Competing Interest

Competing interests, also known as conflicts of interest, refer to situations in which an author's financial, personal, or professional relationships or interests could influence or be perceived to influence the research or the presentation of the findings. Here are some common examples of things that may be included in a statement of competing interests:

• Financial relationships, including direct employment, consultancies, honoraria, speaker fees, stock ownership or options, patents or patent applications, and funding from a for-profit organization
• Non-financial relationships, including personal or political affiliations, academic competition, or personal beliefs that may affect the interpretation of the research
• Intellectual property rights that may be affected by the publication of the research
• Employment by, or advisory role for, a government agency that may be affected by the research
• Past or present collaborations or relationships with other authors or researchers that may affect the research or its presentation
• Other conflicts of interest that may affect the research or its presentation

Disclosure Requirements

Authors must declare all relevant financial and non-financial interests at the time of manuscript submission. This includes relationships with entities that could benefit or suffer from the publication of the work.

Editors and reviewers must also disclose any competing interests that might bias their handling or evaluation of a manuscript. When such interests exist, they must recuse themselves from the review or editorial process.

All disclosures should be made during manuscript submission and updated promptly if circumstances change before publication.

The disclosure form is available in our online submission system and can be easily completed during the article submission process.

Editorial Management of Declared Interests

Editors will assess declared conflicts to determine whether they require disclosure in the published article or influence the editorial process.

Reviewers with potential conflicts must inform the editor before accepting a review invitation. The editor may assign an alternative reviewer when appropriate.

Editors who have a competing interest with a submission (e.g., shared authorship, institutional affiliation, or personal relationship) must delegate editorial responsibility to another qualified editor.

In complex cases, the journal may refer conflict management decisions to an independent ethics committee or the publisher’s research integrity officer.

Undeclared or Discovered Conflicts

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after submission or publication, the editorial team will investigate the case following COPE procedures.

Authors will be contacted to provide clarification or an updated disclosure statement. The journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction depending on the severity.

Failure to disclose relevant interests may result in manuscript rejection, publication retraction, or notification of the author’s institution or funding body.

Transparency in Publication

A “Competing Interests” statement will be published in all articles, even if the authors declare no conflicts.

Authors must describe the role of funders in study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or manuscript preparation.

The journal may make author and reviewer conflict disclosures publicly available in the interest of transparency.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

All conflict disclosures are treated confidentially and used solely for editorial and ethical evaluation purposes.

Disclosure records are securely stored and accessible only to authorized editorial staff, in compliance with data protection laws.

Policy Compliance and Enforcement

All contributors must comply with this policy. Editors are responsible for ensuring that conflict declarations are obtained and transparently communicated.

Failure to disclose relevant interests may lead to rejection, retraction, or temporary suspension from submission or review activities.

Authors may appeal conflict-related editorial decisions by submitting an appeal and supporting evidence to halo@etflin.com for independent reconsideration.