Conflict of Interest Policy
 

A conflict of interest (or competing interest) exists when an individual involved in creating, reviewing, or editorially handling a manuscript has financial, professional, personal, or institutional interests that could reasonably influence, or appear to influence, their judgment. Such interests are not inherently improper, but must be disclosed. This policy aligns with COPE, ICMJE, and WAME guidance and forms part of the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.

Relevant categories include:

1. Financial — employment, consultancy, honoraria, grants, patents, royalties, stock ownership, paid testimony.
2. Personal — close family, romantic, or personal relationships with authors, reviewers, or editors on the same manuscript.
3. Professional competition — direct competition for funding, discovery priority, or career advancement.
4. Institutional affiliation — shared department or institution with an author in a way that could affect impartiality.
5. Intellectual/ideological — strong prior positions or advocacy on the manuscript's subject.
6. Prior collaboration — co-authorship or close professional collaboration within the preceding three years.

All authors must disclose, at submission, any actual or potential conflict of interest that could reasonably be perceived to influence the work, including funding sources, sponsor involvement, employment or consultancy relationships, and related patents.

Where a conflict of interest is declared, the disclosure should be included in a dedicated "Conflict of Interest" section before the reference list. Authors are responsible for providing accurate and complete disclosures.

Authors must state all funding sources and describe the funder's role, if any, in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or the decision to publish. The corresponding author is responsible for collecting co-authors' disclosures and reporting any change in interests between submission and publication.

Invited reviewers must assess, before accepting, whether any relationship with the authors or subject matter could affect their impartiality and must decline if a conflict exists.

1. Must not review manuscripts from close collaborators, recent co-authors, family members, or direct competitors.
2. Must not use knowledge from the review for personal or third-party advantage before publication.
3. Must keep the manuscript confidential and not share or discuss it without authorization.

A conflict discovered after review has begun must be disclosed to the editors immediately.

Editors and Editorial Board members must recuse themselves from decisions on manuscripts where they have a conflict, including their own manuscripts or those of close collaborators, students, family members, or competing institutions.

A recused editor's manuscript is handled independently by another Board member or the Editor-in-Chief. Privileged information must not be used for personal gain.

Research sponsored by a commercial entity with a direct interest in the outcome, such as pharmaceutical or medical-device companies, must be disclosed regardless of its perceived effect on objectivity.

Editors may request further information on sponsor involvement or seek independent review where appropriate.

IJMABHR and Anfo Publication House do not accept advertising, sponsorship, or reprint arrangements that could influence editorial decisions. Editorial decisions are independent of Article Processing Charge (APC) status.

1. Authors disclose conflicts of interest at submission.
2. Reviewers disclose conflicts when accepting an invitation.
3. Editors and Editorial Board members provide disclosures on joining the editorial team and update them when new conflicts arise.
4. Identified conflicts are documented and managed through appropriate measures, such as reviewer reassignment, additional independent review, or editorial recusal.
5. Where an author declares a conflict of interest, the disclosure is published with the final article.

Anyone aware of a potentially undisclosed conflict relating to a submitted or published manuscript should report it to the Editor-in-Chief. Reports will be handled confidentially in accordance with applicable COPE guidance.

If an undisclosed conflict is confirmed after publication and is considered to have materially affected the integrity of the work, the journal may issue a correction, Expression of Concern, or retraction, as appropriate.

Conflict of interest disclosures are treated as confidential editorial information during the editorial and peer-review process and are used to inform editorial and peer-review decisions.

Where an author declares a conflict relevant to the published work, the disclosure may be made public in the published article. Confidential reviewer and editor disclosures are not normally published.