AUTHORS

All potential conflicts of interest that could have a direct or indirect influence on the work must be disclosed by the authors. Even if no conflicts exist, providing affiliation and interest disclosures ensures transparency, leading to a more accurate and objective evaluation of the research. Readers have the right to be aware of any potential conflicts, whether actual or perceived.

A conflict-of-interest statement must be included in the article itself, along with the submission of a conflict disclosure form, for all types of papers. A financial relationship—such as research funding or consulting work—that is not inherently inappropriate should still be disclosed for transparency. Even if the authors do not have any conflict of interest, they must still provide a confirmation statement in their manuscripts, i.e., “The author(s) confirm(s) that there is no conflict of interest related to the manuscript”.

The following are some examples of potential conflicts of interest that are directly or indirectly related to the research:

Financial competing interests include (but are not limited to):

• Type of support/grant number

• Institutional Conflicts of Interest

• Funds received by the author

• Funds received by the institution

• Travel allowances for research

• Funds received for article preparation and reviewing

• Funds for conducting review activities

• Support provided for article writing assistance, for drugs, equipment, etc

• Paid lectures

• Pending funds or grants

Financial conflicts of interest can be personal as well as institutional. Personal conflict of interest occurs when an individual involved in the publication process receives or expects to receive financial benefits (such as patents, stocks, gifts or services) that may influence their work on a specific publication. In academic research, such financial relationships can create institutional conflicts of interest (COIs), where the economic interests of the institution or its representatives may impact the decision-making process.

An institutional conflict of interest arises when the financial interests of an institution or its officials (e.g., university investments in a company) have the potential to unduly influence research outcomes, or pose ethical concerns, particularly in studies involving human subjects.

These conflicts typically arise when a research project directly benefits an external entity through evaluations, validations, trials, or tests of an invention, product, drug, service or technology, and the institution holds a financial interest in that entity. Such financial interests incorporate, but are not limited to, licensing payments or royalties from the external entity, or ownership interest in an external entity. When human subjects are involved in a research project and the institution a financial interest, the conflict of interest is considered unreasonable.

Non-financial competing interests include (but are not limited to):

In addition to monetary interests and funding, authors must disclose non-financial interests that may be relevant to readers. This includes personal relationships or conflicting interests directly or indirectly related to research, as well as professional affiliations or personal opinions that may influence a study’s results.

Intellectual property refers to any intangible assets resulting from creative work, such as patents and copyrights. Authors must disclose any intellectual property interests, including patent ownership, pending applications, or financial benefits received for intellectual property. The following details should be provided:

• Patent information

• Licensed Patent information

• Issued Patent information

• Pending Patent information

• Royalties information

• Licensee Details

• Additional Remarks

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

All conflict-of-interest disclosure forms must be collected and submitted by the corresponding author. It is sufficient for the corresponding author to sign the disclosure form on behalf of all authors in author collaborations when legal agreements for representation allow it. The template of the disclosure form can be found here.

ICMJE disclosure form

Before the reference list, the corresponding author will include a summary statement in the article, reflecting the information provided in the conflict-of-interest disclosure form(s). Author(s) may identify potential reviewers whom they believe may have a conflict of interest. This allows the Editorial Office to avoid inviting such reviewers, ensuring an unbiased peer-review process.

UNDISCLOSED CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Undisclosed conflict of interest cases before or after the publication of an article are dealt with as per COPE guidelines.

Undisclosed conflicts of interest in a submitted article (View COPE guidelines).

Undisclosed conflicts of interest in a published article (View COPE guidelines).

For more information on Conflict of Interest, see the guidance from the ICMJE.

PEER REVIEWERS

Bentham Science is committed to conducting a transparent peer-review process ensuring that reviewers have no conflicts of interest with the authors. To maintain impartiality, reviewers who belong to the same institution or country are genrally not invited to review manuscripts. However, since it is not always possible for the Editorial Office to identify all competing interests, authors are required to submit:

List of reviewers they believe may have a conflict of interest, helping to ensure a fair and unbiased review process.

The Editorial Office expects reviewers to:

1. Decline manuscript review requests if they have any potential conflict of interest and inform the Editorial Office accordingly.

2. Decline review requests if they have recently published or submitted an article with any of the authors listed in the manuscript.

3. Inform the Editorial Office if they have a personal relationship with the authors or work in the same institutions, as this may compromise review transparency.

4. To abstain from reviewing and informing the Editorial Office, Editor-in-Chief, and Handling Editors if they identify any scientific misconduct, fraud, plagiarism, conflict of interest, or any other unethical behavior during the review process.

When submitting review comments, reviewers must reconfirm that they do not have any conflicts of interest related to the manuscript. After confirming the below statement, they can submit their comments “I hereby confirm that I don’t have any conflict of interest related to the manuscript”. If, however, there are still any remaining interests, then reviewers must disclose them in the ‘Confidential’ section of the review form.

Reviewers are strictly prohibited from directly contacting authors regarding conflicts of interest. They must adhere to the journal’s policies when handling potential conflicts that may affect their ability to provide an objective review.

UNDISCLOSED CONFLICT OF INTEREST

If reviewers intentionally fail to disclose any conflict of interest, they will be blacklisted and prohibited from participating in future peer reviewing activities for the journal.The Editorial Office also ensures that if an author is added after the peer-review process, they were not part of the reviewer panel that previously evaluated the same manuscript.

EDITORS

Editors must not review or make decisions on submitted manuscripts if they have any personal, professional or financial conflicts of interest with the authors. All participants involved in the peer-review process, including editorial board members, reviewers, and editors, are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest to maintain transparency and impartiality in the review process.

Editors-in-Chief or Editors responsible for making initial and final decisions must recuse themselves from reviewing or making editorial decisions on a manuscript if

1. it is written by authors affiliated with the same institution as the editor,

2. if the editor has a personal relationship with the author (e.g., a family member, former collaborator, or competitor), or

3. have co-authored a manuscript in the last three years with any of the authors.

The editor can, however, nominate an alternative Board Member who can provide a neutral and unbiased opinion on the manuscript.

The Editorial office strongly recommends that editors adhere to the COPE and WAME guidelines when handling manuscripts that involve personal relationships.

Manuscripts submission by an Editor/Editor-in-Chief

The initial and final decision on manuscripts submitted by an Editor or Editor-in-Chief will be made by another Editorial Board Member. The Editorial Office will ensure that selected Editorial Board Members do not have any potential conflict of interest with the Editor or Editor-in-Chief.