Conflicts of interest policy

The Revista Médica de Risaralda promotes transparency, ethics, and integrity throughout its editorial and scientific publication process. Accordingly, this Conflict of Interest Policy applies to authors, peer reviewers, and members of the editorial committee.

A conflict of interest is defined as any situation in which the personal, academic, financial, or institutional interests of any party involved in the editorial process may unduly influence—or appear to influence—the judgment, objectivity, or decisions related to the evaluation, acceptance, or rejection of a manuscript.

Authors

Authors must declare, at the time of manuscript submission, any personal, professional, academic, financial, or institutional relationships that could influence the interpretation or presentation of their results.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• Funding or sponsorship of the research

• Participation in consultancies, advisory boards, or governing bodies

• Ownership of stocks, patents, or copyrights related to the subject matter

• Direct personal or academic relationships with reviewers or editors

If no conflicts of interest exist, authors must explicitly state:

“The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest related to the publication of this manuscript.”

Peer Reviewers

Reviewers must refrain from evaluating a manuscript if they believe a conflict exists that could compromise their impartiality, such as:

• Having a personal or professional relationship with any of the authors

• Having participated directly or indirectly in the research project under review

• Having academic competition or opposing interests concerning the manuscript topic

In the event of a conflict, the reviewer must immediately notify the editorial committee, which will assign a different evaluator.

Editors and Editorial Committee

Editors are responsible for ensuring a fair, transparent, and unbiased editorial process.
No editor shall participate in decision-making regarding a manuscript in which they are listed as an author, collaborator, or have any personal, academic, or financial interest.
In such cases, the manuscript will be handled by another member of the editorial committee or by an independent guest editor.

Disclosure and Resolution

All conflict-of-interest declarations will be reviewed by the editorial committee.
If it is determined that a conflict compromises the integrity of the editorial process, appropriate actions will be taken. These may include reassignment of the manuscript, publication of a clarification notice, or, in severe cases, article retraction.