The publisher of an original manuscript is generally recognized as the owner of the published material. Consistent with this convention, AALAS requires copyright ownership of all materials published in its journals. Authors must sign and return a copyright release form at the time of submission. Authors are responsible for obtaining the necessary permissions to reproduce previously published figures, tables, or sections of text.

In the interest of transparency, the AALAS journals have adopted a competing interests policy. A detailed copy of the policy can be found at aalas.org/pdf/competing_interest.pdf . Authors are asked to disclose any competing interest related to a manuscript at the time of submission by completing and signing the Declaration of Competing Interests form and the copyright transfer form found at aalas.org/pdf/copyright_form.pdf and faxing it in to the editorial office (901-334-5152). Reviewers are requested to recuse themselves in cases where a significant conflict of interest, financial or otherwise, exists. However, financial interests do not necessarily disqualify a reviewer from evaluating a paper. Reviewers are asked to inform the editor of any interest which might be perceived as relevant. Editors will then consider these statements when weighing reviewers’ recommendations.