Purpose and Scope
This policy is the framework's definitive statement on competing interests. Other policies apply it to particular roles — B1 to editors, B2 to reviewers, B3 to guest editors, C1 to authors' declarations, F2 and F3 to financial and commercial arrangements — and this policy supplies the definitions and management principles those applications rest on. It binds every person and organisation involved in the creation, assessment, handling or publication of content in journals operating under the LMI publishing framework.
Definition
A competing interest exists where a financial, personal, professional, academic, ideological, political or institutional relationship or circumstance could reasonably be perceived to influence a person's judgement or conduct in relation to a submission, a publication or a decision. Three consequences follow and govern its application throughout the framework:
- Perception is the test, not proof of bias. No one need demonstrate that judgement was actually affected. If a reasonable, informed observer could perceive a capacity to influence, the interest is disclosable.
- Having an interest is not misconduct. Interests are ordinary features of professional life; a disclosed and properly managed interest carries no imputation of wrongdoing. What is prohibited is non-disclosure, and deliberate concealment may be assessed under C5.
- Doubt is resolved by disclosing. A person uncertain whether an interest is relevant shall disclose it and allow the journal to assess relevance, rather than withhold it on their own view of its importance.
Financial competing interests include employment or prospective employment; consultancies and advisory roles; honoraria, speaker fees and expert-witness payments; grants and research funding; equity, options and other ownership interests; patents, patent applications and licensing income; paid travel and hospitality; and payments to a person's institution or department attributable to their work.
Non-financial competing interests include close personal relationships; family relationships; supervisory, mentoring or student relationships; recent or ongoing collaboration; unpublished competing work in the same area; roles in organisations with a stake in the subject matter; strongly held ideological, political or religious commitments engaged by the subject matter; and institutional interests such as reputational stakes of an employer. A firmly held scholarly opinion is not by itself a disqualifying interest; expertise necessarily entails views. What matters is whether the relationship or stake, rather than the opinion, could be perceived to compromise impartiality.
Disclosure and Recusal
Disclosure means a timely, specific, written statement of an interest to the party entitled to assess it — normally the journal — identifying the nature of the interest, the parties involved and the relevant period. Generic statements such as “the authors have relationships with industry” do not satisfy this policy.
Recusal means withdrawal from participation in a matter because a competing interest could affect, or could reasonably appear to affect, impartiality. A recused person shall not select reviewers, communicate with reviewers about the matter, access confidential materials concerning it beyond unavoidable technical necessity, make or influence the decision, or participate in record action on it. Recusal shall be recorded and the matter reassigned to a person free of the conflict.
Recusal is a tool for managing conflicts within permitted activity. It cannot authorise something the framework prohibits outright: in particular, no recusal, reassignment or handling arrangement cures the absolute prohibition in B1 on publication by serving editorial-team members in their own journal.
Relevant Period and Ongoing Duty
Relevant interests existing currently or during at least the preceding three years shall ordinarily be disclosed; a journal, regulator or discipline may require a longer period where appropriate. Known prospective interests — such as a pending patent or employment negotiation — must also be disclosed, and an older relationship remains disclosable where it could reasonably be perceived to influence judgement. The duty is continuing: a person who acquires a relevant interest while a matter is in progress shall disclose it promptly, including after acceptance and before publication.
Authors and Funding
At submission, all authors shall disclose relevant interests through the corresponding author (C1), covering the categories above in relation to the submitted work. Where no interests exist, the manuscript shall state that expressly rather than remaining silent. Journals may require completion of a recognised disclosure instrument such as the ICMJE Disclosure Form.
Funding disclosure is a distinct obligation that overlaps with, but is not satisfied by, competing-interest disclosure. Every research article shall state: the identity of each funder or sponsor supporting the work; the grant, award or contract reference where applicable; and the role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation and the decision to submit. Where a funder had no such role, the manuscript shall say so explicitly. Where a funder held a role, that fact does not preclude publication but shall be transparent to readers. Unfunded work shall state that no specific funding was received.
Reviewers, Editors and Guest Editors
Reviewers disclose relevant interests before accepting an invitation and decline where independence cannot reasonably be maintained (B2). Editors and editorial-board members declare standing interests on appointment, update them at least annually, disclose case-specific interests, and are recused and replaced where an interest arises (B1). Guest editors disclose interests in the collection and in individual manuscripts, and are reassigned away from conflicted manuscripts (B3). Those policies govern the operational detail; this policy governs what counts as an interest and what recusal requires.
Publisher
LMI shall disclose material ownership, financial, institutional or commercial relationships capable of affecting perceptions of its publishing independence, including relationships with sponsors, advertisers, funders and affiliated institutions (A2, F3). Publisher interests never confer influence over scholarly decisions: A3 governs, and no disclosure legitimises interference.
Publication of Statements
Each published research article shall carry a competing-interest statement and a funding statement, and these shall be included in the article metadata where the format allows (G1). Journals determine the form, placement and template. Where a competing interest is discovered after publication, the record shall be corrected under G2; where non-disclosure appears deliberate, C5 applies.
Standards and Guidance
Informed by the ICMJE Recommendations and the ICMJE Disclosure Form, the COPE Core Practices, and WAME guidance on conflict of interest.