The following policy is mandatory for all OSA Journals plus Photonics Research. A Disclosures statement is required for all submissions. Authors, reviewers and editors for the Journal of Optical Communications and Networking (JOCN) may voluntarily comply with the guidelines but the Disclosures statement is not required for JOCN.
Conflicts of Interest Policy (PDF)
Conflicts of Interest: Definition
Awareness and proper management of potential conflicts of interest for authors, reviewers and editors is essential to OSA's mission to disseminate and archive optics and photonics knowledge. OSA defines a conflict of interest as arising from any relationship authors, reviewers or editors have which interferes with, or could reasonably be perceived as interfering with, the full and objective presentation, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication of a manuscript. Conflicts of interest can be financial or non-financial, professional or personal, and can arise in relation to an organization or an individual. OSA Journals requires full disclosure by authors of all conflicts of interest relevant to a submitted manuscript, which is integral to the transparent reporting of research.
Sources of funding for reported research, as well as relevant commercial relationships of authors represent special categories of potential financial conflicts of interest for which specific disclosures are expected by the scientific community and the public. For the purposes of publishing in OSA Journals, a Commercial Relationship is defined as any involvement with a for-profit entity which produces, markets, re-sells, or distributes goods or services, which fits within any of the Commercial Relationships Disclosure Codes listed below. Relevant Commercial Relationships are defined as those that (1) relate to the content of the publication for which disclosure is taking place and (2) occurred or extended within a 12-month period preceding the manuscript submission or the review request. OSA considers financial relationships to create conflicts of interest when individuals have both a financial relationship with a commercial entity and the opportunity to affect published content related to the products or services of that commercial entity. Disclosures should also be made for relevant commercial relationships involving family members.
Obligations of Authors
Appropriate disclosures are made in three distinct sections of a manuscript: Acknowledgements, Funding, and Disclosures. The distinctions between these sections are described below.
Obligations of Editors
Obligations of Reviewers
Commercial Relationships Disclosure Codes
These codes are to be used for Relevant Commercial Relationships, as defined above.
F (Financial Support) Indicates financial support received from a commercial entity in the form of research funding, grants, research materials or in-kind services (e.g., optical design/manufacturing).
I (Personal Financial Interest) Indicates individual ownership of shares or other investment vehicles in a commercial entity other than through a managed fund (e.g., mutual or retirement fund).
E (Employment) Indicates employment (full or part-time) by a commercial entity.
C (Consultant) Indicates engagement as a paid consultant for a commercial entity.
P (Patent) Indicates any involvement with a patent or competing patent, patent application, copyright, or trade secret, whether or not the patent, copyright, etc. is presently licensed or otherwise commercialized.
R (Recipient) Indicates receipt of gifts, honoraria, travel reimbursement, patent royalties, or any other financial compensation valued in any amount from a commercial entity.
S (non-remunerative) Indicates position(s) of influence such as officer, board member, trustee, spokesperson, etc. which are not financially compensated.
Examples of Conflicts of Interest disclosures (Initials represent those of relevant authors):
For illustration, authors Jonas Grumby, Roy Hinkley, and Andrew Squiggman are represented below as JTG, RHH, and AJS.
Funding. National Institutes of Health (NIH) (DP3DK108248); U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) (DE-AC02-05CH11231, DE-AC52-07NA27344).
Acknowledgments. Statistical support was provided by Albert J. Brooks, University of Missouri. Writing assistance was provided by Writing Associates, Inc. Optical Design support was provided by Optics Design, Inc.
Disclosures. JTG: 123 Corporation (I,E,P), RHH: 456 Corporation (R,S). A: 789 Corporation (C).
Disclosures. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.