AUTHORSHIP POLICY AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST (COI) POLICY

Authorship Policy and Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy 

Authorship Policy 

Global Health Synapse follows ethical authorship practices to ensure that credit is given only to individuals who have made significant scholarly contributions to the research. 

Criteria for Authorship 

An individual qualifies as an author only if they have: 

  • Made substantial contributions to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the study 
  • Drafted the manuscript or critically revised it for important intellectual content 
  • Approved the final version of the manuscript before submission 
  • Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work 

Individuals who contribute only through funding acquisition, general supervision, language editing, or technical assistance should be acknowledged but not listed as authors. 

Changes in Authorship 

Any addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors after submission must be: 

  • Requested in writing by the corresponding author 
  • Approved by all listed authors, including those being added or removed 
  • Justified with a clear explanation 

The journal reserves the right to reject changes that do not follow ethical standards. 

 

Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy 

A conflict of interest exists when an author’s personal, financial, or professional relationships could influence or appear to influence the research outcomes. 

Disclosure Requirements 

All authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, including but not limited to: 

  • Financial relationships (grants, employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership) 
  • Personal or professional relationships 
  • Institutional or organizational affiliations that may affect the research 

If no conflict exists, authors must clearly state: 
“The authors declare no conflict of interest.” 

Editorial and Reviewer COI 

Editors and reviewers must also declare conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a conflict exists. 

Failure to disclose conflicts may result in rejection or retraction of the article.