Funding statements describe the financial and material support that made the research and manuscript possible. Authors must disclose relevant support so that readers can understand the circumstances in which the work was designed, conducted, interpreted, and published.

Information to report

Identify the funding organization, grant or award number where applicable, and the author or project receiving support. Include relevant fellowships, commissioned research, sponsored access to data, and in-kind resources such as staff time, facilities, or research assistance. Where publication charges are supported separately, distinguish that support from funding for the research.

Use the funder’s official name and verify award details against the grant record. For several grants or authors, make the allocation clear. If the study received no specific funding, state that explicitly rather than leaving the funding section blank. General institutional employment need not be described as a specific research grant, but relevant commissioned or restricted support must be disclosed.

Funder participation and restrictions

Explain the funder’s role, if any, in study design, collection or access to evidence, analysis, interpretation, preparation of the manuscript, and the decision to submit. If the funder had no role in those activities, say so. Disclose any requirement to obtain approval for publication and any restriction on the authors’ access to data or ability to report findings.

This is particularly relevant to evaluation and policy research commissioned by an organization examined in the paper. The statement should allow readers to distinguish financial support from involvement in the research decisions. Funding does not by itself invalidate a study, but undisclosed influence may affect how its findings are assessed.

Checking and updating declarations

The corresponding author should confirm the statement with co-authors. Funding information belongs alongside a separate competing-interest declaration when a relationship could influence, or appear to influence, the work. Update both statements if circumstances change during review or production. Material omissions discovered after publication should be reported to the journal for assessment.

Funding and payment of the APC do not purchase editorial acceptance or favourable assessment.