When you (or your employer or sponsor) have a financial, economic, legal, or professional relationship with other organisations, or with the persons who work for them, you may have a conflict of interest.

When you submit a paper to a journal, you must be completely transparent. First and foremost, the journal editor will use this data to guide his or her editorial decisions. They may then make such disclosures public to help readers evaluate the storey. Alternatively, the editor may decide not to publish your essay due to a declared conflict of interest. The conflict of interest can be declared in your cover letter or on the paper submission form in the journal's online peer-review system.

Personal conflicts of interest

Potential conflicts of interest in relation to your submitted manuscript could include:
1. Consultancies
2. Employment
3. Advocacy groups
4. Grants
5. Fees and honoraria
6. Patents
7. Royalties
8. Stock or share ownership

In a covering letter, please identify any potential conflicts of interest if necessary. In addition, you should provide full credit to all sources of funding for the project.

Disclosure Statement

Along with the body of your article, you should add a relevant disclosure statement. This can be done in conjunction with any acknowledgments and funding information.

Conflict of interest: sample disclosure statements In accordance with MIJ policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that I [have a financial and/or business interests in] [am a consultant to] [receive funding from] (delete as appropriate) a company that may be affected by the research reported in the enclosed paper. I have disclosed those interests fully to MIJ, and I have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from [that involvement].

or

This research is sponsored by [company A] and may lead to the development of products which may be licensed to [company B], in which I have a business and/or financial interest. I have disclosed those interests fully to MIJ, and have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from this arrangement. If there is no disclosure, we will then publish the following statement: “No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.”