Conflict of Interest

BM-Publisher · Applicable to all journals, including the Advanced Journal of Biomedicine & Medicine (AJBM).

BM-Publisher is committed to maintaining transparency, integrity, and objectivity in the publication process. Authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could be perceived to influence the research, analysis, or interpretation of data. This policy follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) recommendations.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

  • A conflict of interest (COI) exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as scientific validity or patient welfare) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal relationship).
  • Conflicts may be financial (e.g., employment, stock ownership, consultancy fees, honoraria, patents, grants) or non-financial (e.g., personal relationships, academic competition, intellectual passion, political or religious beliefs).

2. Authors’ Responsibilities

  • All authors must disclose any relationships or interests that could influence the work, including:
    • Employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patents, or grants;
    • Affiliation with organizations that may gain or lose financially through publication of the article;
    • Personal, academic, or ideological interests that may bias interpretation.
  • Each author must complete and submit the ICMJE Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form upon submission.
  • If no conflict exists, authors should include the statement:

    “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

3. Editors’ Responsibilities

  • Editors must declare any potential conflicts (financial, institutional, or personal) that could affect their editorial decisions.
  • If a conflict exists, the editor will recuse themselves from handling the manuscript, which will be reassigned to an unbiased editor.
  • Editorial board members must not use unpublished material from submitted manuscripts for personal research.

4. Reviewers’ Responsibilities

  • Reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence their evaluation of a manuscript.
  • If a conflict exists, reviewers should decline the review invitation.
  • Reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential and not use unpublished data for personal advantage.

5. Funding Disclosure

  • All sources of financial support for the research must be clearly identified in the manuscript’s Funding Statement.
  • Authors must declare:
    • The funding agency name(s);
    • The grant number(s);
    • The role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript preparation.
  • If the funder had no involvement, the following statement should be included:

    “The funding source had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.”

6. Non-Financial Conflicts

  • Authors, editors, and reviewers must also disclose non-financial conflicts that may bias their judgment, including:
    • Professional rivalry or collaboration with any of the authors;
    • Political, religious, or ideological views that could influence interpretation;
    • Personal relationships or institutional affiliations relevant to the work.

7. Management of Conflicts

  • Declared conflicts will be reviewed by the journal’s editorial office and the BM-Publisher Ethics Committee.
  • If a conflict is identified after publication, the journal will issue a correction or statement of disclosure as appropriate.
  • In cases of undisclosed or serious conflicts, the article may be retracted following COPE guidelines.

8. Public Disclosure and Transparency

  • All declared conflicts and funding sources will be published in a dedicated Conflict of Interest and Funding Statement section at the end of each article.
  • Transparency ensures readers can assess potential influences on the reported findings.

© 2025 BM-Publisher Ltd. This policy follows ICMJE, COPE, and Elsevier’s “Declaration of Interest” framework. Reviewed annually to ensure transparency and integrity in scientific publishing.