Conflict of Interest Policy

International Journal of Business, Law, and Education (IJBLE)
Official Website: https://ijble.com/index.php/journal/index

1. Policy Statement

The International Journal of Business, Law, and Education (IJBLE) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of transparency, impartiality, research integrity, and ethical scholarly publishing.

IJBLE recognizes that conflicts of interest may arise when personal, financial, professional, institutional, academic, or other relationships could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the conduct, interpretation, evaluation, or publication of scholarly research.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate unethical behavior. However, full and timely disclosure is essential to protect the integrity, credibility, and independence of the editorial and peer-review processes.

This policy applies to authors, editors, editorial board members, peer reviewers, and other individuals involved in the publication process.

2. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest, also referred to as a competing interest, exists when an individual's secondary interests may influence, or appear to influence, their primary professional responsibilities relating to research and scholarly publication.

Conflicts of interest may include:

Financial Interests: Research funding, employment, consultancy fees, honoraria, stock ownership, patents, royalties, or other financial relationships.

Personal Relationships: Family connections, close friendships, personal disputes, or relationships that may compromise impartiality.

Professional Interests: Employment relationships, professional collaborations, supervisory relationships, or organizational responsibilities.

Academic Interests: Academic rivalry, competition, recent research collaboration, or professional relationships that could affect objective evaluation.

Institutional Interests: Relationships between authors, editors, reviewers, institutions, sponsors, or affiliated organizations.

Intellectual Interests: Strong personal commitments to particular theories, methodologies, findings, or interpretations that may compromise impartial judgment.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors submitting manuscripts to IJBLE must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research or its publication.

Authors are required to:

1. Disclose relevant financial support and research funding.

2. Identify relationships with organizations or individuals that may influence the research.

3. Declare relevant professional, institutional, or personal competing interests.

4. Provide accurate information about the role of research sponsors.

5. Ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the conflict-of-interest declaration.

6. Update their declarations if relevant circumstances change during manuscript evaluation or publication.

The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating and submitting the declaration on behalf of all authors.

Where no competing interests exist, authors must include the following statement:

Declaration of Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known financial or non-financial competing interests that could have influenced the research reported in this manuscript.

4. Financial Disclosure and Funding Transparency

Authors must identify all relevant sources of financial support, including institutional funding, research grants, sponsorships, and commercial contributions.

When applicable, the manuscript must include:

• Name of the funding organization.

• Grant or project identification number.

• Nature of the financial support.

• Role of the funding organization in the research process.

• Relevant financial relationships that could influence the interpretation of findings.

Authors should clarify whether funders participated in research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or the decision to submit the article.

When research has received no specific external funding, authors may state:

Funding Statement: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Funding disclosures and competing-interest declarations serve different purposes and should be presented separately.

5. Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members must maintain independence and impartiality throughout the manuscript evaluation and publication process.

Editors must disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest involving submitted manuscripts.

An editor must not oversee the evaluation of a manuscript when a relevant conflict of interest could compromise editorial independence.

Examples include manuscripts:

• Authored or co-authored by the editor.

• Submitted by close family members or personal associates.

• Submitted by current collaborators or individuals with relevant supervisory relationships.

• Associated with financial or professional relationships that could affect editorial judgment.

• Involving other circumstances that may reasonably undermine impartiality.

In such cases, the manuscript must be assigned to an independent editor without the relevant conflict.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly quality, originality, methodological rigor, relevance, and compliance with publication ethics.

6. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers must disclose any circumstances that could compromise their ability to provide an objective, independent, and fair assessment of a manuscript.

Potential reviewer conflicts include:

1. Recent or ongoing research collaboration with an author.

2. Close personal or professional relationships with an author.

3. Direct academic competition or significant professional disputes.

4. Financial interests related to the research findings.

5. Involvement in the preparation or development of the manuscript.

6. Institutional relationships that could affect impartiality.

Reviewers must inform the editorial office promptly when potential conflicts are identified.

Reviewers should decline an invitation or withdraw from the review process when a conflict prevents an independent evaluation.

All reviewers must maintain manuscript confidentiality and must not use unpublished information for personal or professional advantage.

7. Editorial Independence

IJBLE is committed to ensuring that editorial decisions remain independent of commercial, financial, institutional, political, or personal influence.

Publication decisions must not be determined by:

• Authors' financial contributions or payment of publication fees.

• Institutional affiliations or academic positions.

• Relationships with journal management or editorial board members.

• Sponsorship or advertising arrangements.

• Personal relationships or professional influence.

• Commercial interests of the publisher or affiliated organizations.

Where editorial conflicts arise, responsibility for manuscript evaluation will be delegated to an appropriately qualified and independent editor.

8. Disclosure Requirements

Authors must submit a competing-interest declaration as part of the manuscript submission process.

The declaration must clearly indicate whether relevant competing interests exist.

When No Conflict Exists:

"The authors declare that they have no known financial or non-financial competing interests related to this research."

When a Conflict Exists:

"The authors disclose the following potential competing interests: [provide a clear description of the relevant financial, personal, professional, or institutional relationships]."

When Multiple Authors Are Involved:

Each author is responsible for disclosing their own relevant interests, and the corresponding author must ensure that the collective declaration is complete and accurate.

Relevant disclosures will be included in the published article or its associated declarations.

9. Management of Identified Conflicts

When a potential conflict of interest is identified, IJBLE will evaluate its nature, relevance, and potential influence on the publication process.

Appropriate management measures may include:

1. Requesting additional disclosure or clarification.

2. Publishing a relevant competing-interest statement.

3. Assigning an independent editor.

4. Replacing a reviewer with an identified conflict.

5. Obtaining an additional independent assessment.

6. Suspending editorial processing while serious concerns are investigated.

7. Referring suspected non-disclosure or misconduct to an appropriate institution or authority.

The existence of a disclosed conflict does not automatically result in manuscript rejection.

Editorial actions will be based on the seriousness of the concern and its implications for research integrity.

10. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

Failure to disclose relevant competing interests may constitute a breach of publication ethics.

When an undisclosed conflict is identified before publication, the editorial team may request clarification, require updated declarations, or take further action as appropriate.

When an undisclosed conflict is discovered after publication, IJBLE may investigate the circumstances and consider:

• Publication of a correction or updated disclosure.

• Issuance of an editorial notice where appropriate.

• Notification to relevant institutions when warranted.

• Retraction where serious misconduct or unreliable findings justify such action under recognized publication ethics guidance.

Any decision will be proportionate to the available evidence and consistent with applicable editorial policies.

11. Conflicts of Interest in Special Issues and Editorial Submissions

Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, guest editors, or individuals associated with the publisher must undergo independent editorial assessment.

Such manuscripts must not receive preferential treatment.

An editor who is an author or has a substantial conflict involving a manuscript must not participate in selecting reviewers, assessing reviewer reports, or making the final editorial decision on that manuscript.

Appropriate safeguards must be implemented to maintain transparency and editorial independence.

12. Continuous Disclosure and Policy Compliance

Conflicts of interest may arise or change during research, peer review, manuscript revision, or publication.

Authors, reviewers, and editors are responsible for updating their declarations when new relevant interests become known.

IJBLE may request additional supporting information when reasonably necessary to assess a disclosed or suspected conflict.

All parties involved in scholarly publication are expected to cooperate with the journal's ethical disclosure and assessment procedures.

13. Ethical Standards and References

This policy is informed by internationally recognized publication ethics principles, including:

• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): https://publicationethics.org/

• COPE Core Practices: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE): https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

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International Journal of Business, Law, and Education (IJBLE)

Committed to Transparency, Editorial Independence, Research Integrity, and Responsible Scholarly Publishing.

Official Website: https://ijble.com/index.php/journal/index