Conflict of interest policy for local reviewers

Last updated February 2023

Purpose

The purpose of this guideline is to provide local reviewers with information concerning conflicts of interest, when and why it is important to disclose any conflict of interest and how LandScale will manage the conflicts of interest disclosures.

What is a conflict of interest?

Conflicts of Interest occur when reviewers’ own interests, such as personal or work relationships, could influence the way they criticize/ audit/ review an assessment. A conflict of interest is thus when an individual or organization has two or more duties, responsibilities, or interests (personal or professional) that cannot be fulfilled while one duty/ responsibility or interest is compromising the other. There are thus competing interests.

Competing interests can be financial or non-financial, professional, or personal. Competing interests can appear in relationship to an organization or to another individual and should always be disclosed and if necessary, the person with the competing interest should disqualify themselves from involvement in the assessment to avoid compromising the study/ assignment.

Common reasons for reviewers to recuse themselves from the review process may include but are not limited to:

• The reviewer (or a relative) has a current or recent personal relationship/ works with the same institution or organization that is involved in such an assessment;

• The reviewer has a current or recent financial relationship with the institution or organization that funded the research/ assessment;

• The reviewer has a current or recent direct financial interest or other professional benefit from the review.

In summary, any relationship that does not allow reviewers to evaluate the assignment objectively because of competing interests must be declared. Any associations which can be perceived by others as a conflict of interest must also be declared.

Disclosure

All potential reviewers will therefore be asked in the initial contact to state that they agree to review the assessment and that they have no financial, personal, or other conflict of interest that would interfere with performing an unbiased review. If a potential reviewer has questions about what might constitute a possible conflict of interest, the reviewer should contact the LandScale team. The LandScale team will make the determination - based on the information provided - as to whether the reviewer has a conflict that could affect their ability to objectively review the assignment.