Conflict of Interest

1. Policy Statement

The International Journal Linguistics of Sumatra and Malay (IJLSM) is committed to ensuring transparency, impartiality, and integrity throughout the research and publication process. A conflict of interest arises when personal, financial, professional, institutional, or other relationships could improperly influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, an individual's judgment, decisions, or actions in connection with scholarly research and publication.

IJLSM recognizes that the existence of a potential conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate misconduct or invalidate research findings. However, the disclosure and appropriate management of such conflicts are essential to maintaining the credibility of scholarly work and public trust in academic publishing.

This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and other individuals involved in the evaluation and publication of manuscripts.

2. Types of Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived and may arise from a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:

  • Financial Conflicts of Interest: Employment, consultancy, honoraria, research grants, sponsorships, intellectual property rights, or other financial interests that could be affected by the publication of a manuscript.

  • Professional Conflicts of Interest: Professional relationships, academic competition, collaborative arrangements, or disputes that could influence an individual's judgment concerning a manuscript.

  • Personal Conflicts of Interest: Family relationships, close friendships, personal disputes, or other relationships that could compromise, or appear to compromise, impartiality.

  • Institutional Conflicts of Interest: Affiliations, administrative responsibilities, or institutional interests that could influence research outcomes or editorial decisions.

  • Academic Conflicts of Interest: Supervisory relationships, recent co-authorship, joint research projects, direct academic competition, or other scholarly relationships that may affect the ability to evaluate a manuscript objectively.

  • Ideological or Other Conflicts of Interest: Strong personal, political, religious, theoretical, or other commitments that could improperly influence the assessment of research.

These examples are not exhaustive. Individuals involved in the publication process are responsible for identifying and disclosing relationships or interests that may reasonably be considered relevant to their role.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may be relevant to their submitted manuscript.

At the time of submission, authors should declare relevant financial and non-financial interests, including relationships with organizations, institutions, or individuals that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, its interpretation, or its presentation.

If no relevant conflicts of interest exist, authors should include the following statement in their manuscript:

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest related to the research, authorship, or publication of this article.

If one or more relevant conflicts exist, authors must provide a clear and accurate disclosure describing the nature of the conflict and its potential relevance to the research.

The disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically result in manuscript rejection. The editorial team will assess whether the disclosed interest requires clarification, additional safeguards, or other appropriate action.

Authors are also responsible for updating their disclosures if relevant circumstances change during the editorial process.

4. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively, independently, and confidentially. Before accepting a review assignment, reviewers should consider whether any personal, professional, financial, institutional, or academic relationship could impair their ability to provide an impartial assessment.

Reviewers should disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest to the editorial team as soon as it becomes apparent. Where a conflict could reasonably compromise impartiality, the reviewer should decline the assignment or withdraw from the review.

Examples of circumstances that may require disclosure or withdrawal include:

  • Recent or ongoing collaboration with one or more of the authors.

  • A close personal relationship or significant personal dispute with an author.

  • A direct supervisory, mentoring, or dependent professional relationship.

  • Financial interests that could be affected by the manuscript's publication.

  • Direct academic competition that could compromise an objective assessment.

The editorial team will determine whether the reviewer may proceed or whether an alternative reviewer should be appointed. Reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained during peer review for personal, professional, or competitive advantage.

5. Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members must make editorial decisions based on the manuscript's scholarly merit, relevance to the journal's scope, methodological quality, originality, and the outcome of peer review, without improper influence from personal or institutional interests.

Editors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest associated with a manuscript assigned to them. When such a conflict could compromise impartiality, the editor must recuse themselves from handling the manuscript and refer it to an independent editor.

Circumstances requiring disclosure or recusal may include:

  • Being an author or co-author of the manuscript under consideration.

  • Having recently collaborated with one or more authors or being involved in the same research project.

  • Having a close personal relationship, supervisory relationship, or significant dispute with an author.

  • Having a financial or institutional interest in the manuscript's outcome.

  • Having another relationship that could reasonably call the editor's impartiality into question.

The Editor-in-Chief must also avoid handling manuscripts when personally involved in the work or when a conflict could compromise independent judgment. In such cases, an appropriate independent editor should oversee the evaluation and decision-making process.

Editorial board membership, institutional affiliation, academic seniority, or personal acquaintance with an author must not provide preferential treatment in editorial decisions.

6. Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all sources of financial support relevant to the research, including research grants, institutional funding, sponsorships, and other material support.

The funding statement should identify the funding organization and, where applicable, the grant or project number. Authors should also disclose the role of the funder in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

If the funder had no involvement in these activities, authors may state:

Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Authors must ensure that funding disclosures are accurate and complete. Funding information should be provided during submission and included in the published article where applicable.

7. Disclosure and Management Procedures

IJLSM requires relevant conflicts of interest to be disclosed during manuscript submission or as soon as they become apparent during the editorial and publication process.

The journal may take the following steps to manage disclosed conflicts:

  1. Request additional information or clarification from the individual concerned.

  2. Assess whether the disclosed interest could affect the objectivity or credibility of the research or editorial process.

  3. Assign an independent reviewer or editor where necessary.

  4. Require additional disclosures in the manuscript or published article.

  5. Implement other reasonable safeguards to preserve the integrity of the review and publication process.

The editorial team will assess each case individually, taking into account the nature of the relationship, its relevance to the manuscript, and the potential impact on impartiality.

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may result in further editorial inquiry and appropriate action, depending on the circumstances and the stage of publication.

8. Post-Publication Disclosure

If a relevant conflict of interest is identified after publication, IJLSM will assess the matter and determine whether corrective action is necessary to maintain the accuracy and transparency of the scholarly record.

Depending on the circumstances, the journal may request a clarification from the authors, publish a correction or disclosure statement, issue an expression of concern, or take other appropriate action in accordance with its publication ethics policies.

The journal will consider the seriousness of the undisclosed interest, its relevance to the published research, and whether the omission affects the interpretation, credibility, or integrity of the article.

9. Commitment to Transparency and Publication Ethics

IJLSM considers the disclosure and responsible management of conflicts of interest essential components of ethical scholarly publishing. All authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members are expected to act honestly, disclose relevant interests, and cooperate with reasonable editorial requests for clarification.

The journal is committed to handling conflicts of interest fairly, consistently, and transparently, in accordance with recognized principles of publication ethics, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), where applicable.

By submitting a manuscript to IJLSM or participating in its editorial and peer review processes, individuals acknowledge their responsibility to disclose relevant conflicts of interest and to support an impartial, credible, and ethically responsible publication process.