Conflict of Interest Policy

A conflict of interest may arise when personal, professional, financial, institutional, or other interests could reasonably be perceived as influencing the objectivity of research, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication.

PJEMS requires relevant conflicts of interest to be disclosed transparently.

Authors

Authors must disclose any relationship or circumstance that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their research.

Potential conflicts may include:

  • Employment;
  • Consultancy;
  • Research funding;
  • Grants;
  • Financial interests;
  • Share ownership;
  • Patents;
  • Commercial relationships;
  • Personal relationships;
  • Institutional interests;
  • Professional competition;
  • Other relevant relationships.

Where no conflict exists, authors should include a statement such as:

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest relating to this research or its publication.

Funding

Authors should disclose financial or institutional support received for the research where applicable.

Funding information should identify the funding organization and, where appropriate, the role of the funder in:

  • Study design;
  • Data collection;
  • Data analysis;
  • Interpretation;
  • Manuscript preparation;
  • Publication decisions.

Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose potential conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment.

A reviewer should decline the assignment where a conflict could reasonably affect impartiality.

Potential conflicts may include:

  • Recent collaboration with an author;
  • Personal relationship;
  • Direct professional competition;
  • Institutional affiliation;
  • Financial interest;
  • Significant disagreement that could affect objectivity.

Editors

Editors must manage their own conflicts of interest appropriately.

An editor should not handle a manuscript where a personal, professional, financial, or institutional relationship could compromise editorial independence.

Where necessary, the manuscript may be transferred to another qualified editor.

Transparency

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not necessarily mean that a manuscript cannot be published.

The purpose of disclosure is to allow relevant interests to be assessed transparently and managed appropriately.