A scientific journal must adhere to the best publishing practices and principles of publication ethics (COPE). Therefore, all processes related to the review and publication of articles should be as clear and transparent as possible.
Various individuals, including the editorial board, journal staff, authors, editors, and reviewers, interact at different stages of writing, processing, peer review, editing, and publishing articles. Conflicts of interest may arise during these interactions due to financial, ideological, religious, intellectual, or academic differences.
Authors
Authors play a crucial role in maintaining the integrity of their research. They are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest when submitting their manuscript, ensuring that all relationships, facts, actions, and influences that may affect their research are transparently revealed.
Reviewers
Before reviewing a manuscript, reviewers should acquaint themselves with the journal’s peer review process. Some circumstances may affect the transparency of the article assessment. In that case, the reviewer should refuse to review the manuscript. Reviewers should also not use the article for their purposes.
Editorial Board Members, Editors, Journal Staff
Editorial board members, editors, and journal staff are prohibited from using information obtained when working with manuscripts for private gain. They should act in the journal’s interests, making decisions based on the work’s reliability and importance for the reader. Additionally, founders and managing editors are restricted from publishing their work in the journals they manage.
Conflict of Interests Statement
If a conflict of interest exists before article publication, a conflict of interest statement should be published in the article, and related documents may be requested and published for the reader’s complete information.