Transparency about competing interests is essential to trust in published research. All authors, reviewers and editors of Oxton Science Journal must disclose any interest that could be perceived as influencing the work.
What Must Be Disclosed
- Financial: employment, consultancies, honoraria, grants, patents, stock or paid expert testimony related to the work;
- Institutional: affiliations or roles that could benefit from the outcome;
- Personal/academic: close relationships, rivalries or strongly held beliefs relevant to the subject.
For Authors
Authors declare all conflicts of interest at submission, and a corresponding statement is published with the article (e.g., "The authors declare no conflicts of interest"). Funding sources are disclosed separately and their role in the study (if any) described.
For Reviewers and Editors
Reviewers must decline or disclose any conflict before evaluating a manuscript. Editors recuse themselves from any manuscript in which they have a personal, financial or academic conflict, and handling is reassigned to another editor. Decisions on such manuscripts are made independently of the conflicted party.
Non-disclosure
Undisclosed conflicts identified after publication are addressed through a correction and, in serious cases, under the journal's ethics procedures.