Conflict of Interest Policy for Journals: Template and Examples
Reviewed by the NeucitePress Editorial Board — PhD academics, peer-reviewed journal editors and subject-matter specialists.
Last updated: October 2026 • Reviewed by the NeucitePress Editorial Board • Reading time: 6 minutes
A journal conflict of interest (COI) policy tells authors, reviewers and editors what to disclose, to whom, and what the journal will do with the information. Indexing services, funders and readers look for it, and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) expects journals to have one. This page explains what a sound policy contains and gives a template you can adapt to your own journal.
Key takeaways
- A conflict of interest exists when a relationship could reasonably be seen to influence work, judgment or decisions, whether or not it actually does. The test is perception as well as fact.
- The policy must cover three groups: authors, peer reviewers and editors, including members of the editorial board.
- Disclosure is not a bar to publication. The editor decides what, if anything, to do about a declared interest.
- Declarations should be collected in a standard form and published with the article.
- For biomedical journals, the ICMJE Disclosure of Interest form is the common standard.
What counts as a conflict of interest
The ICMJE Recommendations describe a conflict as existing when an author, reviewer or editor has a relationship with an organisation that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. The relationship does not need to be financial, and having one does not mean the work is biased.
Financial interests
Employment, consulting fees, honoraria, grants, stock or options, patents and royalties, and paid expert testimony, where the source has an interest in the subject of the work.
Non-financial interests
Personal or family relationships, membership of or leadership in advocacy organisations, strongly held public positions on the topic, academic rivalry or close collaboration with an author, and institutional affiliation that could create a stake in the result.
Who must disclose, and what to do
| Role | What to disclose | What the journal does |
|---|---|---|
| Author | Funding and relationships relevant to the work, for every author, at submission | Records the declaration, shares it with reviewers if the policy says so, and publishes it with the article |
| Peer reviewer | Any relationship with the authors, their institutions or competing interests in the topic, when accepting an invitation | Editor decides whether the reviewer should decline and invites another |
| Editor or board member | Relationships with authors, institutions or submitted topics; interests in publishing their own work in the journal | Editor steps back and the manuscript is handled by an editor without the conflict |
What a sound policy contains
- A definition of conflict of interest that includes financial and non-financial relationships.
- The disclosure points: at submission for authors, on accepting an invitation for reviewers, and on assignment for editors.
- The form or declaration to be used. Biomedical journals commonly ask each author to complete the ICMJE Disclosure of Interest form.
- The period covered, and the principle that authors report funding for the work as well as other relevant relationships.
- What happens to a declared conflict: the editor decides how to handle it, and the manuscript is reassigned when the handling editor is conflicted.
- How declarations are published, for example in a dedicated section of the article.
- What happens when a conflict is found later: the journal investigates following COPE guidance and may publish a correction or, in serious cases, a retraction notice.
- Who administers the policy and who handles conflicts involving the editor-in-chief.
Template text you can adapt
Adapt the wording to your journal’s field and legal environment. It is a starting point, not legal advice.
For authors
All authors must disclose, at submission, any financial or non-financial relationship that could be seen to influence the work, including sources of funding, employment, consultancy, stock ownership, patents, and personal or professional relationships relevant to the subject of the manuscript. If there is nothing to declare, authors must state this. Declarations are published with the article. Failure to disclose a relevant interest may lead to correction or retraction of the published work.
For peer reviewers
Reviewers must decline an invitation, or tell the editor before reviewing, if they have a recent collaboration, a financial or personal relationship with an author or institution, or a competing interest in the topic. Reviewers must not use information from a manuscript for personal advantage.
For editors and board members
Editors must not handle manuscripts from authors with whom they have a conflict of interest, including from their own institution or recent collaborators. Such manuscripts are assigned to another editor, and the handling is recorded. Editors who submit their own work follow the same process and have no part in the decision.
Common questions
Does declaring a conflict reduce the chance of acceptance?
It should not. A declaration lets the editor handle the manuscript appropriately and gives readers the context to interpret it. Undisclosed interests that surface later cause far more damage than a declared one.
What should an editor do with a declared conflict?
Assess how closely the interest relates to the work. Options include no action beyond publishing the declaration, reassigning the manuscript to an unconflicted editor, choosing reviewers with no link to the interest, or asking for additional independent review.
What if a conflict is discovered after publication?
Ask the author for a statement, document the case, and follow COPE guidance. Depending on the findings, the journal may publish a correction, an expression of concern or a retraction.
NeucitePress services for journal editors
Three services for journals that want a policy that is applied, not just published.
Policies written for your journal and aligned with COPE and ICMJE, editorial board renewal, integrity screening, an ethics case retainer, training and an annual compliance review.
We manage a complaint or allegation under COPE-aligned procedures: evidence, correspondence, a decision memo for the editor, and execution of the editor’s decision. Priced per case, scaled by complexity.
A 4-hour live virtual workshop for up to 15 editors, board members and reviewers, covering conflicts of interest and COPE Core Practices, with a 1-hour follow-up Q&A.
