CONFLICT OF INTEREST
Policy Statement
TRANSFORMA: Journal of Community Innovation and Transformation is committed to maintaining the highest standards of transparency, fairness, and integrity throughout the editorial and publication process.
A conflict of interest (COI) exists when personal, professional, financial, institutional, or other relationships could influence—or reasonably be perceived to influence—the objectivity, integrity, or impartiality of authors, reviewers, editors, or the publisher.
The journal requires all parties involved in the publication process to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest.
Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically prevent publication or participation in the editorial process. However, all conflicts must be transparently declared and appropriately managed.
Responsibilities of Authors
Authors must disclose any relationships or circumstances that could influence the interpretation or presentation of their work.
Potential conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:
- Financial support or sponsorship.
- Employment or consultancy relationships.
- Institutional affiliations.
- Personal or family relationships.
- Ownership of patents or intellectual property.
- Advisory or board memberships.
- Political or organizational interests relevant to the manuscript.
If no conflicts of interest exist, authors should include the following statement in their manuscript:
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Responsibilities of Reviewers
Reviewers should decline invitations to review manuscripts if they have any conflict of interest that may compromise their objectivity.
Examples include:
- Current or recent collaboration with the authors.
- Employment at the same institution.
- Personal relationships with the authors.
- Financial interests related to the manuscript.
- Direct academic competition.
If a potential conflict is identified after accepting the review invitation, reviewers must immediately notify the Editorial Office.
Reviewers must not use confidential information obtained during peer review for personal, academic, or commercial benefit.
Responsibilities of Editors
Editors are expected to perform their duties objectively and independently.
Editors must not participate in editorial decisions involving manuscripts where they have conflicts of interest arising from:
- Personal relationships.
- Institutional affiliations.
- Research collaboration.
- Financial interests.
- Professional competition.
- Any circumstance that could reasonably affect impartial judgment.
When a conflict exists, editorial responsibility shall be assigned to another qualified editor.
Responsibilities of the Publisher
The publisher supports editorial independence and shall not interfere with editorial decisions based on commercial, institutional, political, or personal interests.
Financial considerations, sponsorship, publication fees, or advertising shall never influence editorial decisions.
Management of Conflicts of Interest
When a conflict of interest is disclosed or identified, the Editorial Board may take one or more appropriate actions, including:
- Request additional disclosure from the involved party.
- Assign alternative reviewers or editors.
- Require revisions to conflict of interest statements.
- Publish conflict of interest disclosures alongside the article when appropriate.
- Reject a manuscript if an undisclosed conflict has significantly affected the integrity of the publication process.
- Correct or retract a published article if undisclosed conflicts are discovered after publication and materially affect the reliability or credibility of the work.
Transparency
Conflict of interest disclosures form an essential part of responsible scholarly publishing.
The journal encourages complete transparency from authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher to maintain public trust in the editorial process and the published scholarly record.
Failure to disclose a significant conflict of interest may be treated as research or publication misconduct and will be handled in accordance with the journal's Research Misconduct Policy and Publication Ethics.
