Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure

Purpose and Scope

The SDEWES Journals Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure Policy sets out the principles and procedures for disclosing, assessing and managing competing interests and funding sources in journals published by SDEWES Centre.

This policy applies to all submitted, accepted and published manuscripts, including regular articles, review articles, special issue papers, article collections, conference-linked submissions and supplementary materials.

It applies to authors, reviewers, Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Guest Editors, Editorial Board members, SDEWES Centre staff or representatives involved in editorial or publication activities, and other individuals or organisations participating in the editorial, peer-review, sponsorship or publication process.

In this policy, the responsible editor means the Editor-in-Chief or another editor authorised by the journal to assess or manage the matter, provided that the person has no relevant competing interest.

Related guidance, statement templates, declaration forms and checklists relevant to this policy are listed in Appendix A: Related COPE and International Guidance and Appendix B: Practical Forms, Statements and Checklists.

Definitions and General Principles

A competing interest exists where a financial, professional, personal, institutional, academic, political, ideological or other interest or relationship could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the objectivity, integrity, interpretation, review or editorial handling of a manuscript.

Competing interests are sometimes referred to as conflicts of interest in external guidance. This policy uses the term competing interests except where the official title of an external resource is reproduced.

An actual competing interest exists at the time of disclosure. A potential competing interest may reasonably arise from an existing situation or relationship. A perceived competing interest exists where an informed third party could reasonably question the independence or objectivity of the person involved.

Competing interests are not necessarily unethical and disclosure does not by itself indicate bias, wrongdoing or misconduct. Disclosure allows the journal to assess the interest transparently and determine whether any management action is required.

Funding is not automatically a competing interest. Nevertheless, all relevant funding sources, forms of support and funder or sponsor roles must be disclosed because they allow readers and editors to understand the context in which the research was conducted and reported.

Where there is reasonable doubt about whether an interest or relationship is relevant, disclosure is preferred.

Who Must Disclose and When

Authors, reviewers and all editorial-role holders must disclose actual, potential or perceived competing interests as early as possible and must update the journal if relevant information changes during editorial assessment, peer review, revision, acceptance or production.

Each author is responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their own disclosure. The corresponding author coordinates the combined declaration and should confirm that all authors have reviewed and approved it, but this responsibility does not remove the individual responsibility of each author.

Authors must disclose relevant competing interests and funding sources at submission. Where these declarations are not collected directly through the submission system, the corresponding author must submit a completed Declaration of Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure Form after obtaining the necessary information and confirmation from all authors.

Authors must also confirm at submission whether any author holds an editorial role in the journal, including Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor, Guest Editor or Editorial Board member.

Reviewers must disclose relevant interests before accepting a review invitation or immediately if an interest becomes apparent after acceptance.

Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Guest Editors and Editorial Board members must disclose relevant interests before accessing or handling a manuscript, selecting reviewers, assessing review reports or participating in an editorial recommendation or decision.

SDEWES Centre staff or representatives involved in a particular manuscript, ethics assessment, appeal, production process or post-publication action must disclose any relevant organisational, institutional, financial or personal interest that could affect independent handling.

After publication, authors are not expected to report every new relationship or employment change. They must, however, notify the journal promptly if they discover that the published declaration was incomplete, inaccurate or misleading, or if new information directly affects the interpretation or integrity of the published work.

Assessment and Management of Disclosed Interests

The journal assesses disclosed interests proportionately, taking account of their nature, relevance, timing, duration and proximity to the manuscript, the role of the person concerned, and whether an informed third party could reasonably question the person’s independence or objectivity.

Depending on the circumstances, management may include:

• no action beyond recording or publishing the disclosure; 
• requesting clarification or additional information; 
• updating the manuscript or published declaration; 
• replacing or excluding a reviewer; 
• reassigning a manuscript to another editor; 
• restricting access to confidential information; 
• arranging independent editorial or ethics handling; 
• excluding an interested person from discussion, recommendation or decision-making; or 
• taking another proportionate step necessary to protect the integrity and fairness of the process. 

A manuscript should not be rejected solely because a relevant interest has been transparently disclosed. Rejection or discontinuation of handling may nevertheless be appropriate where the interest cannot be managed adequately or where it is associated with misrepresentation, manipulation or another serious integrity concern.

Individuals must not make the final determination concerning the adequacy or management of their own competing interest. Where the responsible editor has an interest, independent handling must be arranged under Editorial Independence.

Information requested for assessment must be limited to what is reasonably necessary. Personal data and confidential information must be handled in accordance with Privacy.

Author Competing Interests

Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interest or relationship that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the research, interpretation, presentation or publication of the submitted work.

Examples of competing interests may include, but are not limited to:

• employment, consultancy, advisory roles or paid services; 
• stock ownership, shares or other financial interests; 
• honoraria, speaker fees, travel grants or paid expert testimony; 
• patents, patent applications, licences or intellectual property interests; 
• research grants, contracts, commercial relationships or other funding arrangements connected to the work that may create an interest beyond the funding disclosure itself; 
• personal, family or close professional relationships; 
• direct academic competition, institutional interests or a substantial professional disagreement directly relevant to the manuscript that could reasonably affect objectivity; 
• membership of organisations, committees or advocacy groups directly related to the subject of the manuscript. 

Authors should disclose relevant interests even where they believe that the interest did not affect their judgement or the conclusions of the work. The responsible editor determines whether publication of the disclosure or another management action is required.

Where an author holds an editorial role in the journal, the role must be declared and the manuscript must be handled independently under Editorial Independence. Reviewer selection and peer-review procedures must follow Peer Review Policy.

Funding Disclosure and Role of Funders

Authors must disclose all direct and indirect financial and in-kind support for the research, manuscript preparation or publication. This may include grants, contracts, institutional support, commercial funding, project funding, equipment, materials, access to facilities, personnel support, travel support, payment of Article Processing Charges or other publication support.

The funding statement should identify:

• the funder or sponsor; 
• the grant, contract or project number, where available; 
• the author, research group or project receiving the support; and 
• the type of financial or in-kind support provided. 

Authors must describe any role of the funder or sponsor in study conception or design, data collection, access to data, data analysis, interpretation of results, preparation or review of the manuscript, approval of the final version, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Where the funder or sponsor had no role in these activities, this must be stated. Where no funding or relevant support was received, a no-funding statement must be provided.

Funding disclosure does not replace disclosure of a related financial, institutional or commercial competing interest. Where both apply, both must be reported.

Reviewer Competing Interests

Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential or perceived competing interest before accepting a review invitation or immediately if an interest becomes apparent after acceptance.

Where the interest clearly prevents an independent assessment, the reviewer must decline or withdraw from the review. Where the reviewer is uncertain, the interest should be disclosed to the editor, who will determine whether the review may proceed and whether any management action is required.

Reviewer competing-interest assessment, reviewer replacement and related peer-review procedures are governed by Peer Review Policy.

Editorial Competing Interests and Independent Handling

Editors-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Guest Editors and Editorial Board members must disclose any actual, potential or perceived competing interest before participating in the handling of a manuscript.

An editorial-role holder with a relevant competing interest must not participate in initial assessment, reviewer selection, access to confidential review information, evaluation of reviews, recommendations or decision-making. The manuscript must be reassigned to another editor or handled through an independent editorial process.

This applies where the editorial-role holder is an author or co-author, has directly supervised or funded the reported research, has a close personal, professional, institutional, financial or competitive relationship with an author, or has another interest that could reasonably compromise independent judgement.

Editorial-role holders may submit manuscripts to SDEWES journals where their role is fully disclosed, and they are completely excluded from handling their own submission. Where the Editor-in-Chief is an author or has another relevant interest, SDEWES Centre must designate an appropriate independent handler.

Detailed requirements concerning reassignment, restricted access and independent decision-making are set out in Editorial Independence.

SDEWES Centre, Sponsorship and Organisational Interests

SDEWES Centre must identify and manage organisational, financial, sponsorship, institutional or conference-related relationships that could reasonably appear to influence editorial handling or the publication of particular content.

SDEWES Centre representatives, sponsors, conference organisers, institutional partners, advertisers or other interested parties must not select reviewers, direct editorial recommendations or determine the acceptance or rejection of individual manuscripts.

Where such a relationship is relevant to a manuscript, special issue, collection or ethics case, it must be disclosed to the responsible editor and independent handling must be arranged where necessary under Editorial Independence.

Suspected pressure, interference, retaliation or concealment of a relevant organisational interest may also be assessed under Publishing Ethics.

Special Issues, Article Collections and Conference-Linked Submissions

Special issues, article collections and conference-linked submissions are subject to the same competing-interest and funding-disclosure requirements as regular submissions.

Guest Editors, conference organisers, sponsors, partners, authors and reviewers must disclose relevant interests connected to the topic, authors, participating institutions, conference, funding arrangements or expected outcomes.

A Guest Editor, conference organiser or other interested person must not handle a manuscript where a relevant competing interest exists. The manuscript must be reassigned and handled independently under Editorial Independence.

The role of any sponsor, partner or conference organisation in developing the collection, inviting submissions, suggesting reviewers, funding publication or supporting editorial activities should be disclosed where relevant. Such involvement must not determine the editorial outcome.

Required Statements and Declarations

SDEWES journals require a competing-interests statement and a funding statement for every article, including where there are no competing interests or no funding to declare.

Authors must also confirm at submission whether any author holds an editorial role in the journal. Where an author holds such a role, the published declaration should identify the role and state that the author was excluded from editorial handling, reviewer selection, review assessment and decision-making.

A negative editorial-role confirmation may be collected through the submission system or declaration form, but does not need to be published unless required by the relevant journal.

The declaration published with the article must be consistent with the submission-system information and any Declaration of Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure Form provided by the authors.

Standard and editable wording is provided in the Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure Statement Template listed in Appendix B.

Undisclosed, Incomplete or Incorrect Disclosures

Where a potentially undisclosed, incomplete or incorrect competing interest or funding disclosure is identified, the journal must assess the available information before concluding that a breach has occurred.

The journal may request clarification, corrected declarations, funding documentation, information about the role of a funder or sponsor, or an explanation from the authors, reviewers, editorial-role holders or other relevant parties.

Editorial handling, peer review, production or publication may be paused while the concern is assessed. Where the concern involves the responsible editor or another editorial-role holder, independent handling must be arranged under Editorial Independence.

The assessment should distinguish between an inadvertent omission, a misunderstanding of the disclosure requirements, an incomplete statement and deliberate concealment or misrepresentation. Serious or intentional concerns may also be assessed under Publishing Ethics.

Where the concern affects published content, the journal will determine whether the declaration should be corrected and whether another action is required under Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals. Any response must be proportionate to the relevance of the omitted interest and its effect on the research, editorial process or published record.

Personal data and confidential information must be handled under Privacy, and unsupported allegations must not be disclosed more widely than necessary for the assessment.

Publication of Declarations and Post-Publication Updates

SDEWES journals publish competing-interest and funding statements with the article. Published declarations should be clear, accessible and consistent across the article webpage, downloadable article file and relevant metadata, where applicable.

Before publication, authors must review and update their declarations where necessary. If a published declaration is later found to be incomplete, inaccurate or misleading, the journal may update the statement and issue a correction or other appropriate notice under Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals.

A new interest arising entirely after publication does not normally require amendment of the original declaration unless it directly affects an ongoing correction, post-publication assessment or interpretation of the published work.

The journal should preserve an appropriate internal record of the original declaration, clarification received, assessment made and action taken. Such records must be handled in accordance with Privacy.

Policy Review and Updates

SDEWES Centre may review and update this policy periodically to reflect developments in publication ethics, competing-interest disclosure, funding transparency, editorial independence, peer review, open science, legal requirements and international standards.

Updated policies apply from the date of publication on the SDEWES Journals Policies website unless otherwise stated.

Appendix A. Related COPE and International Guidance

COPE Council. Handling suspected undisclosed conflicts of interest

Provides overarching principles for defining competing interests and assessing suspected undisclosed interests involving authors, reviewers, editors or other participants.

COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics - Undisclosed conflict of interest in a submitted manuscript

Provides a step-by-step process where a possible undisclosed author interest is identified before publication.

COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics - Undisclosed conflict of interest in a published article

Provides guidance on clarification, author response and possible correction or other action where an undisclosed interest is identified after publication.

COPE Council. COPE Discussion Document: Declaring funding sources for research

Provides guidance for authors, editors and publishers on identifying funding sources, reporting financial and in-kind support and describing the role of funders or sponsors.

Appendix B. Practical Forms, Statements and Checklists

The documents below provide practical support for author declarations, manuscript statements, independent editorial handling and assessment of potentially undisclosed, incomplete, inaccurate or misleading competing-interest and funding information.

Declaration of Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure Form 

Required author submission form, where applicable – Used to declare author competing interests, funding sources, the role of funders or sponsors and whether any author holds an editorial role in the journal. The corresponding author coordinates submission of the form after obtaining and confirming the relevant information from all authors.

Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure Statement Template 

Author guidance template – Used to prepare the manuscript statement concerning competing interests, funding sources, funder or sponsor roles and relevant editorial-role declarations, including wording where there are no competing interests or no funding.

Editor, Guest Editor and Editorial Board Competing Interest Checklist

Internal editor checklist – Used to identify and manage competing interests involving editorial-role holders, restrict access where necessary and establish an independent manuscript-handling or decision-making process.

Undisclosed Competing Interest or Funding Disclosure Checklist

Internal editor and publisher checklist – Used where a potentially undisclosed, incomplete, inaccurate or misleading competing-interest or funding declaration is identified before or after publication.