Conflict of Interest Policy
Home » A conflict of interest is defined as any relationship that authors, reviewers, or editors have which may interfere with the full and objective presentation, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication of a manuscript. Conflicts of interest can be financial or non-financial, professional or personal, and may arise in relation to an organization or an individual.
Authors
When authors submit a manuscript of any type or format, they are responsible for disclosing all relationships and activities that might bias or be perceived to bias their work (e.g., employment, consulting fees, research contracts, stock ownership, patent licenses, honoraria, advisory affiliations, etc.). Environmental Reports is committed to following the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) regarding authors’ conflict of interest disclosures.
Authors are required to complete the ICMJE Disclosure Form, which standardizes the disclosure process. This form must be uploaded under the additional files section during manuscript submission or sent via email to editor@researchfloor.org. For detailed ICMJE recommendations regarding financial and non-financial relationships, please refer to the provided link.
Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose any relationships or activities that could bias their opinions regarding the manuscript to the journal editors. If a potential for bias exists, reviewers should recuse themselves from reviewing that particular manuscript. Reviewers must not use knowledge gained from the manuscripts they are reviewing for personal gain. The review form provided in the reviewer login area should be used to disclose any conflicts of interest.
Editors and Journal Staff
Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts must not have personal, professional, or financial involvement in any of the issues they evaluate. Other members of the editorial staff involved in editorial decisions must disclose their financial interests to the editors and recuse themselves from decisions where a conflict of interest exists. Editorial staff must not use information obtained through their work with manuscripts for personal benefit. When editors submit their own work to Environmental Reports, another colleague in the editorial office will manage the manuscript, and the editor/author must recuse themselves from discussions and decisions related to it.
Note
These policies are based on the recommendations of the ICMJE.
Additional Information
For further resources regarding conflict of interest policies, existing codes of practice, and general good practices in journal publication ethics, please refer to the following:
[Guidelines on Good Publication and Code of Conduct by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)](https://publicationethics.org)
[ICMJE Guidelines](http://www.icmje.org)
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