CWR Journal

Editorial Policy

The journal Editors treat submitted manuscripts and all communications with the authors as confidential between themselves and the peer-reviewers (who also undertake to keep these matters confidential). Similarly, authors must treat communication with the journal as confidential: correspondence with the journal, reviewers’ reports and other confidential material must not be posted on a website or otherwise publicized without prior permission from the Editors, whether or not the submission is eventually published.

Peer Review

All contributions are sent to an Associate Editor who will select two or more independent reviewers to consider the article. Authors are welcome to suggest suitable or unsuitable independent reviewers, but these suggestions may not be followed. The journal sympathetically considers exclusion requests and usually honours them, but the Editor’s decision on the choice of peer-reviewers is final.

Authorship Policy

Submission to the CWRJ is taken to mean that all the listed authors have agreed to the contents. The corresponding (submitting) author is responsible for having ensured that this agreement has been reached, and for managing all communication between the journal and all co-authors. Any changes to the author list after submission, such as a change in the order of the authors, or the deletion or addition of authors, requires the signed consent of every author. Authors are strongly encouraged to include a statement in the acknowledgements to specify the actual contribution of each co-author to the completed work.

Competing Financial Interest Policy

In the interests of transparency and to help readers to form their own judgment of potential bias, we require authors to declare any competing financial interests in relation to the work described. A form will be sent to the author to complete and sign before publication of the article. A shortened form of the declaration is published as part of the acknowledgements of the article. Authors may use the form to decline to disclose their financial interests, but the journal will publish the fact that they have declined to provide this information.

Definition

For the purposes of this statement, competing interests are defined as those of a financial nature that, through their potential influence on behaviour or content or from perception of such potential influences, could undermine the objectivity, integrity or perceived value of a publication. They can include any of the following:

• Funding: Research support (including salaries, equipment, supplies, reimbursement for attending symposia, and other expenses) by organizations that may gain or lose financially through this publication.
• Employment: Recent (while engaged in the research project), present or anticipated employment by any organization that may gain or lose financially through this publication.
• Personal financial interests: Stocks or shares in companies that may gain or lose financially through publication; consultation fees or other forms of remuneration from organizations that may gain or lose financially; patents or patent applications whose value may be affected by publication.

It is difficult to specify a threshold at which a financial interest becomes significant, but we offer as one possible practical guideline: “Any undeclared competing financial interests that could embarrass you were they to become publicly known after your work was published.”

Application to Authors

Unless/until the article is published, authors’ declarations will be considered confidential, and will not be disclosed to peer-reviewers.

The published article indicates the authors’ response using one of the following standard wordings:

• The authors declare competing financial interests.
• The authors declare no competing financial interests.
• The authors decline to provide information about competing financial interests.

For publications with more than one author, the corresponding author should provide a declaration on behalf of all authors.

We recognize that some authors may be bound by confidentiality agreements. In such cases the authors may use the following standard wording as an alternative to itemized disclosure: “The authors declare that they are bound by confidentiality agreements that prevent them from disclosing their financial interests in this work.” We do not require authors to state the monetary value of their financial interests.

Application to Referees

We invite peer-reviewers to exclude themselves in cases where there is a significant conflict of interest, financial or otherwise. However, just as financial interests need not invalidate the conclusions of an article, nor do they automatically disqualify an individual from evaluating it. We ask peer-reviewers to inform the Editors of any related interests, including financial interests as defined above, that might be perceived as relevant. Editors will consider these statements when weighing reviewers’ recommendations.

Application to Editors

The Editors are required to declare to the Board of CWRA any interests—financial or otherwise - that might influence, or be perceived to influence, their editorial practices.

Application to Publishing Policy

Journals depend upon their independence. The strict policy is that editorial independence, decisions and content should not be compromised by commercial or financial interests, or by any specific arrangements with advertising clients or sponsors. Our policy is to disclose such arrangements where there is any risk of a perception of compromise.