In order to avoid any conflict of interest, or the appearance of conflict of interest, it is important to ascribe to high ethical standards related to editorial policy, review and disclosure.

A conflict of interest may arise when an individual, organization, or other entity has the opportunity to benefit either by monetary gain, employment, or policy position, from an article published through the Journal. Examples of such conflict of interest may include:

• Submission of an article by a board member or board member's colleague, peer review panel member, journal staff or contractor;
• Submission of an article that would benefit a particular product or program that is related to a journal reviewer, staff, or editorial board member;
• Submission of an article that would promote or benefit a particular public position held by the submitter;
• Submission of a research article that would benefit the funding sponsor of the research;
• A reviewer has an interest in an application, proposal, policy, or product that is likely to bias his or her review of a submission;
• Any situation that could limit an objective review and assessment of any submission.

In the case of a conflict of interest or the appearance of a conflict of interest, the submitter and/or journal staff, board member, or reviewer must identify any potential bias, conflict, or association and notify the Editor in Chief and the Managing Editor regarding the nature of the relationship from which a conflict of interest may arise. If acceptable, the article will then be reviewed by board members and peer reviewers unrelated to the potential conflict using the "closed" system review protocol (authors unaware of who reviewed manuscript).

An individual asked to serve as a peer-reviewer may occasionally question his or her own ability to make an objective evaluation. Judgement may be affected (1) by relationships with the author(s), past or present, personal or professional, (2) by prejudicial attitudes regarding either the author(s), the research subject or methods, or (3) by a competitive relationship in an area of research. When the reviewer identifies potential conflict, he or she should immediately advise (preferably by telephone) the editor who requested the review. The editor and reviewer can then decide if the review should continue or if the reviewer should disqualify him- or herself.

Each submitter, and reviewer will be asked to sign an Affirmation of Objectivity:

"In submission of this research or review paper, I affirm that I am aware of no conflict of interest or appearance of conflict of interest that may arise from the research and publication of this article."

"In review of this research or review paper, I affirm that that I am aware of no conflict of interest or appearance of conflict of interest that may arise from the research and publication of this article."

Disclosure of funding sources for published research will appear at the conclusion of each published article.