Conflict of Interest Policy
Conflict of Interest Policy
A conflict of interest is not misconduct. Concealing one is. Every paper carries a declaration so readers can weigh the work knowing what interests surround it — which is the whole point of declaring.
Last reviewed August 2026 · Applies to all submissions to JMVRA (ISSN 2984-8911)
A conflict of interest exists when a financial, professional or personal relationship could reasonably be seen to influence the work — or the judgement of someone assessing it. The test is not whether you were influenced. It is whether a reasonable reader, learning of the relationship later, would feel they should have been told.
What Must Be Declared
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Financial | Funding or grants for this work; employment or consultancy with an interested party; shares, patents or royalties; paid expert testimony; honoraria, travel or equipment received. |
| Professional | Membership of an advisory board; an unpaid position with an organisation affected by the findings; a competing commercial or academic interest. |
| Personal | A close family, financial or personal relationship with someone who stands to gain or lose from the outcome. |
| Intellectual | A strongly held public position on the question studied, or prior work the results would confirm or contradict. |
| Institutional | The employing institution has a financial stake in the subject of the research. |
How Authors Declare
- Include a statement before the reference list in every manuscript, covering all authors. It is required whether or not there is anything to declare.
- Where there is nothing: “The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.”
- Where there is something: name the author, the interest, and the organisation. “Author A has received consultancy fees from [company], which manufactures the device evaluated in this study. Authors B and C declare no competing interests.”
- Funding is declared separately and always — every grant, contract and sponsor, with award numbers where they exist.
- The look-back period is three years for financial relationships, and ongoing for anything current.
- If it emerges later, tell us. A conflict disclosed voluntarily after publication is handled as a routine correction, not as misconduct.
Reviewers and Editors
A Reviewer Must Decline If They
- Work at the same institution as any author
- Have collaborated with an author in recent years
- Supervised or were supervised by an author
- Have a financial interest in the outcome
- Are in direct competition on the same problem
- Have a personal relationship, positive or otherwise, with an author
Editorial Safeguards
- Reviewers confirm they have no conflict before accepting an assignment
- An editor with a conflict hands the manuscript to another editor
- Editors’ own submissions are handled entirely independently of them
- Authors may request that a named competitor is not used as a reviewer
- Reviewers may not use knowledge from a manuscript for their own advantage
The Journal’s Own Position
- Publication charges never influence editorial decisions. The fee is invoiced only after acceptance, and the decision to accept is made before any payment is discussed.
- No advertiser or sponsor has any say over what is accepted, reviewed or published — see the Advertising & Sponsorship Policy.
- Editorial board membership is not for sale and confers no advantage on a member’s own submissions.
- Conference partnerships do not guarantee publication. Papers from partner conferences go through the same peer review as any other submission.
Where the Conflict of Interest Policy Applies
The stages of a paper’s journey this policy governs are highlighted.
Applies at: Prepare · Submit · Review · Publish
Conflict of Interest Policy in Brief
A conflict of interest is any financial, personal or professional interest that a reader might think could influence the work. Having one is not misconduct; concealing it is. That is why every paper carries a declaration, published with the article, so readers can weigh the findings with full information.
The same principle applies to reviewers and editors: anyone with a conflict over a manuscript declines to handle it. Declaring “none” when an interest exists is treated as a false declaration.
