Conflict of Interest

Transparency regarding interests that may influence research or give rise to bias is a fundamental ethical requirement in scholarly publishing. The journal requires all parties involved, including authors, editors, and reviewers, to disclose such interests.

Disclosure Requirements for Authors

All authors are required to disclose any financial or personal relationships with individuals or organizations that could potentially influence or bias their work. This includes interests that existed within the past three years (from the initiation of the research through manuscript preparation), as well as any interests outside this time frame that could reasonably be perceived as influential.

Authors must complete and submit the official Declaration of Competing Interests Form simultaneously with manuscript submission:

https://zenodo.org/records/17764062/files/Declaration_Competing_Interests_Form.docx?download=1

Definitions and Examples of Potential Conflicts of Interest

Disclosures must cover both financial and non‑financial interests. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:

Category	Examples of Interests to Be Disclosed
Financial interests	Employment (recent, current, or anticipated); consultancy; stock ownership; honoraria or speaker fees; payments for expert testimony; patents; grants, research sponsorships, or other funding provided by sponsors
Non‑financial interests	Professional interests, personal relationships, or personal beliefs that may create bias; membership on editorial boards or advisory committees; direct academic competition; supervisor–student relationships

The “Embarrassment Test”:

A practical guideline for disclosure is for authors to ask themselves:

“Would I or my colleagues feel embarrassed if this relationship or agreement were revealed after publication without prior disclosure?”

Submission Requirement

Authors must upload the signed conflict‑of‑interest form at the time of submission. In addition, a summary of the disclosure must be included in a dedicated “Conflict of Interest Disclosure” section in the manuscript, placed before the reference list.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co‑authors comply with this policy.

Conflicts of Interest of Editors and Reviewers

• Editors:

Editorial board members and guest editors must declare any potential conflicts of interest in writing prior to appointment and update their disclosures if new conflicts arise. Editors must not handle manuscripts authored by themselves, their family members, or close colleagues. Such manuscripts must be managed independently by another editor.

• Reviewers:

Reviewers are required to inform the editor of any potential conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment, such as recent collaboration with an author or employment at the same institution. Reviewers are also discouraged from recommending citation of their own work (or that of close associates) unless there is a clear and genuine scholarly justification.