Conflict of Interest Policy

The World Journal of Environmental Biosciences is committed to transparency and to protecting the integrity of the editorial and publication process. All authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any competing interests that could reasonably be seen to influence the preparation, review, or publication of a manuscript.

Having a competing interest doesn't necessarily rule out publication — but full disclosure lets editors, reviewers, and readers evaluate the work with a clear, informed view.

What counts as a competing interest

Competing interests can be financial or non-financial, and include (but aren't limited to):

• Employment, consultancy, advisory roles, honoraria, salaries, grants, or other financial support from organizations that may benefit from or be affected by the published work.

• Ownership of stocks, shares, or other financial investments related to the subject of the manuscript.

• Ownership of, or pending applications for, patents, copyrights, or other intellectual property tied to the reported research.

• Institutional affiliations, leadership roles, or memberships in organizations or advocacy groups with interests related to the manuscript.

• Personal, academic, political, religious, or ideological relationships or beliefs that could reasonably be seen as shaping the research or its interpretation.

• Financial or non-financial relationships with commercial organizations — including pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, or other companies sponsoring clinical trials, laboratory studies, field studies, or related research. Authors must clearly describe the nature of any such relationship.

Disclosure at submission

Each author is responsible for declaring all relevant competing interests at the time of submission. The corresponding author must make sure these disclosures are complete and accurately reflect the situation of every co-author.

Editors and reviewers are held to the same standard: they must declare any competing interest that could affect their impartiality. Anyone with a significant conflict of interest is excluded from handling or reviewing the manuscript in question, and an alternative editor or reviewer is assigned in their place to keep the evaluation unbiased.

How disclosures appear in print

Where competing interests are disclosed, they're published in the article under a Competing Interests section. Where none exist, the article carries this statement instead:

"The authors declare that they have no competing interests."

Consequences of non-disclosure

Failing to disclose a relevant competing interest may lead to editorial action — including rejection of the manuscript, publication of a correction, or retraction after publication where warranted — in line with the journal's broader publishing ethics policies.