According to the Council on Publication Ethics' Guidelines on Good Publishing Practice published in 2003, “Conflicts of interest arise when authors, reviewers, or editors have interests that are not fully apparent and that may influence their judgments on what is published. They have been described as those which, when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived.”

Many professionals, researchers, and academics may run into potential conflicts of interest which might jeopardize their work. Thus, the journal requires a written declaration of potential conflicts of interest, which could be included in the paginated published work.

A potential conflict of interest could be created by relationships, allegiances, or hostility to specific parties, organizations, or interests, which would overly influence one's decisions or actions. The scenario becomes much more sensitive if such interests are personal and/or could lead to financial advantage.