At Hollex Scientific Journals, we are committed to maintaining transparency, integrity, and ethical publishing practices. Authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any conflicts of interest that may influence the objectivity, validity, or interpretation of a submitted manuscript.
1. Definition of Conflict of Interest
A conflict of interest (COI) exists when an individual’s personal, financial, academic, or professional relationships could unduly influence—or appear to influence—their research, peer review, or editorial decision-making. Conflicts may be financial or non-financial and can arise from:
- Financial Interests: Funding sources, grants, employment, consultancy fees, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, or royalties related to the research.
- Personal or Institutional Relationships: Collaborations, personal relationships, or institutional affiliations that could affect objectivity.
- Academic or Intellectual Conflicts: Competition, personal biases, or disputes between researchers.
2. Author Responsibilities
- Disclosure Requirement: Authors must fully disclose any potential conflicts of interest in the manuscript’s Conflict of Interest Statement section.
- Funding Sources: Authors must declare all sources of funding, grants, or financial support received for the research.
- Affiliations & Relationships: Any personal or institutional relationships that may affect research outcomes should be reported.
- No Conflict Declaration: If there are no conflicts, authors should state:”The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this manuscript.”
3. Reviewer Responsibilities
- Reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest before accepting a manuscript for review.
- If a reviewer has any personal, financial, or professional ties to the authors or institutions involved, they should decline the review.
- Reviewers should ensure their assessments are objective and unbiased.
4. Editor Responsibilities
- Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where they have conflicts of interest.
- Editorial decisions should be made solely on the basis of scientific merit and originality, without external influences.
- Editors must ensure authors and reviewers adhere to the COI disclosure policy.
5. Institutional and Third-Party Conflicts
If a study has been funded or sponsored by an organization that may have influenced the research, this should be explicitly stated in the manuscript. Any involvement of third parties (e.g., industry sponsors) in study design, data collection, analysis, or publication must be disclosed.
6. Consequences of Non-Disclosure
Failure to disclose conflicts of interest may result in:
- Rejection or retraction of the manuscript.
- Editorial actions such as issuing corrections or expressing concerns.
- Banning authors from future submissions in cases of intentional non-disclosure.
7. Declaration in Manuscripts
All submissions to Hollex Scientific Journals must include a Conflict of Interest Statement at the end of the manuscript. Example statements:
- For authors with conflicts of interest:“The authors declare the following conflicts of interest: [Specify the nature of the conflict, e.g., financial, institutional, or personal relationships].”
- For authors with no conflicts of interest:“The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this research.”