Declaration of interests

Transparency is crucial for maintaining a reader’s trust in the scientific process and the credibility of published articles. At EWA Publishing, the disclosure of competing interests is a fundamental aspect of ensuring transparency. Hence, we include a “declaration of interests” section (if applicable) where all authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests related to the submitted work that:

• could impact or appear to impact the author’s objectivity, or
• could influence or appear to influence the content of the article

Financial competing interests

Funding: Research support (including salaries, equipment, supplies, and other expenses) provided by organizations that may gain or lose financially through this publication should be disclosed. Additionally, any specific roles the funder had in the conceptualization, design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript must be reported.

Employment: Disclosure is required for any recent, current, or anticipated employment by any organization that may gain or lose financially through this publication, particularly during the time the research project was conducted.

Personal financial interests: Authors must disclose ownership of stocks or shares in companies that may be financially impacted by the publication. This includes consultation fees or other forms of remuneration from such organizations, as well as patents or patent applications (awarded or pending) filed by the authors or their institutions that could be affected by the publication. For patents and patent applications, the following details should be provided: the patent applicant (whether it is the author or their institution), the name of the inventor(s), the application number, the status of the application, and the specific aspect of the manuscript covered by the patent application.

Threshold for financial interest disclosure: While it is challenging to define a specific threshold at which a financial interest becomes significant, many universities require faculty members to disclose interests exceeding $10,000 or 5% equity in a company. Any such figure is necessarily arbitrary. As an alternative guideline, we suggest: "Any undeclared competing financial interests that could embarrass you if they became publicly known after your work was published."

Exclusions: We do not consider diversified mutual funds or investment trusts to constitute a competing financial interest.

Non-financial competing interests

Non-financial competing interests can manifest in various forms, including personal or professional relationships with organizations and individuals. We encourage authors and referees to declare any unpaid roles or relationships that might influence the publication process. Examples of non-financial competing interests include, but are not limited to:

• Unpaid membership in a government or non-governmental organization
• Unpaid membership in an advocacy or lobbying organization
• Unpaid advisory positions in commercial organizations
• Writing or consulting for educational companies
• Acting as an expert witness