Pandecta Research Law Journal establishes a conflict of interest policy to maintain independence, objectivity, transparency, and integrity in research, peer review, and editorial decision-making. This policy is guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) principles regarding conflict of interest/competing interests and applies to authors, reviewers, editors, the journal, and the publisher.
Definition of Conflict of Interest
A conflict of interest is a situation in which financial or non-financial interests could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, objectivity, independence, professional judgment, the conduct of research, peer review, or editorial decision-making.
Conflicts of interest may relate to:
Personal or family relationships;
Professional or institutional relationships;
Academic or research collaborations;
Financial or commercial interests;
Academic or professional competition;
Direct involvement in the research or activities related to the manuscript; or
Other interests relevant to the independence of the parties involved.
Author Conflict of Interest
Authors must disclose any relevant relationships, support, or interests that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the research or the presentation of its results. Where relevant, disclosures should include:
Funding sources or sponsors;
Employment, professional, or institutional relationships;
Financial or commercial interests;
Relevant personal relationships;
Involvement in activities or organizations related to the substance of the manuscript; or
Other interests that could affect the objectivity of the research or its reporting.
If the research received specific funding or support, authors must disclose the role of the funder or supporting party in the study design, data collection or analysis, interpretation of results, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the work for publication, if such involvement existed.
Reviewer Conflict of Interest
Reviewers must disclose to the editor any relationships or interests that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the independence and objectivity of the review. Reviewer conflicts of interest may relate to:
Personal or family relationships;
Professional or institutional relationships;
Academic or research collaborations;
Financial or commercial interests;
Academic or professional competition;
Direct involvement in the research or activities related to the manuscript; or
Other relevant interests.
Reviewers must decline or return a review assignment if a conflict of interest could compromise the objectivity of their assessment. Disclosure must be made through the editorial mechanism without contacting the authors directly.
Editor Conflict of Interest
Editors must maintain independence in handling manuscripts and disclose any interests or relationships that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, editorial decision-making.
Editors must not handle the evaluation or make editorial decisions on a manuscript if they:
Are an author or contributor to the manuscript;
Are directly involved in the research reported in the manuscript;
Have a relevant personal or family relationship with the author;
Have a professional, institutional, or research collaboration relationship that could compromise their independence;
Have a financial or commercial interest related to the manuscript; or
Are in any other situation that could compromise, or create a reasonable perception of compromised, editorial objectivity.
In such circumstances, responsibility for handling the manuscript must be transferred to an independent editor. If the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest, the Managing Editor assumes responsibility for the manuscript and makes the final editorial decision, provided the Managing Editor has no conflict of interest.
Journal and Publisher Conflict of Interest
Commercial, financial, institutional, sponsor, partnership, advertising, publication fee interests, or other revenue-related interests must not determine the outcome of peer review or editorial decisions. A clear separation between business interests and scholarly considerations must be maintained to preserve the independence of the publication process.
The publisher and journal management must not use institutional, financial, or other relationships to influence editors or reviewers to accept, reject, expedite, delay, or alter scholarly assessments. Administrative priorities in the selection of Article Processing Charge services do not alter the depth of peer review, the authority of the decision-making party, or the outcome of the assessment.
Disclosure and Management of Conflicts of Interest
Any known conflict of interest must be disclosed as early as possible so that it can be assessed and managed transparently. Disclosure of a conflict of interest is not in itself an ethical violation, but it provides the basis for the journal to determine the necessary steps to maintain the independence and objectivity of the publication process.
Depending on the nature and extent of the conflict of interest, the journal may take steps such as:
Transferring responsibility for handling the manuscript to another editor;
Replacing the reviewer;
Requesting clarification or additional disclosure;
Publishing a conflict of interest statement alongside the article; or
Taking other editorial action appropriate to the circumstances.
If a relevant conflict of interest becomes known after publication, the journal will investigate the matter and take the necessary steps to maintain the transparency and integrity of the scholarly record. Failure to disclose relevant interests may be handled as an ethical issue under the Publication Ethics policy and, if it affects a published article, may be addressed under the Corrections, Retractions, & Withdrawals (R-W-C) Policy.
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