AUTHORS

Authors are required to disclose all potential conflicts of interest that may directly or indirectly influence their work. Even when 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 informed of any potential conflicts, whether actual or perceived.

A conflict-of-interest statement must be included in the article itself, and authors must also submit a completed conflict-of-interest disclosure form for all manuscript types. Financial relationships—such as research funding or consultancy—are not inherently inappropriate; however, they must still be disclosed for transparency. Even if the no conflicts are present, authors 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 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. In academic research, such financial relationships can also 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 the external entity.

When human subjects are involved and the institution has a financial interest, the conflict of interest is considered significant and potentially unreasonable.

DISCLOSURE STATEMENT

All conflict-of-interest disclosure forms must be collected and submitted by the corresponding author. The corresponding author may sign the disclosure form on behalf of all co-authors in author collaborations when legal agreements for representation allow it. A template for the required disclosure form is available here:

• ICMJE disclosure form

Before the reference list, the corresponding author must include a summary statement in the manuscript based on the information provided in the conflict-of-interest disclosure form(s). Author(s) may also identify potential reviewers whom they believe may have conflicts of interest. This helps the Editorial Office avoid inviting such reviewers and ensures an unbiased peer-review process.

UNDISCLOSED CONFLICT OF INTEREST

Cases of undisclosed conflicts of interest—whether identified before or after publication—are handled in accordance with COPE guidelines:

1. Undisclosed conflicts of interest in a submitted manuscript (View COPE guidelines)
2. Undisclosed conflicts of interest in a published article (View COPE guidelines)

For additional guidance on conflicts of interest, authors may refer to the guidance from the ICMJE.

PEER REVIEWERS

Bentham Open Science is committed to ensuring a transparent and impartial peer-review process. Reviewers must have no conflicts of interest with the authors. To maintain objectivity, reviewers from the same institution or, in many cases, the same country are generally not invited to review a manuscript. However, because it is not always possible for the Editorial Office to identify all competing interests, authors are required to provide a list of reviewers they believe may have a conflict of interest. This supports a fair and unbiased evaluation process.

The Editorial Office expects reviewers to:

1. Decline review invitations if they have any potential conflict of interest and promptly inform the Editorial Office.
2. Decline review invitations if they have recently published or submitted work with any of the manuscript’s authors.
3. Inform the Editorial Office if they have personal relationships with the authors or work within the same institution, as this may compromise impartiality.
4. Abstain from reviewing and immediately notify the Editorial Office, Editor-in-Chief, and Handling Editors if they detect any scientific misconduct, fraud, plagiarism, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other unethical behavior during the review process.
5. 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.

When submitting review comments, reviewers must reconfirm that they have no conflicts of interest related to the manuscript by agreeing to the following statement:

“I hereby confirm that I don’t have any conflict of interest related to the manuscript.”

If any potential interests remain, reviewers must disclose them in the ‘Confidential’ section of the review form.

UNDISCLOSED CONFLICT OF INTEREST

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

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. The manuscript is authored by individuals affiliated with the same institution as the editor.
2. The editor has a personal relationship with the author (e.g., family member, former collaborator, close colleague, or academic competitor).
3. The editor has co-authored a publication with any of the authors within the past three years.

In such cases, the editor may nominate an alternative Board Member who can provide an independent and unbiased assessment of the manuscript.

The Editorial office strongly recommends that editors adhere to the COPE and WAME guidelines.