The Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy requires all authors to include with their submissions a letter/statement or disclosure of any competing financial or other interests related to the submitted work that (1) could affect or have the perception of affecting the author’s objectivity or (2) could influence or have the perception of influencing the content of the article.

What should I disclose?

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) states in it Guidelines on Good Publication Practice (2003)

‘Conflicts of interest arise when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that are not fully apparent and that may influence their judgments on what is published. They have been described as those which, when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived.’

The JSDLP therefore requires that all authors disclose any personal financial interests (examples include fees for consulting or research funding; professional affiliations, advisory positions, board memberships or patent holdings) that are related to the subject matter of the contribution. Authors should also disclose relevant financial interests of immediate family members (spouse and dependent children) that may influence their independent judgement on the subject matter of what is published.

Where do I declare competing interests?

Competing interests should be disclosed in the “Declaration of Interests Letter” that is to be uploaded with the manuscript at the time of submission,

NOTE: If you have no competing interests to declare, please note that in a “Declaration of Interests Letter” with the following wording:“ The authors declare no competing interests.”