Conflicts of Interest

General Principle

A conflict of interest may arise when personal, financial, institutional, academic, professional or other relationships could influence the objectivity, independence or fairness of the publication process. Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential or perceived.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not automatically mean that a manuscript cannot be reviewed or published. However, undisclosed conflicts may compromise trust in the editorial process and may require editorial action.

European Scientific e-Journal requires transparent disclosure and appropriate management of conflicts of interest at all stages of submission, peer review, editorial assessment and post-publication review.

Definition of a Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when a person’s judgement, actions or decisions related to a manuscript or publication may be influenced by competing interests. These interests may be direct or indirect and may concern the author, reviewer, editor, institution, funder, sponsor, employer or another related party.

Conflicts of interest may include:

• financial interests, funding, sponsorship or paid consultancy;
• employment or institutional relationships;
• personal relationships, family relationships or close professional relationships;
• academic competition or collaboration;
• supervisory, mentoring or student relationships;
• membership in the same research group, department or project;
• political, ideological, legal or organisational interests where relevant;
• previous disputes, criticism or direct competition between parties;
• any other circumstance that may reasonably affect impartial judgement.

Author Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest that may be relevant to the submitted manuscript. Disclosure should be made at the time of submission and updated if new relevant information becomes available during editorial review or after publication.

Author conflicts may include financial support, grants, contracts, employment, institutional interests, personal relationships, consulting arrangements, ownership interests, intellectual property interests or other circumstances that could influence the research, interpretation, conclusions or presentation of the manuscript.

Authors should also disclose if the manuscript is connected with a funded project, institutional programme, commercial activity, legal dispute, policy process or other context that may be relevant for readers and editors.

Author Declaration

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the conflict of interest declaration. If there are no conflicts of interest to declare, the manuscript may include a statement such as:

If a conflict exists, the authors should describe it clearly and concisely. The Editorial Office may request additional information if the declaration is unclear or incomplete.

Reviewer Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must decline a review invitation or inform the Editorial Office if they have a conflict of interest that may affect their ability to provide an impartial review.

Reviewers should not review a manuscript if they have a close personal, professional, institutional, supervisory, competitive or financial relationship with the authors or the subject of the manuscript.

Examples of reviewer conflicts include:

• recent or ongoing collaboration with one or more authors;
• employment at the same institution or department;
• supervisory, student or mentoring relationship;
• direct academic competition or dispute;
• personal relationship or family relationship;
• financial or institutional interest in the outcome of the review;
• prior involvement in preparing or advising on the manuscript.

If a reviewer is uncertain whether a conflict exists, the reviewer should disclose the situation to the Editorial Office and request guidance before accepting or continuing the review.

Editor Conflicts of Interest

Editors must avoid handling manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest. If an editor has a personal, financial, institutional, academic or professional relationship that may affect impartial editorial decision-making, the manuscript should be assigned to another editor where possible.

Editors should not make editorial decisions on manuscripts submitted by close colleagues, current or former students, family members, collaborators, direct competitors or persons with whom they have a significant conflict.

If the Editor-in-Chief or responsible editor has a conflict of interest, the Editorial Board may designate another qualified editorial member to handle the manuscript or participate in the decision-making process.

Publisher and Institutional Conflicts

The publisher must not interfere with editorial decisions for commercial, institutional, personal or political reasons. Editorial decisions should be based on academic quality, journal scope, originality, ethical compliance, peer review and editorial assessment.

Institutional affiliation with the publisher, journal, editorial board, author or reviewer does not automatically prevent publication or review. However, relevant institutional relationships should be managed transparently when they may affect editorial independence or public perception.

Financial Conflicts

Financial conflicts may include grants, sponsorship, employment, consulting, honoraria, paid expert work, intellectual property, commercial interests, ownership shares or other financial relationships connected with the subject of the manuscript.

Authors should disclose financial support or funding sources when such support is relevant to the research or manuscript. Editors and reviewers should disclose financial relationships that may affect their judgement.

Non-financial Conflicts

Conflicts of interest may also be non-financial. Non-financial conflicts may arise from personal relationships, institutional loyalties, academic rivalry, ideological commitments, public positions, legal disputes, organisational involvement or other circumstances that may affect impartiality.

Non-financial conflicts should be disclosed when they may reasonably be perceived as influencing research interpretation, manuscript evaluation or editorial decision.

Disclosure During Submission

Authors should provide conflict of interest information during submission or in the manuscript file where requested. The Editorial Office may ask authors to revise, clarify or expand a conflict of interest statement before peer review or publication.

Failure to provide a conflict of interest statement when requested may delay editorial processing or lead to rejection if the authors do not respond to editorial requests.

Editorial Assessment of Disclosed Conflicts

The Editorial Office or responsible editor assesses disclosed conflicts in context. The presence of a disclosed conflict does not automatically prevent publication, but the journal may take measures to preserve transparency and editorial integrity.

Possible measures include:

• requesting additional disclosure from authors;
• including a conflict of interest statement in the published article;
• assigning a different editor to the manuscript;
• selecting reviewers without relevant conflicts;
• requesting independent additional review;
• requiring clarification of funding, sponsorship or institutional involvement;
• rejecting a manuscript if the conflict cannot be adequately managed.

Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified before publication, the Editorial Office may request clarification, revise the disclosure statement, change reviewers or editors, delay editorial processing or reject the manuscript depending on the seriousness of the issue.

If an undisclosed conflict is identified after publication, the Editorial Board may consider issuing a correction, editorial note, expression of concern or other post-publication notice where appropriate.

Conflicts in Peer Review

If a reviewer conflict of interest is discovered after the review has been completed, the Editorial Board may determine whether the review should be disregarded, whether additional review is required, or whether the editorial decision remains valid.

Reviewers must not use confidential manuscript information for personal, academic, institutional, financial or competitive advantage.

Conflicts in Editorial Decision-making

Editorial decisions should be made independently and without improper influence. If a conflict is identified in editorial handling, the Editorial Board may transfer responsibility to another editor, seek additional review or reassess the decision.

Editors must not use privileged information obtained through editorial work for personal, institutional, academic or financial advantage.

Publication of Conflict of Interest Statements

Where relevant, conflict of interest statements may be included in the published article or article metadata. The purpose of publication is to inform readers and allow them to interpret the research with appropriate context.

A published conflict of interest statement does not imply misconduct. It provides transparency about circumstances that may be relevant to the interpretation or assessment of the work.

Relationship with Funding and Acknowledgements

Conflict of interest disclosure is connected with funding and acknowledgement information. Authors should clearly identify financial support, institutional support, project funding or other assistance where relevant.

Funding information should not be used to conceal a conflict of interest. If a funder, sponsor or institution influenced the research design, analysis, manuscript preparation or decision to publish, this should be disclosed.

Confidentiality

Conflict of interest information is handled with appropriate confidentiality during editorial assessment. Information may be shared with editors, reviewers or publisher representatives when necessary for the purpose of managing the conflict and making an editorial decision.

Information that is relevant for readers may be included in the published article in a concise and appropriate form.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for providing accurate and complete conflict of interest information. The corresponding author should collect and confirm conflict of interest declarations from all co-authors before submission.

Authors must update the Editorial Office if relevant circumstances change during editorial review or after publication.

Reviewer and Editor Responsibility

Reviewers and editors are responsible for identifying and disclosing conflicts that may affect their role in the publication process. They should act promptly if they become aware of a conflict after accepting an assignment.

The Editorial Office may remove a reviewer or editor from a manuscript if a conflict of interest is identified or if impartiality cannot be reasonably maintained.

Relationship with Other Policies

This policy is connected with the journal’s Publication Ethics, Peer Review Policy, Authorship and Contributorship Policy, Research Misconduct Policy, Complaints and Appeals Policy and Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern Policy.

When a conflict of interest affects originality, authorship, review integrity, editorial decision-making or published records, the Editorial Board may apply the relevant policies together.