Research in Molecular Medicine as a member of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, published by Negah Institute for Scientific Communication, is committed to applying ICMJE recommendation on “Author Responsibilities—Conflicts of Interest” in authors’ conflict of interest issues.

Authors should disclose, at the time of submission, information on financial conflicts of interest or other interests that may influence the manuscript. Authors should declare sources of funding for the work undertaken, too. Therefore, completing and signing the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest is necessary for all authors, and the submission of articles won’t be accepted without filling out this form. 

Public trust in the peer-review process and the credibility of published articles depend partly on how well conflict of interest is handled during writing, peer review, and editorial decision-making. Conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author’s institution), reviewer, or editor has financial or personal relationships that inappropriately influence (bias) their actions (such relationships are also known as dual commitments, competing interests, or competing loyalties). These relationships vary from negligible to great potential for influencing judgment. Not all relationships represent true conflicts of interest. On the other hand, the potential for conflict of interest can exist regardless of whether an individual believes that the relationship affects their scientific judgment. Financial relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, and paid expert testimony) are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and science itself. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion.

All participants in Research in Molecular Medicine’s peer-review and publication process must disclose all relationships that could be viewed as potential conflicts of interest. Disclosure of such relationships is also important in connection with editorials and review articles because it can be more difficult to detect bias in these types of publications than in reports of original research. Editors may use information disclosed in conflict-of-interest and financial interest statements as a basis for editorial decisions. The journal editors should publish this information if they believe it is important to judge the manuscript.

Research in Molecular Medicine editors avoid selecting external peer reviewers with obvious potential conflicts of interest, such as those working in the same department or institution as any authors. Authors often provide editors with the names of persons they feel should not be asked to review a manuscript because of potential, usually professional, conflicts of interest. When possible, authors may be asked to explain or justify their concerns; that information is important to editors in deciding whether to honor such requests.

Research in Molecular Medicine reviewers must disclose to the journal editors any conflicts of interest that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and they should recuse themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if the potential for bias exists. As in the case of authors, silence on the part of reviewers concerning potential conflicts may mean either that conflicts exist and the reviewer has failed to disclose them, or conflicts do not exist. Reviewers must, therefore, also be asked to state explicitly whether conflicts do or do not exist. Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work before its publication to further their interests.

Research in Molecular Medicine editors who make final decisions about manuscripts must have no personal, professional, or financial involvement in any of the issues they might judge. Other members of the editorial staff, if they participate in editorial decisions, must provide editors with a current description of their financial interests (as they might relate to editorial judgments) and recuse themselves from any decisions in which a conflict of interest exists. Editorial staff must not use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain. The journal editors should publish regular disclosure statements about potential conflicts of interest related to the commitments of journal staff.