All authors are required to disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could inappropriately influence (or be perceived to influence) the results or interpretation of their manuscript.
A conflict of interest may exist when an author (or the author’s institution), reviewer, or editor has financial, personal, or professional relationships that could bias or appear to bias their actions. Such conflicts may include, but are not limited to:
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Financial relationships (e.g., funding, employment, stock ownership, paid consultancy, or patent licensing),
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Institutional affiliations,
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Personal relationships (e.g., close professional or family ties),
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Academic or intellectual rivalry,
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Political or religious interests related to the research topic.
Authors must disclose all potential conflicts at the time of submission by including a statement in the manuscript. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should include the following statement:
"The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper."
Reviewers and editors are also expected to declare any potential conflicts before handling a manuscript and to recuse themselves from the review or editorial process if a conflict exists.