Conflict of Interest Policy

Purpose

The Journal of Managerial Sciences (JMS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, editorial independence, transparency, and fairness in the publication of scholarly research.

A conflict of interest (COI) may arise when personal, professional, financial, institutional, or other interests could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, an individual's objective judgment concerning the evaluation, review, editorial decision, or publication of a manuscript.

JMS therefore requires all individuals involved in the publication process—including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and journal staff—to disclose relevant conflicts of interest and to take appropriate steps to ensure that such conflicts do not compromise the integrity of the publication process.

The existence of a potential conflict does not necessarily imply misconduct. The primary requirement is full and transparent disclosure and appropriate management of the conflict.

Scope

This policy applies to:

  • Authors and co-authors;
  • Peer reviewers;
  • Editor-in-Chief;
  • Managing/Associate/Section Editors;
  • Editorial Board members;
  • Guest editors;
  • Editorial and administrative staff involved in manuscript processing; and
  • Any other individual participating in the editorial or peer-review process.

Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists where an individual's personal, financial, professional, academic, institutional, or other interests may:

  1. influence their judgment or decision-making;
  2. create an actual or potential bias;
  3. reasonably be perceived by others as affecting their impartiality; or
  4. create an unfair advantage or disadvantage for an author, reviewer, institution, or manuscript.

JMS recognizes that conflicts may be actual, potential, or perceived. Accordingly, disclosure is required even where an individual believes that the interest has not actually influenced their judgment.

This approach is consistent with established scholarly publishing principles, which recognize that perceptions of conflicts can undermine confidence in the integrity of published research even where actual bias cannot be demonstrated.

Types of Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts may include, but are not limited to:

  1. Financial Interests

Examples include:

  • Employment or consultancy with an organization that may benefit from the publication;
  • Ownership of shares or other financial interests;
  • Grants, research funding, sponsorship, or financial support;
  • Honoraria or other payments;
  • Patents or patent applications;
  • Paid advisory or expert services; and
  • Other financial relationships that could reasonably be affected by the publication.
  1. Personal Relationships

A conflict may exist where an individual has a close personal or family relationship with an author, reviewer, editor, or other person associated with the manuscript.

  1. Professional or Institutional Relationships

These may include:

  • Working in the same institution or department;
  • Direct supervisory or subordinate relationships;
  • Current or recent collaboration;
  • Institutional competition;
  • Membership of the same research group or project; or
  • Other professional relationships that could affect impartiality.
  1. Academic Competition

A conflict may arise where a reviewer or editor:

  • is working on a closely related manuscript or research project;
  • is competing for publication priority;
  • has a significant academic rivalry with an author; or
  • could materially benefit from obtaining information contained in an unpublished manuscript.
  1. Personal or Intellectual Rivalry

Strong personal disagreements, professional disputes, or academic rivalries that could reasonably affect objective judgment must be disclosed.

  1. Other Relevant Interests

Any other relationship, activity, commitment, or circumstance that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the individual's judgment should be disclosed.

Responsibilities of Authors

All authors are required to disclose any financial or non-financial relationships and activities that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the research or its interpretation.

Authors must:

  • disclose relevant conflicts at the time of manuscript submission;
  • disclose sources of financial or institutional support;
  • identify the role of sponsors or funders in the research;
  • disclose relevant relationships involving commercial, governmental, institutional, or other organizations;
  • ensure that all co-authors have been given an opportunity to disclose relevant conflicts; and
  • update the disclosure if a relevant conflict arises during the review or publication process.

Failure to disclose a material conflict may constitute a breach of publication ethics and may result in appropriate editorial action.

Funding and Sponsor Disclosure

Authors must clearly disclose financial or other substantive support received for the research.

Where applicable, the manuscript should state:

  • the name of the funding organization;
  • the nature of the financial or material support;
  • the role of the funder in study design;
  • data collection, analysis, and interpretation;
  • manuscript preparation; and
  • the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Where the funder had no involvement in these activities, authors should explicitly state this.

Funding disclosure is distinct from conflict-of-interest disclosure; therefore, disclosure of funding does not replace disclosure of other relevant interests.

Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively and disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest before accepting an assignment.

A reviewer should decline the assignment where, for example:

  • they have a close personal or professional relationship with an author;
  • they have recently collaborated with an author;
  • they work in the same institution or department and impartiality could reasonably be questioned;
  • they are conducting competing research;
  • they have a financial or other interest in the outcome of the manuscript;
  • they have a significant academic or professional rivalry with an author; or
  • they believe that their impartiality may reasonably be questioned.

Where a potential conflict exists but the reviewer believes that an objective review remains possible, the reviewer must disclose the circumstances to the editor. The editor will determine whether the review should proceed.

Reviewers must not use confidential information obtained through peer review for personal, professional, academic, or financial advantage.

The ICMJE similarly recommends that reviewers disclose relationships or activities that could bias their opinions and recuse themselves where a potential bias exists.

Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must maintain independence and impartiality when making editorial decisions.

An editor must disclose and appropriately manage any conflict involving a manuscript under consideration.

An editor shall not participate in an editorial decision where:

  • the editor is an author or co-author of the manuscript;
  • the editor has a close personal relationship with an author;
  • the editor has a significant professional or financial relationship with an author;
  • the editor has a direct institutional relationship that may compromise impartiality;
  • the editor is involved in competing research;
  • the editor has a significant academic or professional rivalry with an author; or
  • any other circumstance could reasonably compromise, or be perceived to compromise, independent judgment.

In such cases, the manuscript shall be assigned to another qualified editor who has no relevant conflict.

Editorial decisions must be based on the manuscript's academic quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, and compliance with the journal's publication standards—not on personal, institutional, financial, political, or other considerations.

Manuscripts Submitted by Editors or Editorial Board Members

Special safeguards shall apply when an Editor-in-Chief, editor, editorial board member, or journal staff member submits a manuscript to JMS.

The individual must have no involvement in:

  • selecting reviewers;
  • communicating with reviewers;
  • accessing confidential reviewer identities or comments beyond what is normally available;
  • making the editorial decision; or
  • influencing the publication decision.

The manuscript shall be handled independently by an editor who has no conflict of interest with the submitting author.

The same principle applies to manuscripts submitted by individuals closely associated with the journal's editorial leadership.

Editorial Board Members

Editorial Board members must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and must not use their position to influence the review or publication of manuscripts for personal, institutional, academic, or financial advantage.

Membership of the Editorial Board does not confer preferential treatment in manuscript processing or publication.

Disclosure During Peer Review

Where a conflict is identified after peer review has commenced, the individual concerned must immediately notify the Editor-in-Chief or responsible editor.

The editor may:

  • permit the review or editorial process to continue with appropriate safeguards;
  • appoint an alternative reviewer or editor;
  • disregard a review where the conflict is material; or
  • take any other action necessary to protect the integrity of the process.

Management of Undisclosed Conflicts

If JMS becomes aware of a previously undisclosed conflict, the Editor-in-Chief will assess its nature and potential impact.

Depending on the circumstances, JMS may:

  • request an explanation from the individual concerned;
  • require a corrected or additional disclosure;
  • appoint a new reviewer or editor;
  • repeat part or all of the peer-review process;
  • publish a correction or disclosure statement;
  • issue an editorial note where appropriate; or
  • take further action under the journal's Publication Ethics and Malpractice Policy.

If the undisclosed conflict has materially affected the integrity of a published article, JMS may consider appropriate post-publication action in accordance with established publication-ethics principles.

Disclosure Statement in Published Articles

Where applicable, every published article should contain a clear Conflict of Interest or Competing Interests statement.

Where no relevant conflict exists, the article may state:

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Where a conflict exists, the authors must provide sufficient information to allow readers to understand its nature.

The disclosure should distinguish between direct financial support for the research and other relationships or activities that may be relevant to the interpretation of the work.

Confidentiality

Disclosure information shall be handled confidentially and used only for the purpose of managing potential conflicts and maintaining the integrity of the editorial process.

Confidential information obtained through manuscript submission or peer review must not be used for personal, academic, professional, or financial advantage.

Editorial Independence

JMS shall maintain editorial independence from the journal owner, publisher, sponsoring institution, advertisers, funders, authors, reviewers, and other external parties.

No individual or organization may influence an editorial decision because of financial, institutional, political, personal, or other interests.

Editorial decisions shall remain the responsibility of the journal's authorized editorial leadership and shall be based on scholarly and ethical considerations.

Responsibility for Disclosure

The responsibility for identifying and disclosing a conflict rests primarily with the individual who has the relevant interest.

However, disclosure does not automatically determine whether an individual may participate in the process. JMS reserves the right to determine whether a disclosed conflict requires:

  • recusal;
  • reassignment;
  • additional safeguards; or
  • another appropriate management action.

False or Deliberately Incomplete Disclosure

Deliberate failure to disclose a material conflict of interest may be treated as a publication-ethics violation.

Where appropriate, JMS may take action under its Publication Ethics and Malpractice Policy.

Such action may include correction of the published record, withdrawal of a manuscript from consideration, reassignment of reviewers or editors, or other measures proportionate to the seriousness of the matter.

  Policy Review

This policy shall be reviewed periodically by the editorial leadership of JMS to ensure continued alignment with recognized international standards and best practices in scholarly publishing.

JMS may revise this policy in response to developments in publication ethics, indexing requirements, or guidance from recognized scholarly publishing organizations.

Recommended Submission Declaration

At submission, JMS should require the corresponding author to confirm:

Conflict of Interest Declaration
All authors have disclosed any financial or non-financial relationships, activities, or circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted work. Where no such interests exist, the authors confirm that they have no conflict of interest to declare.

Editorial and Reviewer Declaration

Reviewers and editors should also be required to confirm:

I confirm that I have no actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that would prevent me from undertaking this review/editorial assignment objectively. If such a conflict arises, I will immediately notify the journal and, where appropriate, recuse myself from the process.