Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when financial, personal, professional, or institutional relationships could influence, or be perceived to influence, objectivity in research, peer review, or editorial decisions. DINASIF requires all parties involved in the publication process to disclose any conflicts of interest openly.

Authors

Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest related to their manuscript, including:

• sources of research funding;
• employment, shareholding, or consultancy relationships with organizations that have an interest in the research outcomes, including organizations or companies whose systems are the object of the research;
• personal or professional relationships that could influence the research.

Disclosures are included in a Conflict of Interest Statement within the manuscript. If there is no conflict of interest, authors should state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

Reviewers

Reviewers must decline a review invitation and inform the editor if they:

• have collaborated on research or co-authored publications with any of the authors within the past three years;
• have a supervisory or family relationship with any of the authors;
• have a financial interest in the research outcomes;
• feel unable to provide an objective assessment for any other reason.

Editors

Editors with a conflict of interest regarding a manuscript must recuse themselves from handling it. Manuscripts authored by members of the Editorial Board undergo the same review process and are handled by another editor with no conflict of interest. Manuscripts authored by the Editor-in-Chief are handled by the Managing Editor or a designated Section Editor, and the Editor-in-Chief has no access to the reviewers’ identities or the review process of that manuscript.

Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest