Clinical & Molecular Biomedicine (CMB) operates on the principle that transparency is essential to trust in scientific publishing. To maintain objectivity, integrity, and editorial independence, all participants in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff, must disclose any relationships or circumstances that could influence, or be perceived to influence, their judgment.

A conflict of interest exists when an individual’s secondary interests could reasonably be seen to influence their primary responsibility to scientific integrity, objective evaluation, and transparent reporting.

Conflicts of interest may be financial or non-financial in nature.

Financial conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:

• Research funding or grants

• Employment or consultancy

• Honoraria or speaking fees

• Patents or patent applications

• Stock ownership or shares

• Other financial investments

• Paid advisory roles

• Receipt of consulting fees or other professional payments

Non-financial conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:

• Unpaid advisory roles

• Board memberships

• Institutional or professional affiliations

• Close personal relationships

• Academic competition

• Professional rivalries

• Strong intellectual, ideological, or academic positions that may affect interpretation of results

Authors must disclose all relevant conflicts of interest and all sources of funding in a dedicated Conflict of Interest, Declaration of Competing Interests, or Statements and Declarations section of the manuscript.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all declarations are accurate, complete, and submitted at the time of manuscript submission.

Transparent disclosure allows readers, reviewers, and editors to evaluate potential sources of bias and to understand the financial or non-financial context of the research.

If authors have no competing interests to declare, they must include the following statement:

“The authors declare that they have no competing interests.”

Authors must clearly disclose all sources of financial support received for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the manuscript.

Funding sources may include:

• National, international, or private research grants

• Institutional support from universities, hospitals, or research institutes

• Industry funding from pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or medical device companies

• Support from non-profit organizations or private foundations

For each source of funding, authors should provide the full name of the funding agency and the relevant grant or award number, where applicable.

Authors must clearly state the role of the funding organization or sponsor in the research and publication process.

This includes involvement in:

• Study design

• Data collection

• Data analysis and interpretation

• Manuscript preparation

• Decision to submit the manuscript for publication

If the funder had no role in these stages, authors must explicitly state:

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

Reviewers must disclose any potential conflict of interest before accepting an invitation to review a manuscript.

Reviewers should recuse themselves from the review process if they have a personal, professional, academic, institutional, or financial relationship that could affect their ability to provide an objective and unbiased evaluation.

Examples include:

• Recent collaboration with the authors

• Direct academic competition

• Financial interest in the outcome of the study

• Personal or professional relationships with the authors

• Institutional connections that may affect impartiality

Reviewer evaluations must be independent, objective, and based only on the scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and relevance of the manuscript.

Editors must disclose any conflict of interest related to a submitted manuscript.

If an editor has a conflict of interest, the manuscript must be assigned to another qualified editor or editorial board member to ensure independent handling and decision-making.

Editors must also review reviewer disclosures and monitor reviewer comments for possible bias, inappropriate self-citation requests, or citation suggestions intended to manipulate journal metrics.

Editorial decisions must be based solely on scientific merit, methodological quality, ethical compliance, clinical or biological relevance, and suitability for the journal’s scope.

Commercial interests, institutional relationships, personal relationships, financial considerations, or external pressure must not influence editorial decisions.

In cases where editorial staff are direct employees of the publisher, additional safeguards are required to prevent bias and protect editorial independence.

Publisher-employee editors must disclose all competing interests, whether financial or non-financial, as they arise and through regular declarations.

Publisher-employee editors are generally discouraged from submitting original research to the journal. In exceptional cases, such as research conducted before employment, the submission must be disclosed to the Editor-in-Chief and handled independently from the author-employee.

Editorial staff are strictly prohibited from using non-public information obtained through their editorial work for personal, professional, or financial gain.

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically prevent publication, review, or editorial involvement. However, all disclosed conflicts will be assessed by the journal to determine whether management, recusal, reassignment, clarification, or additional transparency is required.

Possible actions may include:

• Requesting additional information from authors, reviewers, or editors

• Publishing a conflict of interest statement with the article

• Reassigning the manuscript to another editor

• Inviting alternative reviewers

• Requiring reviewer recusal

• Requesting correction of incomplete disclosure statements

• Rejecting or correcting a manuscript in cases of serious non-disclosure

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest or funding sources is considered a serious breach of publication ethics.

Depending on the nature and severity of the case, the journal may take one or more of the following actions:

• Request clarification from the authors

• Require revision of the disclosure statement

• Reject the manuscript

• Issue a post-publication correction

• Publish an expression of concern

• Notify the authors’ institution or relevant authority, where appropriate

CMB requires conflict of interest and funding disclosures to protect the integrity of the scientific record and allow readers to assess possible influences on the research.

Clear disclosure does not necessarily indicate bias or misconduct. Instead, it supports transparency, accountability, and trust in published biomedical research.