Conflict of Interest
Conflict of Interest Policy
Transparency, Impartiality, and Accountability in Scholarly Publishing
The Journal of Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Communications (JOCSAIC) is committed to ensuring that editorial decisions, peer-review activities, and published research are conducted fairly, independently, and transparently.
A conflict of interest may arise when financial, professional, institutional, academic, personal, or other relationships could influence—or reasonably be perceived to influence—scholarly judgment. Authors, editors, reviewers, and other individuals involved in the publication process must disclose relevant conflicts and cooperate with the journal in managing them appropriately.
1. Definition of Conflict of Interest
A conflict of interest exists when an individual's interests, relationships, responsibilities, or affiliations may compromise, or appear to compromise, their objectivity in conducting research, reviewing a manuscript, making editorial decisions, or publishing scholarly work.
Important principle: The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate misconduct. However, failure to disclose or appropriately manage a relevant conflict may undermine confidence in the fairness and integrity of scholarly publishing.
2. Types of Conflicts of Interest
2.1. Financial Conflicts
Employment, consultancy fees, honoraria, research grants, share ownership, patents, paid expert work, commercial sponsorship, or other financial interests that may be affected by publication.
2.2. Personal or Professional Relationships
Close personal or family relationships, supervisory arrangements, significant professional disputes, research collaborations, competition, or other circumstances that may affect impartial judgment.
2.3. Institutional Conflicts
Institutional affiliations, leadership positions, organizational interests, or relationships that may influence the assessment or publication of a manuscript.
2.4. Academic and Intellectual Conflicts
Strong intellectual commitments, competing research interests, academic rivalry, prior involvement in the work, or other circumstances that may impair objective evaluation.
Conflicts may be actual, potential, or perceived. Individuals should disclose relevant circumstances when uncertain rather than assume that disclosure is unnecessary.
3. Responsibilities of Authors
Authors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably be considered relevant to the submitted manuscript. The corresponding author should coordinate the declaration with all co-authors.
- Declare relevant conflicts of interest during manuscript submission.
- Disclose research funding and the role of sponsors in the study design, data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation, or publication decision, where applicable.
- Identify relevant relationships with organizations, companies, institutions, or individuals that may benefit from the research findings.
- Ensure that declarations are accurate, complete, and agreed upon by the author team.
- Distinguish conflict-of-interest declarations from funding statements, author contributions, and research ethics declarations.
- Inform the editorial office if a material conflict is identified or changes after submission or publication.
Suggested Declaration — No Conflict
The authors declare that they have no known financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could have influenced the research reported in this manuscript.
Suggested Declaration — Conflict Disclosed
The authors declare the following potential conflict(s) of interest: [describe the relevant relationship or interest]. The role of the relevant organization or individual in the research and preparation of this manuscript was [describe the role, or state that there was no involvement, as applicable].
Authors should select and adapt the appropriate statement to reflect their actual circumstances. They must not declare an absence of conflicts if relevant interests exist.
4. Responsibilities of Editors
Editors must maintain independence and impartiality throughout the editorial process. They are expected to:
- Disclose conflicts that could affect their assessment or handling of a manuscript.
- Withdraw from handling a submission when a significant conflict cannot be appropriately managed.
- Arrange for an independent editor or another qualified editorial representative to handle the manuscript when necessary.
- Protect confidential manuscript information and avoid using unpublished material for personal or professional advantage.
- Ensure that editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, relevance, research integrity, and the journal's policies.
- Inform the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriate independent editorial representative when a conflict emerges during editorial handling.
If the Editor-in-Chief has a relevant conflict, responsibility for the matter should be assigned to an independent and appropriately authorized representative of the publisher or editorial team.
5. Responsibilities of Reviewers
Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively and disclose any relationship or interest that may affect, or reasonably appear to affect, their impartiality.
- Inform the editor of relevant personal, financial, institutional, academic, or professional conflicts.
- Decline the review when a conflict may prevent an objective assessment.
- Not use unpublished findings, data, methods, or ideas from a manuscript for personal or professional benefit.
- Maintain manuscript confidentiality throughout the review process.
- Notify the editor if a potential conflict becomes apparent after accepting the review invitation.
- Provide independent, evidence-based comments without allowing competitive or personal interests to determine the recommendation.
6. Disclosure and Editorial Management Procedure
JOCSAIC applies a transparent and proportionate procedure to identify, assess, manage, and document potential conflicts of interest.
Disclosure
Authors disclose relevant interests during submission. Editors and reviewers disclose conflicts as soon as they become aware of them.
Assessment
The responsible editor assesses the nature, relevance, and potential impact of the disclosed interest.
Management
Where necessary, the journal may reassign editorial responsibility, appoint an independent reviewer, or request additional disclosure.
Documentation
Relevant disclosures and editorial actions are documented as appropriate. Public disclosure may be included in the published article when relevant.
Management measures should be proportionate to the nature of the conflict and designed to preserve the independence, fairness, and credibility of the editorial process.
7. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest
If a potentially relevant conflict is identified after submission, during peer review, or after publication, JOCSAIC may request clarification, supporting information, or a corrected declaration.
Depending on the evidence and seriousness of the matter, the journal may:
- Request an explanation or an updated conflict-of-interest statement.
- Reassign editorial handling or review where necessary.
- Reassess an editorial decision if the conflict may have affected the process.
- Publish a correction to disclose relevant information omitted from the original article.
- Initiate a research or publication ethics investigation where warranted.
- Consider further action under the journal's Publication Ethics and Correction & Retraction policies.
Any action should be proportionate, documented, and based on available evidence. An undisclosed conflict does not automatically invalidate the research or establish intentional misconduct.
8. Transparency and Ethical Standards
Conflict-of-interest declarations support transparency but do not automatically imply misconduct or invalidate research. Disclosed interests should be assessed fairly and managed in a manner appropriate to the circumstances.
The journal may include relevant disclosures in a published article when necessary to enable readers to understand the circumstances surrounding the research. Confidential personal or commercial information should be handled appropriately, subject to applicable legal and ethical requirements.
9. Alignment with COPE Guidance
JOCSAIC refers to relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when developing and reviewing its procedures for conflict-of-interest disclosure, editorial independence, peer-review integrity, and publication ethics.
The journal seeks to ensure that conflicts are disclosed, assessed fairly, and managed in a way that protects the integrity of scholarly publishing.
Membership clarification: Reference to COPE guidance does not, by itself, indicate that JOCSAIC is a COPE member.
10. Related Journal Policies
This policy should be read together with the following JOCSAIC policies and procedures:
- Publication Ethics
- Plagiarism Policy
- Allegation of Research Misconduct
- Peer Review Process
- Correction & Retraction Policy
- Author Guidelines
Note: Confirm that each URL matches the actual static-page path configured in OJS before publication.
Commitment to Impartial Scholarly Publishing
JOCSAIC promotes transparent disclosures, independent editorial judgment, and responsible management of conflicts of interest.
Visit JOCSAIC Website COPE Official Website ↗
