Conflicts of interest exist when an author, reviewer, or editor (or the institutions with which they are affiliated) have financial or personal relationships that inappropriately influence (“bias”) their judgments or actions. In other words, a conflict of interest exists when professional judgment regarding a primary interest (the well-being of a patient or the validity of research) can be influenced by a secondary interest (financial benefit, intellectual conviction, or personal rivalry).

Economic, intellectual, or personal relationships vary from those with no significant impact to others with great potential for influence. On the other hand, not all relationships constitute conflicts of interest. The potential for conflicts of interest may exist regardless of whether the individual believes the relationship may affect their judgment. Relationships of a financial nature (employment, payment of salaries or fees, holding stock shares) constitute the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest. However, conflicts of interest may exist due to interpersonal relationships, academic competence, or intellectual passion. 

Conflicts of interest are inevitable, so Al-Anbar Medical Journal does not aspire to eliminate them. However, warning your readers about potential conflicts in a published article is crucial. In sporadic cases, a conflict of interest may disqualify an author from publishing their study in the Journal. The Journal will often declare a possible conflict related to a publication. Consequently, everyone involved in the editing process must make all relationships that may be the potential source of conflicts of interest explicit. The authors of any manuscript submitted to Al-Anbar Medical Journal must make their potential conflicts of interest clear in writing by completing the corresponding form when submitting the manuscript. The editor will publish this information at the end of each article, just before the reference list in a declaration section.