Conflicts of interest

To uphold impartiality, you should consider any potential conflict of interest before agreeing to review and should decline a review request in the following instances:

• You are in direct competition with the authors
• You are a co-worker or collaborator with one of the authors
• You are in a position to exploit the authors’ work (commercially or otherwise)
• You may be legally prohibited from reviewing due to national sanctions
• You are in a position which prevents you from giving an objective opinion of the work

Minor conflicts do not disqualify you from reporting on a manuscript, but will be taken into account when considering the reviewer recommendations. Major conflicts of interest (especially relating to a financial commercial interest >£5000/year) do disqualify you.

If you are unable to act as a reviewer due to a conflict of interest, we will select an alternative reviewer.

If the journal is double-anonymous you may not be sure if you have a conflict of interest. If you suspect there may be a reason you should not act as a reviewer of a double-anonymous paper, please contact the editorial office where a member of the team will be able to investigate and advise.