Conflict of Interest

All authors, reviewers, and editors involved in the publication process for this journal are required to disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived to influence, or that could be perceived as influencing, the objectivity, integrity, or validity of a submitted manuscript.

Authors must disclose, at the time of submission, any potential conflicts of interest including but not limited to funding sources, employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership, patents, or personal relationships that may bias their work. A statement of any conflict, or its absence, should be included in the manuscript.

Reviewers who believe they have a conflict of interest in reviewing a particular manuscript, whether due to a direct competing interest, a close professional or personal relationship with the authors, or any other reason that may compromise an impartial review, should decline the invitation to review and inform the editor of the reason.

Editors who have a conflict of interest with a submitted manuscript, including authorship by a colleague, collaborator, or relative, must recuse themselves from the editorial decision-making process for that manuscript and assign it to another qualified editor.

The journal is committed to ensuring that editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial, financial, or personal considerations, and takes disclosed conflicts of interest into account when making publication decisions.