Authorship & COI

Authorship Requirements
The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
3. Final approval of the version to be published
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work he or she has done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. In addition, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors.

Conflicts of Interest
Conflict of Interest for Authors
ELEFTHO requires authors to declare all competing interests in relation to their work. Competing interests may be financial or non-financial. The ICMJE has developed a Form for Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest to facilitate and standardize authors’ disclosures. Our Journal is proud to adhere to the ICMJE guidelines and prior to publication of a manuscript all authors will have to provide an individual ICMJE form for that respective manuscript. The final manuscript pdf will include an author statement on the conflicts of interest of the co-authors as reported in the ICMJE form provided to the Editorial Office. In this section provenance and peer review is also noted.

Conflict of Interest of Reviewers
Peer review is an essential part of scholarly publishing. ELEFTHO adheres to single-blind peer review by external experts as per our peer review policy (under our Publication Ethics Tab). During blind peer review, the reviewers are requested to note if they may have a potential conflict of interest with the manuscript. The final manuscript, if accepted, will also note if the peer review has been performed externally or internally.

Conflict of Interest of Editors
Manuscripts in which the Editor in Chief perceives that they themselves may have a conflict of interest are handled by the other Editor in Chief and by other members of the editorial board. Members of the editorial board with potential conflicts of interest with regards to a manuscript are excluded from reviewing or evaluating that manuscript. Manuscripts requested by the Editor in Chief are noted as "Commissioned" and this is also noted in the final manuscript pdf. Manuscripts that are written by members of the editorial board still undergo the single-blind peer review process and the author-editor is requested, as with all authors, to complete an ICMJE conflict of interest form. The final manuscript pdf will include an author statement on the conflicts of interest. In this section provenance and peer review is also noted.