CONFLICT OF INTEREST AND COMPETING INTERESTS POLICY

JPEKA: Jurnal Pendidikan Ekonomi, Manajemen dan Keuangan is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, independence, and integrity throughout research, peer review, editorial handling, and publication. This policy establishes principles for identifying, disclosing, assessing, and managing conflicts of interest or competing interests that may affect, or reasonably appear to affect, scholarly judgement, interpretation of findings, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication.

A Conflict of Interest (COI), also referred to as a Competing Interest, is any relationship, activity, interest, or circumstance that could influence, or reasonably be perceived as influencing, the assessment, interpretation, peer-review process, editorial handling, or publication of scholarly work.

1.    Authors

All authors must disclose any actual, potential, or reasonably perceived conflict of interest relevant to the submitted manuscript. Such interests may include, but are not limited to:

  • Financial interests, grants, research funding, sponsorship, employment, consultancy, honoraria, or commercial relationships.
  • Personal or family relationships.
  • Academic, professional, institutional, or collaborative relationships.
  • Competitive or career-related interests.
  • Political, ideological, or organizational interests.
  • Other relationships or circumstances that could reasonably be considered relevant to the work.

Authors must also disclose relevant financial and non-financial support associated with the research, including funding sources, sponsorship, institutional assistance, and other forms of support.

Every submission must include a Declaration of Competing Interest, whether or not a relevant interest exists. If no relevant conflict or competing interest exists, authors should state this explicitly, for example: “The Authors declare no Conflict of Interest.”

Authors must ensure that relevant financial and non-financial interests are accurately disclosed through the Statement of Manuscript Authenticity, where required by JPEKA’s submission procedures, and in any other declaration requested by the journal.

2.    Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or reasonably perceived conflict of interest that could affect their independence or impartiality during peer review. Such interests may arise from personal, financial, academic, institutional, professional, collaborative, competitive, or other relevant relationships with an author, the author’s institution, a funder, or an organization associated with the manuscript.

If a significant conflict exists, the reviewer must inform the Editor and decline the review when appropriate. If a potential conflict becomes apparent after accepting the assignment, the reviewer must promptly notify the Editor so that suitable action can be considered.

3.    Editors and the Editorial Team

Editors and members of the Editorial Team must not handle a manuscript when a conflict arising from personal, academic, financial, institutional, competitive, collaborative, commercial, or other relevant ties with an author, reviewer, institution, funder, or related organization cannot be appropriately managed.

When an Editor has a relevant conflict, responsibility for the manuscript must be transferred to another qualified Editor who is free from that conflict. If the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict concerning a manuscript, its handling and decision must be assigned independently to an appropriate Editor or Editorial Board member who has no relevant conflict.

4.    Editorial Independence

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not, by itself, constitute an ethical breach and does not automatically lead to manuscript rejection or exclusion from the editorial process. The Editorial Team will consider the nature and significance of the disclosed interest and determine whether further disclosure, recusal from assessment, reassignment of the manuscript, additional review, or another appropriate measure is necessary.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit and ethical considerations. They must not be influenced by manuscript processing charges, article publication fees, fast-track review fees, requests for fee reductions or waivers, sponsorship, institutional relationships, commercial interests, or other considerations unrelated to the scientific and ethical assessment of the manuscript.

5.    Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If a potentially significant conflict or competing interest that was not previously disclosed comes to light during editorial processing, JPEKA may request clarification or an additional declaration. Where necessary, the editorial process may be suspended until adequate clarification has been obtained.

If an undisclosed conflict is identified after publication, JPEKA may take appropriate action under its applicable research-misconduct and post-publication procedures. Such action may include issuing a Correction, a disclosure statement, or another suitable editorial notice, where warranted.

6.    Related Policies and Submission Documents

This policy should be read together with JPEKA’s other applicable policies, including:

  • Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement.
  • Peer Review Policy.
  • Research Misconduct and Post-Publication Policy.
  • Journal Independence and Integrity Statement.

Authors should also consult the current JPEKA manuscript template and Statement of Manuscript Authenticity for applicable disclosure requirements and submission instructions.

7.    Policy Review

JPEKA may periodically review and revise this policy in response to developments in publication ethics, editorial practice, scholarly publishing standards, or other relevant requirements. Until a revised version is formally adopted, the currently approved policy remains applicable.