Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy

At IJ-AACST, transparency and integrity in the research and publication process are of utmost importance. To avoid any bias in the evaluation and publication of manuscripts, all parties involved must fully disclose potential conflicts of interest.

1. Authors

• Authors must declare any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could be perceived to influence the work.
• Examples include:
  • Funding from organizations that may benefit from the results.
  • Employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or patent applications related to the work.
  • Personal or professional relationships that may create bias.
• All disclosures must be included in a “Conflict of Interest Statement” at the end of the manuscript before references.
• If no conflicts exist, authors must state: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

2. Editors

• Editors handling a manuscript must recuse themselves if they have any personal, academic, or financial relationship with the authors or the research.
• In such cases, the manuscript will be reassigned to another qualified editor.

3. Reviewers

• Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if:
  • They have collaborated with the author(s) in the last three years.
  • They have financial or professional interests that may affect objectivity.
  • They cannot provide an impartial evaluation.
• Reviewers must also declare any potential conflicts when responding to review invitations.

4. Publisher & Journal Responsibility

• The journal reserves the right to reject or retract a manuscript if an undisclosed conflict of interest is later discovered.
• All COI disclosures are handled in accordance with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines.