Conflict of Interest Policy

Jurnal Pendidikan dan Pengajaran Guru Sekolah Dasar (JPPGuseda) requires all authors, peer reviewers, and editors to declare any potential conflicts of interest that could inappropriately influence or bias the research work, peer-review evaluations, or editorial decisions. In accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), transparency regarding competing interests is essential to safeguarding scientific objectivity and public trust.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest (or competing interest) arises when personal, professional, institutional, or financial relationships have the potential to compromise or bias an individual’s professional judgment, scientific objectivity, or editorial actions. Conflicts of interest can be:

  • Financial Interests: Direct or indirect financial remuneration, research grants, honoraria, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or patents related to the subject matter of the manuscript.

  • Non-Financial Interests: Personal, academic, political, or ideological relationships; institutional rivalries; or close collaborations with authors, competing researchers, or affiliated institutions.

2. Author Responsibilities and Disclosures

All submitting authors must disclose all potential competing interests related to their submitted manuscript:

  • Mandatory Disclosure Statement: Every manuscript submitted to JPPGuseda must include a dedicated Declaration of Competing Interest section placed immediately prior to the reference list.

  • Format of Declaration:

    • If conflicts exist: "The authors declare the following competing financial/personal interests: [specify details of grants, consulting fees, or institutional support]."

    • If no conflicts exist: "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper."

  • Funding Acknowledgement: The role of the research sponsor/funding body in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, writing of the manuscript, or decision to submit must be fully described. If the sponsor had no such involvement, authors must explicitly state this.

3. Reviewer Responsibilities and Recusal

Peer reviewers must maintain strict impartiality throughout the evaluation process:

  • Reviewers must decline an invitation or recuse themselves immediately if they have a known conflict of interest with the authors or the submitted work (e.g., recent co-authorship within the past 3 years, direct supervisory relationships, close personal ties, or direct intellectual rivalry).

  • Reviewers must not utilize unpublished data or arguments from manuscripts under review for their personal or academic advantage prior to formal publication.

4. Editor and Editorial Board Responsibilities

Editorial decisions must be based solely on the scientific merits and pedagogical significance of the manuscript, free from institutional or personal influence:

  • Editorial Recusal: If an Editor-in-Chief, Section Editor, or Guest Editor has a potential conflict of interest regarding a submitted manuscript (e.g., being an author/co-author, sharing the same academic department/faculty, or having a close collaborative relationship), the editor must step aside from handling the submission.

  • Submissions by Editorial Members: Manuscripts authored by JPPGuseda editorial team members are subjected to the standard double-blind review process. The handling process will be delegated to an independent editor with no affiliation to the author, and the authoring editor will be barred from viewing the review records or participating in the decision-making process.

5. Managing Undisclosed Conflicts

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified during the review process or following publication:

  • The Editorial Board will initiate an inquiry following the appropriate COPE Flowcharts on Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest.

  • The authors will be requested to provide clarification and documentation.

  • Depending on the severity, the editorial office may publish a formal Correction (Corrigendum) to update the disclosure record or, in cases where the undeclared conflict materially altered the scientific validity of the findings, consider manuscript Retraction.