A conflict of Interest (CoI) is a situation in which a person or organization is involved in multiple interests, financial or otherwise, and serving one interest could involve working against another.
There is no doubt that in scholarly publishing, the credibility of published articles depend largely on how well a conflict of interest is handled during the process of writing, peer-reviewing, and making editorial decisions. As a publisher, Merit Research Journal has a responsibility to its readers and to the scientific community to provide a sound, clear and unbiased scientific results and analyses. It is our considered view that our readers should be clearly notified of additional relationships of our authors that could pose a conflict of interest. Therefore, for readers to assess the data and opinions presented in our journals, they should be made to be aware of financial and other interests of our authors that may be at odds with objective presentation of data or analysis.
All articles should be accompanied by clear disclosures from all authors of their affiliations, funding sources, or financial holdings that might raise questions about possible sources of bias. In this sense, before submitting a paper for publication consideration, all journals publish by Merit Research Journals have a policy requiring that each author disclose any financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the work reported or the conclusions, implications, or opinions stated - including applicable commercial or other sources of funding for the individual author(s) or for the associated department(s) or organization(s), personal relationships, or direct academic competition.
If you find it difficult to declare a conflicting interest, we would like you to consider this: Will it not embarrass you or any of your co-authors if it comes out after publication and you had not declared it?
It is of huge significance for corresponding authors to confirm whether they or their co-authors have any conflicts of interest to declare, and to provide details of these.
What is a conflicts of interest?
A conflict of interest may occur when an author or an author's employer or sponsor has a financial, commercial, legal, or professional relationship with other organizations or with the people working with them that may exert an influence on that author's research.
A conflict can be actual or potential and as such disclosure in full is required at the point of submission by the author. All manuscript submissions to any of journals must include the disclosure of any and all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest. Once disclosed, the Journal Editor may use such information for making editorial decisions and may publish such disclosures if they are held to be important to readers in judging the manuscript. Additionally, a decision may be made by the Journal Editor or peer reviewers not to publish on the basis of any declared conflict.
Personal conflicts of interest
A list of potential conflicts of interest in relation to the submitted manuscript could include:
Consultancies
Employment
Grants
Fees & Honoraria
Patents
Royalties
Stock or share ownership
If necessary, please describe any potential conflicts of interest in a covering letter. All funding sources supporting the work should also be acknowledged.
Institutional conflicts of interest
Are you aware that your employer has any financial interest in or a financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript? If 'Yes' then please also provide additional detail in a covering letter.
Animal Rights Statement
We ensure that published articles comply with the regulations and guidelines for animal welfare. When a study has to do with the use of live animals, authors should declare it in the methodology section of the manuscript that all experiments were performed in compliance with the applicable laws and institutional guidelines, and must state the institutional committee(s) that has endorsed the experiments.
It is crucial that any studies involving the use of animal are carried out in agreement with relevant policies. The study should, without any equivocation, be in compliance with the author’s organizational policy on animal ethics and use, but where possible details of compliance with international or national policies should be included.
In circumstances when a study has to do with the use of live animals, the author should incorporate the following at the beginning of the 'experimental' section of the manuscript:
1. A declaration that the experiment, transportation and care of the animals were done in conformity with the applicable laws and institutional guidelines; this should entail details of the organizations whose guidelines have been followed, and where possible the institutional/local ethics committee which has given authorization for the study.
2. A concise explanation of the procedures used for the handling and care of animals. In certain circumstances, Editors may request extra information from the author. The National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs) has produced the ARRIVE guidelines. Authors are advised to use these guidelines when preparing a manuscript for submission to any of our journals.
Human Rights Statement
Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed upon without informed consent. When seeking for information, patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, must not be published unless the information is vital for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. In cases where a study involves the use of live human subjects, the author should incorporate in the methodology of the manuscript a statement that the research is approved by an appropriate institutional review board (IRB) and complies with all relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and also state the institutional committee(s) that have approved the experiments.