Declaration Statement:
For scholarly articles, a declaration of accountability is required from all authors, regardless of the article type review or others. This declaration should detail the level of involvement of each author in the research process. The level of granularity required for an article may vary depending on the subject matter. Some articles may include contributions from identifiable individuals, while others may result from collaboration. Authors ensure the declaration positioning after the conclusion, but before the reference section is advisable.

  1. Conflicts of Interest/ Competing Interests:
    Authors must guarantee that their article is devoid of any competing interests and must explicitly explain if there are any such interests [1][2]. Please visit the conflicts of Interest/ competing interest policy for more detailed information. 
  2. Financial Support:
    The authors must furnish comprehensive information regarding any monetary aid received, including funds, grants, or other auxiliary forms of support, in the prescribed format provided.
    The ABC {author’s name} has disclosed that they received financial support for their research work from XYZ {funder name} with grant numbers xyxyx, URL {online available information if any}.
  3. Ethical Approval and Consent to Participate: 
    The author must provide a statement that verifies the absence of ethical clearance and consent requirements, along with necessary supporting evidence if requested [3][4]. For more detailed information, please visit the misconduct/ plagiarism policy. 
  4. Data Access Statement and Material Availability: 
    Authors must confirm that their data stored in the repository is easily accessible to others and provide clear and concise information on how to access it. Proper data management practices, such as version control and metadata documentation, should also be implemented to facilitate data sharing and reuse within the research community. It is crucial to provide precise and comprehensive information about accessibility limitations, particularly when a profit-seeking entity is involved. The corresponding author must ensure adequate resources are available. Employing recognised public repositories for biological materials and furnishing comprehensive information to ensure accurate reproducibility is advisable, which should remain open for a considerable duration after publication to facilitate reproducibility and verification of results [5][6]. Please visit the data access statement and material availability policy for more detailed information.
  5. Authors Contributions:
    When multiple authors are involved in writing an article, it is essential to specify their roles to ensure transparency, accountability, and creditability. For example, one author may have been responsible for developing the algorithm, another may have conducted the results section, and a third may have created the block diagram. Even for review-type articles, authors must provide written statements declaring their contributions and taking responsibility for their work. This level of accountability is essential for establishing credibility and ensuring transparency in scientific research [7][8]. For more detailed information, please visit the authorship policy.

References:

  1. WAME – Conflict of Interest in Peer-Reviewed Medical Journals
  2. COPE- Conflicts of interest / Competing interests
  3. ORI Policy on Plagiarism
  4. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) – Scientific Misconduct, Expressions of Concern, and Retraction
  5. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) – Data Sharing
  6. COPE- Data Availability Statements
  7. WAME – Authorship
  8. COPE- Authorship and Contributorship