Policy version 1.0 · Effective date 2026-10-20
Author declaration
Disclose grants, employment, consulting, patents, equity, personal or intellectual interests and other relevant relationships. Explicitly state when none exist. Identify funders, grant numbers and any sponsor role in study design, analysis, writing or the decision to publish.
Reviewer and editor recusal
Authorship, close collaboration, institutional dependence, personal disputes and financial interests can undermine independent assessment. Reviewers disclose them before accepting an invitation and the editor appoints a replacement. Automated email checks cannot identify every relationship; personal disclosure is also necessary.
Sponsorship and decisions
Conference pages identify sponsors and partners, their official links and roles; logos require permission. Fees, discounts, sponsorship and advertisements do not determine review, acceptance or retraction. Undisclosed interests may lead to investigation and correction of the record.
Official references
References informed this policy; a link does not imply membership, accreditation or confirmed indexing.