Conflict of Interest Policy

Conflicts of interest (COI) may compromise or may be perceived as compromising the objectivity, integrity, and credibility of scholarly work. The Celebes Nursing Journal (CNJ) is committed to ensuring transparency in the disclosure, evaluation, and management of financial and non-financial relationships that may influence the conduct, interpretation, or publication of research. This policy aligns with standards set by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
All authors, reviewers, and editors involved in the publication process must disclose any relationships or circumstances that could bias or appear to bias their judgment. These include financial interests, employment, consultancies, advisory roles, intellectual property rights, personal relationships, academic rivalries, and competing research agendas. Transparent disclosure promotes accountability and enables editors to make informed decisions regarding manuscript handling and reviewer selection.
COI disclosures are collected at submission and reassessed throughout peer review. Editors evaluate all statements for potential bias and may take corrective actions, including requesting additional information, reallocating editorial responsibilities, or excluding conflicted reviewers. Failure to disclose relevant conflicts may result in rejection, correction, or retraction of published work. CNJ ensures that COI management is handled consistently, fairly, and in accordance with international publishing ethics.

1. Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy
Conflicts of interest may arise whenever professional judgment concerning research or editorial decisions is influenced by secondary interests. These relationships whether financial, personal, academic, or institutional can undermine scientific integrity if not disclosed and managed appropriately. The CNJ implements a comprehensive COI policy to ensure full transparency and to uphold trust in the scholarly record. This policy follows the ICMJE COI disclosure standards and is informed by COPE Core Practices.

2. Definitions and Scope
A conflict of interest exists when an individual’s professional judgments or actions regarding research or publication may be influenced by external interests. COI may be actual, potential, or perceived; all three categories must be disclosed.
CNJ applies the COI policy to:

• Authors
• Reviewers
• Editors and editorial staff
• The publisher

Conflicts may be:

• Financial (e.g., paid employment, grants, stocks)
• Non-financial (e.g., academic rivalries, personal beliefs, professional relationships)
• Institutional (e.g., affiliations influencing neutrality)

Disclosure does not imply wrongdoing; nondisclosure does.

3. Authors’ Conflicts of Interest
Authors must disclose all relationships and activities that could bias or be perceived as biasing the research process, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of findings.

Types of Author COI
Authors must declare:
Financial Interests:

• Research funding, sponsorships, and grants
• Paid consultancies, advisory roles, or expertise fees
• Employment relationships
• Stock ownership or equity interests
• Paid travel, accommodation, or meeting support
• Patents, royalties, or related intellectual property rights

Non-Financial Interests:

• Academic or professional rivalries
• Personal, family, or institutional relationships
• Membership in advocacy or political groups
• Personal beliefs or ideological commitments

Disclosure Statements
Authors must submit the official ICMJE COI Disclosure Form with every new submission. If no conflicts exist, authors must explicitly state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

Responsibilities of Authors
Authors are required to:

• Provide complete and accurate disclosures at submission
• Update disclosures if new conflicts arise during review or after publication
• Ensure transparency in the funding statement
• Guarantee that COI does not influence data interpretation or reporting

Failure to disclose may lead to rejection, correction, or retraction.

4. Reviewers’ Conflicts of Interest
Reviewers must be impartial and free from external influences that could bias manuscript evaluation. COI may compromise the fairness of peer review and damage author trust.

Reviewers Must Decline Review If They Have:

• Recent collaboration with the authors (within 3–5 years)
• Shared departmental or institutional affiliations
• Financial interests in the subject matter
• Competitive research relationships
• Personal relationships or animosities
• Strong ideological or academic biases

Reviewer Responsibilities
Reviewers must:

• Declare any potential COI immediately
• Decline the review if impartiality is compromised
• Maintain confidentiality and avoid using manuscript content for personal research
• Avoid suggesting citations solely to increase their own citation count (coercive citation)

Unreported COI may result in removal from the reviewer database.

5. Editors’ Conflicts of Interest
Editors must maintain neutrality and ensure that manuscript decisions are based exclusively on scholarly merit. Any personal or professional interest that could influence editorial judgment must be avoided.

Editors Must Recuse Themselves If They:

• Are authors or co-authors of the manuscript
• Have close personal, academic, or financial ties to the authors
• Have significant competing research interests
• Work within the same institution or collaborative network as the authors

Editorial Management of Conflicts

• A different editor or an external guest editor will be assigned
• Editorial staff must not influence decisions when a COI exists
• All COI-related editorial decisions must be documented

Transparency in Editorial Work
Editors may not:

• Manipulate peer review for personal benefit
• Influence citation practices for personal or journal benefit
• Use unpublished manuscript data for personal research

6. Management and Evaluation of COI
CNJ uses a systematic approach to evaluate, manage, and document conflicts of interest involving authors, editors, reviewers, and staff.

COI Evaluation Process

• COI forms are reviewed at submission
• Editors assess whether COI could bias manuscript handling
• Additional information may be requested from authors
• Reviewers and editors with COI are removed from the workflow

Editorial Actions When COI is Identified
Actions may include:

• Requesting revised or expanded COI disclosures
• Reassigning editors or reviewers
• Rejecting the manuscript if COI compromises research validity
• Publishing COI corrections or updates
• Issuing retractions for undisclosed major COI

Documentation
All COI evaluations and actions are logged for accountability.

7. Non-Compliance and Consequences
Failure to disclose conflicts of interest threatens the integrity of scientific publishing. CNJ takes nondisclosure seriously and applies corrective measures appropriate to the severity of the omission.

For Authors
Consequences may include:

• Manuscript rejection
• Publication of corrections or retractions
• Institutional notification
• Restrictions on future submissions

For Reviewers
Possible actions:

• Removal from reviewer database
• Formal warnings
• Reporting to affiliated institutions (for repeated misconduct)

For Editors
Actions may include:

• Removal from handling manuscripts
• Formal investigation
• Dismissal from editorial roles

8. Transparency and Public Disclosure
CNJ ensures transparency regarding author conflicts of interest while protecting confidentiality of internal processes.
CNJ Will:

• Publish author COI statements with the article
• Publish corrections if COI disclosures change
• Maintain internal COI documentation for editors and reviewers

9. Policy Review and Updates
This policy is periodically reviewed to ensure alignment with evolving COPE and ICMJE standards and best practices in scholarly publishing.