The Journal of Aesthetic Surgery is committed to ensuring transparency and maintaining trust in the scholarly publication process. All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the objectivity of their work.

Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as research validity or patient welfare) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain, personal relationships, academic competition, or intellectual bias).

Author Responsibilities

Disclosure Requirements

• All sources of funding must be clearly identified.
• Financial relationships, including grants, consulting fees, honoraria, stock ownership, or advisory roles must be disclosed.
• Relevant non-financial interests (personal relationships, academic competition, ideological beliefs) must also be declared.

Authors must include a Conflict of Interest statement within the manuscript prior to submission. If no conflicts exist, authors must state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

Reviewer Responsibilities

• Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.
• Reviewers must disclose any potential competing interests to the Editor-in-Chief.
• Reviewers must not use information obtained during peer review for personal or professional advantage.

Editor Responsibilities

• Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.
• Editorial decisions must be made solely on the basis of academic merit and relevance.
• Editors must not be influenced by commercial interests or advertising considerations.

Management of Conflicts

• Disclosed conflicts will be evaluated by the Editorial Board.
• Additional disclosure statements may be required prior to publication.
• Failure to disclose relevant conflicts may result in rejection, correction, or retraction.

Post-Publication Disclosure

If a conflict of interest is discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction or retraction in accordance with the Corrections and Retractions Policy.

Commitment to Transparency

The Journal of Aesthetic Surgery supports international best practices in publication ethics and maintains full transparency in managing potential conflicts to safeguard the integrity of the scholarly record.