Conflict of Interest Policy
The Journal of Research in Social Sciences and Language (JSSAL) requires all authors, reviewers, and editors to disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived as influencing their work or decisions. This policy is in accordance with COPE guidelines on conflicts of interest.
For Authors: Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest at the time of submission, including financial support, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, or personal relationships that may have influenced the research. This information must be included in the manuscript under a "Conflict of Interest" or "Competing Interests" statement. If no conflict exists, authors must state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."
For Reviewers: Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest, including prior collaborations, close personal relationships, or institutional affiliations with the authors. If a conflict of interest becomes apparent during the review process, the reviewer must notify the editor-in-chief immediately and withdraw from the review.
For Editors: Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest, including manuscripts submitted by close colleagues, former students, or collaborators. In such cases, another member of the editorial board will handle the submission independently. The editor-in-chief must also ensure that editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial or financial interests.
What Constitutes a Conflict of Interest: A conflict of interest may arise from the following situations:
- Financial relationships (e.g., funding, employment, consultancy, stock ownership)
- Personal relationships (e.g., family members, close friends)
- Academic relationships (e.g., supervisor/student, recent co-authors)
- Intellectual or ideological beliefs that may bias the evaluation of the work
- Institutional affiliations that may create competing interests
Editorial Independence: JSSAL operates on a diamond open access model with no article processing charges. Editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of academic merit and are completely independent of any financial considerations, institutional support, or revenue sources. The journal's funding sources do not influence editorial decision making in any way.
Disclosure Requirements Summary:
- Authors must declare all conflicts of interest at submission
- If no conflict exists, this must be explicitly stated in the manuscript
- Reviewers must notify the editor of any conflict before or during review
- Editors must recuse themselves from manuscripts with conflicts
- Undisclosed conflicts discovered post-publication will be handled per COPE guidelines
This policy is aligned with international guidelines from COPE on conflicts of interest and competing interests in scholarly publishing.
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