This flowchart offers editors a step-by-step process on handling cases where a potential conflict of interest is suspected during the reviewing process.
Key points
- At the time of submission an author may have declared no potential conflicts of interest or an incomplete list.
- If authors are unsure of the nature of competing interests the journal should provide them with a copy of their conflicts of interest policy.
- The journal should obtain a signed or confirmed conflicts of interest statement clarifying the author’s position before proceeding further with review.
- The author's institution should be involved when the author denies an alleged conflict of interest or to inform an institution in cases of suspected misconduct.
- Always obtain signed a conflicts of interest statement from authors before reviewing begins.
Related resources
- Undisclosed conflict of interest in a published article, COPE flowchart
- Retraction Guidelines, COPE guidelines
- Handling competing interests, COPE discussion document
- Editorial conflicts of interest, COPE Forum discussion 2022
Core practices:
About this resource
Cite this as
COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics — Undisclosed conflict of interest in a submitted manuscript — English.
https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.6
©2021 Committee on Publication Ethics (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
https://publicationethics.org
Version history
Version 1 2006. Redesigned May 2021.
Full page history
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8 November 2022
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24 July 2021
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6 July 2021
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11 February 2021
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