A conflict of interest is defined as anything that hinders or could hinder a full, proper, and objective review and decision-making process regarding the publication of research articles or other materials.

A conflict of interest is deemed to exist if individuals involved in the editorial process have personal or professional relationships that could potentially compromise them, hinder objectivity, or influence decisions related to publication.

During the editorial process, the following relationships between the editor-in-chief and/or reviewers and authors constitute a conflict of interest:

– the author and the responsible editor and/or reviewer work in the same department or are part of the same research group, etc.;

– the author is a student, and the reviewer is a faculty member or academic advisor;

– the author is a student, and the reviewer and/or editor is the supervisor of the student’s research.

When submitting an article, the author must disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the journal editor. Once manuscripts are assigned for review, reviewers are asked to inform the editor of any conflicts that may arise.

The author designated by the co-authors as responsible for correspondence with the editorial board (corresponding author) must declare any conflicts of interest on behalf of all authors.

Conflicts of interest may also arise from employment, funding sources, personal financial interests, membership in relevant organizations, or other circumstances that could lead to bias and influence the decision-making of those responsible.

Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or ties with any authors, companies, or institutions associated with the manuscript.

Editors must not edit or oversee manuscripts if they have a conflict of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or ties with any of the authors or with companies or institutions associated with the research.

Any declarations of conflict of interest made by authors, reviewers, or editors are reviewed by the journal’s editor-in-chief. In the event of substantiated declarations of a conflict of interest with the journal’s editor-in-chief, such declarations are reviewed with the participation of two members of the journal’s editorial board.

 

Statement of Concern

Journal editors should consider publishing a statement of concern on the journal’s website if there is evidence of:

– misconduct by authors during the research or publication process;

– the unreliability of the authors’ conclusions, but the institution or organization with which the authors are affiliated does not plan to investigate the matter or lacks an appropriate, properly established procedure for doing so;

– the review of a complaint regarding a breach of academic integrity is ongoing, but there are reasonable grounds to believe that a decision will not be reached for a long time.