Conflict of Interest Policy

Adopted from Conflict of Interest in Peer-Reviewed Medical Journals which is prepared by WAME Editorial Policy and Publication Ethics Committees.

Articles would be published with statements or supporting documents declaring:

Authors’ conflicts of interest

• Sources of support for the work, including sponsor names along with explanations of the role of those sources if any in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; the decision to submit the report for publication; or a statement declaring that the supporting source had no such involvement; and
• Whether the authors had access to the study data, with an explanation of the nature and extent of access, including whether access is ongoing.

To support the above statements, editors may request that authors of a study sponsored by a funder with a proprietary or financial interest in the outcome sign a statement, such as “I had full access to all of the data in this study and I take complete responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.”

The disclosure form is available from the website, which has been adapted from the ICMJE Disclosure Form and should be filled at the time of acceptance of the manuscript. Disclosures are also obtained whenever deemed necessary at the time of review and editorial tasks.