1. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may be relevant to their submitted manuscripts. Such conflicts may include, but are not limited to, financial interests, employment, consultancies, honoraria, research funding, personal relationships, professional affiliations, or other circumstances that could affect the interpretation or presentation of the research findings.

Authors must provide a clear conflict of interest statement during submission. If no conflicts exist, authors should explicitly state:

Authors must also disclose relevant sources of financial support and the role of funders in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and decision to submit the work for publication, where applicable. Any relevant conflict identified after submission must be reported promptly to the editorial office.

2. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must disclose any conflicts of interest that could compromise their impartiality in handling a manuscript. Editors who have a personal, professional, financial, or collaborative relationship with an author, or any other competing interest that could affect their judgment, must withdraw from the editorial decision-making process for that manuscript. An independent editor will be assigned to oversee the review and decision process.

Editorial decisions must be based on the manuscript's scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological quality, and compliance with the journal's publication standards, rather than on personal relationships, financial considerations, or other competing interests.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment. Conflicts may include close personal relationships, recent or ongoing collaboration, direct competition, financial interests, or other circumstances that could impair the objectivity of their assessment. Reviewers who cannot provide an impartial evaluation must decline the invitation and inform the editorial office.

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively and confidentially. They must not use unpublished information obtained during peer review for personal, professional, or financial advantage, nor allow competing interests to influence their recommendations.

4. Disclosure and Management of Conflicts

All disclosed conflicts of interest will be assessed by the editorial team to determine whether they may affect the integrity of the research or the fairness of the publication process. Where necessary, the journal may request additional information, implement appropriate safeguards, reassign editorial or review responsibilities, or take other reasonable steps to manage the conflict.

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from consideration. The journal will assess each case individually and determine whether the conflict can be managed transparently without compromising the credibility of the research or the independence of the editorial process.

5. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified before or after publication, the journal will assess the matter fairly and in accordance with its publication ethics policies. Depending on the circumstances and severity, appropriate actions may include requesting a disclosure or clarification, suspending the editorial process, rejecting a manuscript, publishing a correction or disclosure statement, issuing an expression of concern, or retracting a published article when warranted.

This policy is informed by established principles of publication ethics, including the guidance provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). COPE Core Practices.