CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Conflict of Interest or Competing Interests’ Policy
The Gazette of Medical Sciences (TheGMS) requires authors to declare any competing financial and/or non-financial interests in relation to the work described. The corresponding author is responsible for submitting a competing interests’ statement on behalf of all authors of the paper.
TheGMS defines competing interests as financial and non-financial interests that could reduce the objectivity, integrity and value of a publication, through a potential influence on the judgements and actions of authors with regard to objective data presentation, analysis and interpretation.
Authors must disclose and specify any competing interest during the submission process. They should provide a statement in the manuscript such as
“The authors declare no competing interests”
or
“The authors declare the existence of a financial/non-financial competing interest”
Authors should provide a complete statement of disclosure in their cover letter at the time of submission of the manuscript.
TheGMS invites peer-reviewers to exclude themselves for reviewing a manuscript in cases where there is a significant conflict of interest, financial or otherwise. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editor or the members of the editorial board for their own research purposes without the author’s explicit written consent. Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.
Financial competing interests include any of the following:
1. Authors should disclose whether any organization or a funder may gain or lose financially through the publication of the paper.
2. Authors should also disclose if the funder of the work has any specific role for in the preparation of the manuscript.
3. Authors should also disclose whether any personal financial interests may be affected by the publication of the paper.
TheGMS encourages authors and referees to declare any unpaid roles or relationships that might have a bearing on the publication process. Examples of non-financial competing interests include, but are not limited to the following:
I. Unpaid membership in a government or non-governmental organization
II. Unpaid membership in an advocacy or lobbying organization
III. Unpaid advisory position in a commercial organization
IV. Writing or consulting for an educational company
V. Acting as an expert witness