Journal of Inclusive and Innovative Educational Technology

Conflict of Interest

Journal of Inclusive and Innovative Educational Technology is committed to ensuring transparency, objectivity, fairness, and integrity in all stages of scholarly publication. A conflict of interest may occur when personal, financial, academic, institutional, or professional relationships have the potential to influence, or appear to influence, the judgment of authors, reviewers, editors, or publishers in the publication process.

All parties involved in the publication process are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest to ensure that manuscripts are evaluated and published based on academic quality, originality, relevance, methodological rigor, and ethical standards.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest refers to any situation that may affect objectivity, independence, or fairness in the process of research, manuscript preparation, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication.

Conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:

  1. Financial relationships, such as funding, grants, honoraria, consultancy, employment, sponsorship, or paid services.
  2. Personal relationships, such as family relationships, close friendship, personal conflict, or other private relationships.
  3. Academic relationships, such as direct supervision, recent collaboration, academic competition, or involvement in the same research project.
  4. Institutional relationships, such as working in the same institution, department, research center, or organization.
  5. Professional relationships, such as membership in the same project team, editorial board, committee, or professional association.
  6. Intellectual or ideological interests that may influence interpretation, judgment, or evaluation of a manuscript.
  7. Any other condition that may create bias or the appearance of bias.

A conflict of interest does not always mean that misconduct has occurred. However, undisclosed conflicts of interest may damage trust, objectivity, and the credibility of the publication process.

2. Conflict of Interest for Authors

Authors must disclose any potential conflict of interest that may influence the research process, interpretation of findings, or presentation of the manuscript. Disclosure must be made during manuscript submission and should be included in the manuscript when relevant.

Authors are responsible for declaring:

  1. Sources of research funding or financial support.
  2. Institutional support or sponsorship.
  3. Paid consultancy, employment, or professional relationships related to the research topic.
  4. Personal or academic relationships that may influence the research.
  5. Any commercial, political, ideological, or organizational interests related to the manuscript.
  6. Any role of funders or sponsors in research design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, writing, or publication decision.

If there is no conflict of interest, authors should include the following statement:

The author(s) declare that there is no conflict of interest related to the publication of this article.

If a conflict of interest exists, authors should clearly explain the nature of the conflict. Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically prevent publication, but it allows editors, reviewers, and readers to evaluate the manuscript transparently.

3. Conflict of Interest for Reviewers

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly, confidentially, and based only on academic merit. Reviewers must decline the review invitation if they have a conflict of interest that may affect their ability to provide an impartial review.

Reviewers should decline or inform the editor if:

  1. They have a personal, academic, institutional, financial, or professional relationship with the author(s).
  2. They have recently collaborated with the author(s).
  3. They are from the same institution or research group as the author(s).
  4. They have direct academic competition with the author(s).
  5. They have a strong personal agreement or disagreement with the topic that may affect objectivity.
  6. They have previously reviewed the same manuscript for another journal.
  7. They have any interest that may compromise the fairness of the review.

Reviewers must not use unpublished data, ideas, arguments, or findings from the manuscript for personal benefit. Reviewers must also not share the manuscript with other parties without permission from the editor.

If a reviewer becomes aware of a conflict of interest after accepting the review invitation, the reviewer must immediately inform the editor so that appropriate action can be taken.

4. Conflict of Interest for Editors

Editors must manage manuscripts fairly, objectively, and independently. Editorial decisions must be based on the quality, originality, relevance, ethical compliance, and academic contribution of the manuscript, not on personal, financial, institutional, or professional interests.

Editors must not handle manuscripts if they have a conflict of interest with the author(s), institution, research topic, funding source, or any party related to the manuscript.

Editors should recuse themselves from handling a manuscript if:

  1. They are an author or contributor to the manuscript.
  2. They have a personal or family relationship with the author(s).
  3. They work in the same institution or research unit as the author(s).
  4. They have recently collaborated with the author(s).
  5. They have financial or professional interests related to the manuscript.
  6. They have academic competition or personal conflict with the author(s).
  7. They cannot make an objective and independent editorial decision.

If an editor has a conflict of interest, the manuscript must be assigned to another editor who does not have such a conflict. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for ensuring that editorial decisions remain independent and free from bias.

5. Conflict of Interest for the Publisher

The publisher must support editorial independence and must not interfere with editorial decisions. The publisher is responsible for ensuring that journal policies are implemented transparently and that editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial, institutional, political, or personal interests.

The publisher must also support the editorial team in managing conflicts of interest, complaints, appeals, corrections, and ethical concerns.

6. Disclosure Procedure

All parties involved in the publication process must disclose potential conflicts of interest as early as possible.

The disclosure procedure is as follows:

  1. Authors disclose conflicts of interest during manuscript submission and include the statement in the manuscript.
  2. Reviewers disclose conflicts of interest before accepting or continuing a review assignment.
  3. Editors disclose conflicts of interest before handling or making decisions on a manuscript.
  4. The editorial team reviews the disclosure and determines whether the person involved may continue in the process.
  5. If necessary, the manuscript may be reassigned to another reviewer or editor.

The journal may request additional clarification from authors, reviewers, or editors when a potential conflict of interest is identified.

7. Management of Undisclosed Conflict of Interest

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is discovered before publication, the editorial team may request clarification, revise the review process, assign new reviewers, replace the handling editor, or delay the editorial decision until the issue is resolved.

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is discovered after publication, the editorial team will investigate the case. Depending on the seriousness of the issue, the journal may publish a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction.

The seriousness of the case will be assessed based on whether the conflict affected the research process, peer review, editorial decision, data interpretation, or credibility of the published article.

8. Conflict of Interest Statement

Authors are required to include a conflict of interest statement in the manuscript before the references section.

Example when there is no conflict of interest:

Conflict of Interest
The author(s) declare that there is no conflict of interest related to the research, authorship, and publication of this article.

Example when there is a conflict of interest:

Conflict of Interest
The author(s) declare that this research received funding from [name of funder]. The funder had no role in the design of the study, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of results, manuscript writing, or publication decision.

Journal of Inclusive and Innovative Educational Technology requires all authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers to act transparently and responsibly in disclosing and managing conflicts of interest. This policy is intended to protect the integrity of the peer review process, maintain editorial independence, and ensure public trust in scholarly publication.

 

Related Links/Menus

Publication Ethics

Author Guidelines

Peer Review Process