CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

1 What represents a conflict of interest?

A conflict of interest is any situation that interferes or could reasonably be perceived as interfering with the full and objective presentation, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication of articles submitted to Colombia Médica.
Conflicts of interest may be financial or non-financial, professional or personal, and may involve institutions, organizations, or individuals.

The disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest is a mandatory requirement for Colombia Médica, as part of its commitment to research transparency. Failure to disclose conflicts of interest may result in the immediate rejection of the manuscript. If an undisclosed conflict is identified after publication, the journal will act in accordance with COPE guidelines and issue a public notice to the community.

2 What to declare?

All individuals involved in the peer review process (authors, editors, reviewers, and readers) must disclose any relevant competing interests that occurred within five years prior to the research or manuscript preparation.
Interests outside this period must also be declared if they could reasonably be perceived as relevant under the conflict of interest definition.

3 Financial conflicts of interest

Examples of financial conflicts of interest include:

• Ownership of stocks or shares.
• Paid employment or consultancy.
• Membership in boards of directors.
• Patents (pending or active).
• Research grants.
• Travel grants or honoraria for speaking engagements.
• Gifts or other financial benefits.

4 Non-financial conflicts of interest

Examples of non-financial conflicts of interest include:

• Acting as an expert witness.
• Membership in advisory boards.
• Relationships with funding or advocacy organizations.
• Writing or consulting for educational purposes.
• Personal relationships (e.g., friendship, spouse, family member, current or former mentor, adversary) with individuals involved in the editorial process.
• Personal convictions (political, religious, ideological) that may interfere with impartiality during authorship, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication.

5 Who must declare conflicts of interest?

5.1 Authors
Authors must list all conflicts of interest at the time of manuscript submission, including:

• Sources of funding and the role of the funder.
• Participation in editorial boards of the journal.
• Activities as expert witnesses or committee members.

The journal Colombia Médica has a conflict of interest disclosure form that all authors must fill out at the time of submitting the manuscript.

5.2 Editors and reviewers
Editors and reviewers must disclose their conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the review process if:

• They work or have collaborated with the authors.
• They have published or received funding with the authors.
• They have personal relationships that affect their impartiality.

5.3 Readers
Readers commenting on published articles must disclose any conflicts of interest at the time of submitting their comments.

6 Editorial actions and decisions

Editors will consider all conflicts of interest during the review process and ensure their disclosure in published articles.
Reviewers with conflicts that could compromise impartiality will not be consulted, and articles will not be published if there is evidence of bias or a reasonable perception of bias.