationships (e.g., friend, spouse/partner, family member, mentor, adversary) that could affect objectivity
- Personal beliefs (political, religious, ideological, or other) related to a paper’s topic that might interfere with an unbiased publication process (at the stage of authorship, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication)