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class="nav-page"> <li data-anchor="loc-what-represents-a-competing-interest" name="loc-what-represents-a-competing-interest"><a href="#loc-what-represents-a-competing-interest"> What Represents a Competing Interest? </a></li> <li data-anchor="loc-what-to-declare" name="loc-what-to-declare"><a href="#loc-what-to-declare"> What to Declare </a> <ul> <li data-anchor="loc-financial-competing-interests" name="loc-financial-competing-interests"><a href="#loc-financial-competing-interests"> Financial competing interests </a></li> <li data-anchor="loc-non-financial-competing-interests" name="loc-non-financial-competing-interests"><a href="#loc-non-financial-competing-interests"> Non-financial competing interests </a></li> </ul></li> <li data-anchor="loc-who-must-declare-competing-interests" name="loc-who-must-declare-competing-interests"><a href="#loc-who-must-declare-competing-interests"> Who Must Declare Competing Interests? </a> <ul> <li data-anchor="loc-authors" name="loc-authors"><a href="#loc-authors"> Authors </a></li> <li data-anchor="loc-editors-and-reviewers" name="loc-editors-and-reviewers"><a href="#loc-editors-and-reviewers"> Editors and reviewers </a></li> <li data-anchor="loc-readers" name="loc-readers"><a href="#loc-readers"> Readers </a></li> </ul></li> <li data-anchor="loc-editorial-actions-and-decisions" name="loc-editorial-actions-and-decisions"><a href="#loc-editorial-actions-and-decisions"> Editorial Actions and Decisions </a></li> </ul> </nav> <article> <h1>Competing Interests</h1> <div data-section-id="804"> <div class="block-global-alert"> The following policy applies to all PLOS journals, unless otherwise noted. </div> </div> <div data-section-id="161"> <h2><a data-anchor-id="4818" id="loc-what-represents-a-competing-interest" name="loc-what-represents-a-competing-interest"></a>What Represents a Competing Interest?</h2> <p>A competing interest is anything that interferes with, or could reasonably be perceived as interfering with, the full and objective presentation, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication of research or non-research articles submitted to PLOS.</p> <p>Competing interests can be financial or non-financial, professional, or personal. Competing interests can arise in relationship to an institution, organization, or another person.</p> <p>Declaring all potential competing interests is a requirement at PLOS and is integral to the transparent reporting of research.</p> <p>Failure to declare competing interests can result in immediate rejection of a manuscript. If an undisclosed competing interest comes to light after publication, PLOS will take action in accordance with COPE guidelines and issue a public notification to the community. </p> </div> <div data-section-id="162"> <h2><a data-anchor-id="4819" id="loc-what-to-declare" name="loc-what-to-declare"></a>What to Declare</h2> <p>Everyone involved in the peer review process, including authors, editors and reviewers, and readers, must declare all potentially competing interests that occurred within 5 years of conducting the research under consideration, or preparing the article for publication.</p> <p>Interests outside the 5-year time frame must also be declared if they could reasonably be perceived as competing according to the definition above.</p> <h3><a data-anchor-id="4827" id="loc-financial-competing-interests" name="loc-financial-competing-interests"></a>Financial competing interests</h3> <p>Financial competing interests include but are not limited to:</p> <ul> <li> <p>Ownership of stocks or shares</p></li> <li> <p>Paid employment or consultancy</p></li> <li> <p>Board membership</p></li> <li> <p>Patent applications (pending or actual), including individual applications or those belonging to the institution to which the authors are affiliated and from which the authors may benefit</p></li> <li> <p>Research grants (from any source, restricted or unrestricted)</p></li> <li> <p>Travel grants and honoraria for speaking or participation at meetings</p></li> <li> <p>Gifts</p></li> </ul> <h3><a data-anchor-id="4828" id="loc-non-financial-competing-interests" name="loc-non-financial-competing-interests"></a>Non-financial competing interests</h3> <p>Non-financial competing interests include but are not limited to:</p> <ul> <li> <p>Acting as an expert witness</p></li> <li> <p>Membership in a government or other advisory board</p></li> <li> <p>Relationship (paid or unpaid) with organizations and funding bodies including nongovernmental organizations, research institutions, or charities</p></li> <li> <p>Membership in lobbying or advocacy organizations</p></li> <li> <p>Writing or consulting for an educational company</p></li> <li> <p>Personal relationships (e.g. friend, spouse, family member, current or previous mentor, adversary) with individuals involved in the submission or evaluation of a paper, such as authors, reviewers, editors, or members of the editorial board of a PLOS journal</p></li> <li> <p>Personal convictions (political, religious, ideological, or other) related to a paper's topic that might interfere with an unbiased publication process (at the stage of authorship, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication)</p></li> </ul> </div> <div data-section-id="163"> <h2><a data-anchor-id="4829" id="loc-who-must-declare-competing-interests" name="loc-who-must-declare-competing-interests"></a>Who Must Declare Competing Interests?</h2> <h3 id="docs-internal-guid-7c9509ad-3901-b007-b3fc-247418a31e66"><a data-anchor-id="4830" id="loc-authors" name="loc-authors"></a>Authors</h3> <p>At the time of submission, authors must list all competing interests relevant to the submitted research. Examples may include but are not limited to:</p> <ul> <li> <p>Names of all funding sources</p></li> <li> <p>Description of funder鈥檚 role in the study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the paper; and/or decision to submit for publication</p></li> <li> <p>Whether they have served or currently serve on the editorial board of the journal to which they are submitting</p></li> <li> <p>Whether they have acted as an expert witness in relevant legal proceedings</p></li> <li> <p>Whether they have sat or currently sit on a committee for an organization that may benefit from publication of the paper</p></li> </ul> <h3><a data-anchor-id="4831" id="loc-editors-and-reviewers" name="loc-editors-and-reviewers"></a>Editors and reviewers</h3> <p>Editors (professional or academic, paid or unpaid) and reviewers must declare their own competing interests, and if necessary disqualify themselves from involvement in the assessment of a manuscript.</p> <p>Common reasons for editors and reviewers to recuse themselves from the peer review process may include but are not limited to:</p> <ul> <li> <p>They work at the same institution or organization as an author, currently or recently</p></li> <li> <p>They collaborate with an author, currently or recently</p></li> <li> <p>They have published with an author during the past 5 years</p></li> <li> <p>They have held grants with an author, currently or recently</p></li> <li> <p>They have a financial relationship with the company who funded the research</p></li> <li> <p>They have a personal relationship with an author that does not allow them to evaluate the manuscript objectively</p></li> </ul> <h3><a data-anchor-id="4832" id="loc-readers" name="loc-readers"></a>Readers</h3> <p>Anyone who comments on published PLOS articles must declare all competing interests (financial or non-financial) at the time of posting the comment.</p> </div> <div data-section-id="164"> <h2><a id="loc-editorial-actions-and-decisions" name="loc-editorial-actions-and-decisions" data-anchor-id="4833"></a>Editorial Actions and Decisions</h2> <ul> <li> <p>PLOS editors must take all competing interests into account during the review process and ensure that any relevant ones are declared in the published article.</p></li> <li> <p>PLOS editors will not publish commissioned or any other non-research articles if they are aware of a competing interest that, in their judgment, could introduce bias or a reasonable perception of bias.</p></li> <li>PLOS editors do not consult reviewers who have competing interests that, in the editors' judgment, could interfere with unbiased review. </li> </ul> </div> <div data-section-id="307"> <div class="block-more-information"> See this editorial for further clarification of our position on competing interests: <em>PLOS Medicine</em> Editors (2008) Making Sense of Non-Financial Competing Interests. 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