All authors must complete the ICMJE Disclosure Form covering the previous 36 months. A competing interests statement is published with every article.

What must be disclosed

•     Commercial interests in the technology studied: employment by, consultancy for, shares or stock options in, or founding of a company whose software, device, app or AI model is evaluated or discussed — including start-ups and spin-outs.

•     Intellectual property: patents, patent applications, copyrights or licensing income related to the algorithm, software or device.

•     Other financial support: grants, honoraria, travel support, cloud computing credits, free software licences or hardware provided by companies.

•     Non-financial interests: roles in standards bodies, regulatory advisory groups or government digital health programmes being evaluated, academic competition and personal relationships.

Studies evaluating a product by its own developers are welcome but must state this clearly in the title page, abstract (where relevant), Methods and competing interests statement.

Funding statement

List all funders with grant numbers and describe the funder’s role in design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing and the decision to publish. Industry-funded studies must confirm that the authors had full access to the data and final responsibility for submission. If there was no funding, state: ‘This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.’

Editors and reviewers

Editors and reviewers must declare conflicts and withdraw from any manuscript where they have one, including links to competing products or companies. Undisclosed competing interests discovered after submission or publication are handled under COPE guidance and may lead to rejection, correction or retraction.