Conflict of Interest Policy

General Provisions

The Publishing House of the Institute of Agriculture of the Carpathian Region strives to ensure objectivity, transparency, and integrity in all aspects of the publication process. A conflict of interest arises when personal, financial, commercial, political, academic, or other interests may influence the professional judgment of individuals involved in the publication process. This policy is designed to identify, prevent, and manage potential conflicts of interest to ensure the highest ethical standards of scientific publications.

Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when an individual has relationships or interests that may inappropriately influence their actions or decisions in the context of the publication process. This includes, but is not limited to:

  • Financial interests: Direct or indirect funding, stock ownership, consulting fees, honoraria, patents or patent applications, royalties, participation in paid clinical trials, etc.
  • Personal relationships: Family ties, friendship, academic rivalry, personal conflicts
  • Professional interests: Employment at the same institution, co-authorship, joint research projects, competing research groups
  • Intellectual interests: Strong beliefs regarding certain scientific, methodological, or worldview positions
  • Commercial interests: Connections with commercial organizations that may benefit from publication or vice versa

Conflict of Interest Policy for Editors

Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board

  1. Disclosure: The editor-in-chief and editorial board members are obligated to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may affect their editorial decisions.
  2. Recusal from decision-making: Editors must recuse themselves from decision-making regarding manuscripts when they have a conflict of interest related to authors, institutions, or content of submitted manuscripts. In such cases:
    • The manuscript is transferred to another editor without conflict of interest
    • The review process and decision-making is documented with particular care
  3. No personal use: Editors must not use information obtained during manuscript review for personal benefit.
  4. Public disclosure: Information about relevant financial interests and other significant relationships of editorial board members is published on the journal website and regularly updated.

Guest Editors and Special Issue Editors

  1. Full disclosure: Guest editors and special issue editors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest before beginning work on the issue.
  2. Transparent selection: The article selection process for special issues must be transparent, with clearly defined selection criteria.
  3. Limitation of own publications: Guest editors should limit the number of their own publications in issues they edit. If their manuscripts are included, the review process must be particularly thorough and transparent.

Conflict of Interest Policy for Authors

  1. Mandatory disclosure: Authors are obligated to disclose any financial, personal, or other relationships that may influence their work or its interpretation.
  2. Conflict of interest disclosure form: All authors must complete a conflict of interest disclosure form when submitting a manuscript.
  3. Publication section: Each publication must include a "Conflict of Interest" section where authors disclose any potential conflicts or explicitly state their absence.
  4. Funding source disclosure: Authors must disclose all sources of research funding and indicate the role of sponsors in research design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, report writing, and decision to submit the article for publication.
  5. Consequences of non-compliance: Failure to disclose conflicts of interest may result in manuscript rejection or, if discovered after publication, publication of an expression of concern or article retraction.

Conflict of Interest Policy for Reviewers

  1. Declining invitation: Reviewers must decline review invitations if they have a conflict of interest with authors, co-authors, or manuscript content.
  2. Information disclosure: If a reviewer discovers a potential conflict of interest after receiving the manuscript, they must immediately notify the editor.
  3. Confidentiality: Reviewers must not use information or ideas obtained during review for personal benefit.
  4. Objectivity: Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively, without influence from personal or professional biases.
  5. Declaration: Before beginning review, each reviewer signs a declaration of absence of conflict of interest.

Conflict of Interest Policy for Journal Publisher

  1. Editorial independence: The publisher guarantees editorial independence, allowing the editorial board to make publication decisions without interference from the owner.
  2. Commercial interests: The publisher discloses any commercial or financial interests that may influence publication decisions.
  3. Relationship transparency: Information about journal ownership, funding sources, and business models must be publicly available.
  4. Advertising and sponsorship: Clear distinction between editorial content and sponsored content or advertising.
  5. Strict adherence to principles: The publisher commits to adhering to the principles outlined in this policy and maintaining high ethical standards in all aspects of the publication process.

Conflict of Interest Policy for Journal Staff

  1. Information disclosure: Journal staff members must disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to their work.
  2. Influence limitation: Staff who have a conflict of interest with a specific manuscript or authors should not participate in administrative processes related to that manuscript.
  3. Confidentiality: Staff must maintain confidentiality regarding all aspects of manuscript submission and review.

Conflict of Interest Management Procedures

  1. Identification: All involved parties are obligated to actively identify and disclose potential conflicts of interest.
  2. Assessment: The editorial board assesses the seriousness of the conflict of interest and its potential impact on editorial decisions.
  3. Management:
    • For minor conflicts, disclosure may be sufficient
    • For significant conflicts, the person with the conflict of interest must be recused from the decision-making process
    • In cases of uncertainty, consultation with independent ethics experts
  4. Documentation: All identified conflicts of interest and measures taken are documented.
  5. Dispute resolution: In case of disputes regarding conflicts of interest, the matter is reviewed by the journal's ethics committee or independent experts.

Policy Monitoring and Enforcement

  1. Regular review: This policy is regularly reviewed and updated according to best practices.
  2. Training: Editors, reviewers, and journal staff undergo regular training on conflict of interest issues.
  3. Audit: Periodic audits of decisions are conducted to ensure policy compliance.
  4. Sanctions for violations: Violations of this policy may result in:
    • Manuscript rejection
    • Retraction of published article
    • Termination of cooperation with editors, reviewers, or authors who violate the policy
    • Notification of institutions where violators work

Final Provisions

This policy is part of our publishing house's commitment to maintaining the highest ethical standards in scientific communication. All participants in the publication process bear responsibility for its compliance.

The Publishing House of the Institute of Agriculture of the Carpathian Region reserves the right to make changes to this policy. All changes will be announced on the official website.