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).
Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest is distinct and extends beyond direct support for this work. Within a manuscript, the funding statement should include only direct support of the work described. Support for an individual’s contribution for the work should be reported as such. General institutional support for an author’s time on the work should be distinguished from direct overall funding of the work.