Conflicts of Interest Policy

This policy defines the procedure for disclosing, considering, and managing conflicts of interest that may arise among authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, and other persons involved in the editorial and publishing process.

The journal seeks to ensure objectivity, independence, and transparency in the editorial consideration of manuscripts. The existence of a conflict of interest is not always a violation and does not always constitute grounds for rejection of a manuscript. However, any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest must be disclosed in a timely manner and properly considered by the editorial office.

1. General Principles

All participants in the publication process must act in good faith, objectively, and independently.

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any circumstances that may affect the objectivity of the research, peer review, editorial decision, or perception of the published results.

A conflict of interest may be financial, professional, institutional, personal, scientific, or otherwise. It may be actual, potential, or perceived as a possible conflict of interest by readers, reviewers, editors, or other participants in the publication process.

The editorial office considers disclosed conflicts of interest with regard to their nature, the degree of their possible influence on the manuscript, and the possibility of ensuring objective editorial consideration.

2. What Constitutes a Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest arises when personal, financial, professional, institutional, scientific, or other circumstances may influence or create the impression of influencing the objectivity of an author, reviewer, editor, or other participant in the publication process.

Possible conflicts of interest may include:

financial interest in the results of the research;
receipt of grants, sponsorship, payment for services, or other material support related to the research;
employment, official, or institutional relationships;
joint publications, current or recent research projects;
supervisory, subordinate, or dependent relationships;
personal, family, or close professional relationships;
scientific competition or direct rivalry;
involvement in patents, licenses, commercial developments, or other intellectual property related to the research topic;
participation in organizations, projects, or structures interested in the results of the research;
any other circumstances that may affect the objectivity of evaluation, interpretation, or editorial decision-making.

This list is not exhaustive. If a participant in the publication process has doubts about whether a circumstance should be disclosed, that circumstance should be disclosed to the editorial office.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must disclose all actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest related to the submitted manuscript, if such conflicts exist.

Such conflicts may include financial, professional, institutional, personal, scientific, or other circumstances that may affect the research, interpretation of results, preparation of the manuscript, or perception of the article by readers.

When submitting a manuscript, authors must inform the editorial office of any conflict of interest, if such a conflict exists.

If a conflict of interest exists, authors must clearly indicate:

the nature of the conflict of interest;
the person or organization with whom the conflict of interest is associated;
the connection between the conflict of interest and the submitted research or manuscript;
any financial, organizational, or other support for the research, where applicable.

All authors are responsible for disclosing relevant information. The corresponding author must ensure that information about conflicts of interest is agreed upon by all authors and correctly submitted to the editorial office.

4. Conflict of Interest Statement

If authors have a conflict of interest, it must be disclosed to the editorial office clearly and in sufficient detail.

Recommended wording where a conflict of interest exists:

The authors declare the following conflicts of interest: [description of the conflict of interest].

If there is no conflict of interest, a separate statement declaring the absence of conflicts of interest may be included in the manuscript or submitted to the editorial office if required by the journal’s requirements, manuscript template, or a separate request from the editorial office.

In such a case, the following wording may be used:

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

The wording of the statement must be clear, accurate, and sufficient to understand the nature of any possible influence on the research or publication.

5. Funding and Research Support

If the research was carried out with financial, organizational, technical, or other support, authors must indicate the source of such support, where applicable.

Disclosure of sources of support does not automatically indicate a violation or misconduct. However, such information is necessary to ensure research transparency and proper perception of the published results.

If the source of funding or support participated in the design of the research, collection or analysis of data, interpretation of results, preparation of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the article, this must be disclosed by the authors.

6. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose to the editorial office any circumstances that may affect the objectivity of their evaluation of the manuscript.

A reviewer must decline the review or inform the editorial office of a possible conflict of interest if the reviewer:

has a financial, professional, institutional, or personal interest related to the manuscript;
has current or recent scientific, official, or organizational relationships with the author or authors;
has joint publications, projects, or other forms of close professional interaction with the authors;
has supervisory, subordinate, or dependent relationships with the authors;
is a direct scientific competitor of the authors;
cannot provide an objective and independent evaluation of the manuscript for any other reason.

Reviewers must not use information, ideas, data, or results contained in an unpublished manuscript for their own benefit or for the benefit of third parties.

If a conflict of interest becomes known to a reviewer after the review process has begun, the reviewer must immediately inform the editorial office.

7. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must disclose any circumstances that may affect their objectivity in considering a manuscript or making an editorial decision.

An editor must not participate in the consideration of a manuscript if the editor has a conflict of interest related to the authors, their institutions, the research topic, the results of the work, or other circumstances.

Possible conflicts of interest for an editor may include:

joint publications or current research projects with the authors;
official, institutional, or administrative dependence;
personal or family relationships;
financial or professional interest;
direct scientific rivalry;
participation in the preparation of the manuscript or related research.

If an editor has a conflict of interest, consideration of the manuscript must be assigned to another editor or an authorized Editorial Board member who does not have such a conflict.

8. Manuscripts Submitted by Editors and Editorial Board Members

Manuscripts authored or co-authored by the Editor-in-Chief, editors, Editorial Board members, or other persons involved in the work of the journal are considered according to the same scientific and ethical requirements as all other manuscripts.

Such manuscripts must undergo independent peer review. A person who is an author or co-author of the manuscript must not participate in the selection of reviewers, editorial consideration, discussion, or decision-making regarding that manuscript.

To ensure the independence of the editorial process, consideration of such a manuscript is assigned to another editor or Editorial Board member who has no conflict of interest.

9. Management of Conflicts of Interest

A disclosed conflict of interest is considered by the editorial office with regard to its nature and possible influence on the editorial process.

Depending on the situation, the editorial office may:

take note of the disclosed conflict of interest;
request additional explanations from the author, reviewer, or editor;
replace the reviewer;
assign the manuscript to another editor;
request additional independent peer review;
require clarification or supplementation of the conflict of interest statement;
include information about the conflict of interest in the published article, if necessary;
suspend consideration of the manuscript until the circumstances are clarified.

The purpose of managing conflicts of interest is not automatic rejection of the manuscript, but ensuring objectivity, transparency, and trust in the editorial process.

10. Undisclosed Conflict of Interest

If the editorial office becomes aware of a possible undisclosed conflict of interest before publication, it may request additional explanations from authors, reviewers, or editors.

Depending on the nature of the situation, the editorial office may:

request correction or supplementation of the conflict of interest statement;
suspend consideration of the manuscript;
appoint additional independent peer review;
assign the manuscript to another editor;
reject the manuscript if the undisclosed conflict of interest has significantly affected the integrity of the submitted materials or the editorial process.

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after publication, the editorial office may consider publishing a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction in accordance with the journal’s policies.

11. Conflicts of Interest and Editorial Decisions

Editorial decisions must be based on the scientific quality of the manuscript, its relevance to the journal’s scope, reviewers’ reports, the journal’s requirements, and publication ethics standards.

A conflict of interest must not influence the decision to accept, revise, or reject a manuscript.

Persons who have a conflict of interest regarding a specific manuscript must not participate in the editorial decision-making process for that manuscript.

12. Complaints and Reports

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other interested parties may inform the editorial office of a possible conflict of interest related to a submitted or published article.

Such reports are considered by the editorial office objectively and with due regard to confidentiality. Persons who have a conflict of interest regarding the relevant matter must not participate in its consideration.

If a report is related to an editorial decision, it may be considered in accordance with the journal’s Complaints and Appeals Policy.

13. Responsibility for Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Timely and complete disclosure of conflicts of interest is the responsibility of authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants in the publication process.

Failure to disclose a conflict of interest may lead to a request for additional explanations, correction or supplementation of the conflict of interest statement, suspension of manuscript consideration, rejection of the manuscript, publication of a correction, expression of concern, or retraction of the article.

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that they have disclosed all conflicts of interest known to them, if such conflicts exist.

The editorial office reserves the right to update this policy to bring it into line with developments in international scholarly publishing practice and requirements for responsible publication conduct.