Conflict of Interest Policy

Journal of Education and Development Lab (JEDL) is committed to maintaining editorial independence, transparency, fairness, and integrity throughout the research and publication process. All individuals involved in the publication of JEDL content—including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, guest editors, and journal staff—are expected to identify and appropriately manage conflicts of interest.

A conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate misconduct or mean that a manuscript cannot be published. However, undisclosed or improperly managed conflicts may compromise, or appear to compromise, the objectivity and credibility of scholarly communication.

This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to, reviewed by, edited by, or published in JEDL.

1. Purpose

The purposes of this policy are to:

  • promote transparency in scholarly publishing;

  • identify and manage actual, potential, and perceived conflicts of interest;

  • protect the independence and integrity of editorial decisions;

  • ensure fair and impartial peer review;

  • require appropriate disclosure by authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants;

  • prevent undisclosed interests from influencing research, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication;

  • provide procedures for handling conflicts discovered before or after publication.

2. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest (COI) exists when an individual's personal, professional, financial, academic, institutional, or other interests could reasonably be expected to influence, or appear to influence, their judgment or actions concerning a manuscript, research project, review, or editorial decision.

Conflicts may be:

  • Actual — a relevant interest currently exists and may affect objectivity.

  • Potential — circumstances exist that could develop into a relevant conflict.

  • Perceived — a reasonable observer could believe that the individual's judgment may be influenced, even if the individual considers themselves impartial.

JEDL recognizes that the existence of a conflict does not automatically imply unethical conduct.

The key requirement is appropriate disclosure and management.

3. Types of Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts may arise from a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to:

3.1 Financial Conflicts

Examples include:

  • research funding;

  • grants;

  • employment;

  • consultancy;

  • honoraria;

  • paid advisory roles;

  • stock or equity ownership;

  • patents or intellectual property;

  • royalties;

  • financial interests in products or organizations discussed in the manuscript;

  • commercial relationships.

3.2 Professional Conflicts

Examples include:

  • current or recent collaboration;

  • shared research projects;

  • professional relationships;

  • supervisory relationships;

  • institutional responsibilities;

  • membership in the same research group;

  • direct professional competition.

3.3 Personal Conflicts

Examples include:

  • close personal relationships;

  • family relationships;

  • personal disputes;

  • relationships that could reasonably affect impartial judgment.

3.4 Academic Conflicts

Examples include:

  • direct competition for publication or research priority;

  • competing research findings;

  • disputes over theories, methods, or intellectual contributions;

  • thesis or dissertation relationships;

  • previous collaboration with the authors.

3.5 Institutional Conflicts

Examples include:

  • affiliation with the same institution;

  • involvement in an institutional dispute;

  • financial or strategic interests of the institution;

  • responsibility for evaluating or supervising an author.

3.6 Political, Ideological, or Other Relevant Interests

Where an individual's strongly held position or other relevant relationship could reasonably affect impartial assessment of a manuscript, the conflict should be disclosed and appropriately managed.

4. General Disclosure Principle

JEDL follows the principle:

When in doubt, disclose.

Individuals should disclose relationships or circumstances that a reasonable reader, reviewer, editor, or other scholarly participant could consider relevant to the objectivity of the work or decision.

Disclosure does not automatically prevent participation.

JEDL will determine whether the disclosed interest requires:

  • no further action;

  • disclosure in the publication;

  • reassignment of a reviewer;

  • reassignment of an editor;

  • additional editorial oversight;

  • another appropriate management measure.

5. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors are responsible for identifying and disclosing relevant conflicts of interest.

Authors should disclose conflicts involving:

  • financial relationships;

  • research funding;

  • employment;

  • consultancy;

  • intellectual property;

  • personal relationships;

  • academic competition;

  • institutional relationships;

  • other interests that could reasonably influence the research or its interpretation.

Authors must not deliberately conceal material conflicts.

6. Author Conflict of Interest Statement

JEDL may require a formal conflict-of-interest statement for every manuscript.

Where no relevant conflict exists, authors may use a statement such as:

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest that could have influenced the research, analysis, interpretation, or publication of this work.

Where a conflict exists, authors should clearly describe its nature.

For example:

Conflict of Interest: Author A has received research funding from [organization]. Author B has served as a consultant to [organization]. These relationships are disclosed for transparency.

The statement should be accurate, concise, and complete.

7. Funding and Conflict of Interest

Funding information and conflict-of-interest information are related but not identical.

Authors should disclose:

  • who funded the research;

  • grant or project information where appropriate;

  • the role of the funder;

  • whether the funder influenced study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decisions.

Financial support does not automatically constitute a conflict, but transparency is required.

8. Role of the Funder

Where research has received external funding, authors should indicate whether the funder had any role in:

  • study design;

  • data collection;

  • data analysis;

  • interpretation of findings;

  • manuscript preparation;

  • decision to submit;

  • decision to publish.

If the funder had no role, authors may state this clearly.

9. Intellectual Property

Authors should disclose relevant intellectual property interests, including:

  • patents;

  • patent applications;

  • copyrights;

  • licenses;

  • proprietary technologies;

  • commercial products;

  • other intellectual property interests directly relevant to the research.

Such disclosures help readers assess potential influences on interpretation.

10. Conflicts Involving Research Participants

Researchers must disclose relevant relationships with participants, organizations, institutions, or communities when those relationships could reasonably affect the research.

Examples include:

  • financial relationships with study participants or organizations;

  • employment relationships;

  • supervisory relationships;

  • institutional interests;

  • other relationships that could affect recruitment, data collection, analysis, or interpretation.

Where applicable, ethical approval and informed-consent requirements must also be satisfied.

11. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must identify potential conflicts before accepting a manuscript for review.

A reviewer should normally decline the review if they have a relationship or interest that could reasonably compromise—or appear to compromise—their impartiality.

Potential conflicts include:

  • recent collaboration with an author;

  • close personal relationship with an author;

  • direct professional competition;

  • involvement in substantially similar research;

  • financial interests;

  • institutional conflicts;

  • supervisory relationships;

  • disputes with an author;

  • other circumstances that could affect impartial judgment.

When uncertain, reviewers should consult the editor.

12. Reviewer Confidentiality and Conflicts

Reviewers must not use confidential manuscript information to:

  • advance their own research;

  • gain personal or professional advantage;

  • assist a competitor;

  • influence commercial interests;

  • disadvantage the authors.

A reviewer who discovers a conflict after accepting the assignment should immediately notify the editor.

The editor may then:

  • allow the review to continue;

  • request clarification;

  • assign another reviewer;

  • cancel the review.

13. Reviewer Recommendations

Reviewer recommendations must be based on scholarly considerations rather than:

  • personal relationships;

  • professional rivalry;

  • financial interests;

  • institutional interests;

  • desire to increase citations;

  • desire to promote a particular research group.

Reviewers must not request irrelevant citations to themselves, their colleagues, or a particular journal for personal or metric-related benefit.

14. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must disclose and manage conflicts that could affect their editorial judgment.

An editor should not normally handle a manuscript when they have a significant conflict involving:

  • the authors;

  • the research;

  • the institution;

  • the funding source;

  • competing research;

  • a personal relationship;

  • a financial interest.

Where a conflict exists, the manuscript should be assigned to an appropriately independent editor whenever reasonably possible.

15. Editor–Author Relationships

Editors should avoid handling manuscripts submitted by:

  • close collaborators;

  • current students or supervisors;

  • close personal contacts;

  • members of the same immediate research group;

  • individuals with whom the editor has a significant dispute;

  • individuals with whom the editor has a material financial relationship.

The purpose is to protect the independence and credibility of the editorial process.

16. Editorial Board Members

Editorial board membership does not exempt an individual from conflict-of-interest requirements.

An editorial board member who submits a manuscript to JEDL must undergo the same editorial and peer-review standards as other authors.

Where an editorial board member has a conflict with a manuscript, another independent editor should manage the manuscript whenever reasonably possible.

Editorial position must not provide preferential treatment.

17. Guest Editors

Guest editors must disclose relevant conflicts before handling manuscripts.

A guest editor should not make editorial decisions on manuscripts involving:

  • themselves;

  • close collaborators;

  • close personal relationships;

  • significant professional competitors;

  • material financial interests.

Conflicted manuscripts should be assigned to an independent editor.

Guest-edited collections must maintain the same conflict-of-interest and peer-review standards as regular JEDL publications.

18. Editors as Authors

If an Editor-in-Chief, editor, or editorial board member submits a manuscript to JEDL, the individual must not control the editorial process for their own submission.

An independent editor should be assigned to manage the manuscript.

The manuscript must undergo appropriate peer review and meet the same publication standards as all other submissions.

19. Institutional Affiliations

Affiliation with the same institution does not automatically constitute a disqualifying conflict.

However, an editor or reviewer should disclose the relationship when:

  • they have a close working relationship with the author;

  • they supervise or have recently supervised the author;

  • they have a significant dispute with the author;

  • the institutional relationship could reasonably affect impartiality.

JEDL will assess the circumstances rather than applying an automatic rule solely based on institutional affiliation.

20. Personal Relationships

Editors and reviewers should disclose close personal relationships with authors.

Examples include:

  • family relationships;

  • close friendships;

  • close personal partnerships;

  • significant personal disputes.

Where such a relationship could reasonably affect impartiality, the individual should not participate in the relevant editorial or review decision.

21. Academic Competition

Academic competition can create a conflict when an editor or reviewer:

  • is working on substantially similar unpublished research;

  • is competing for the same research priority;

  • may materially benefit from delaying or influencing publication;

  • has a significant intellectual dispute with the authors.

Such circumstances should be disclosed and may require reassignment.

22. Self-Citation and Citation Conflicts

Authors and reviewers must not manipulate citations for personal or institutional advantage.

A reviewer should not require authors to cite the reviewer's own work unless the references are genuinely relevant.

Editors must not require unnecessary citations to JEDL publications solely to increase journal citation metrics.

Citation recommendations should always be academically justified.

23. Conflicts Related to Peer Review

JEDL may consider a reviewer conflicted where the reviewer:

  • recently co-authored with an author;

  • works in direct competition with the authors;

  • has a substantial financial interest in the research;

  • has a close personal relationship with an author;

  • has a serious professional dispute with an author;

  • has another relationship that could reasonably compromise impartiality.

JEDL may use multiple independent reviewers to reduce the influence of any single conflict.

24. Management of Conflicts

Depending on the circumstances, JEDL may manage a conflict by:

  • recording the disclosure internally;

  • publishing a conflict-of-interest statement;

  • assigning another reviewer;

  • assigning another editor;

  • adding independent editorial oversight;

  • requesting additional disclosure;

  • requesting clarification from the authors;

  • requiring additional peer review;

  • referring the matter to an appropriate institution;

  • taking other reasonable measures.

The management approach will depend on the nature and seriousness of the conflict.

25. Undisclosed Conflicts Before Publication

If JEDL discovers a potentially undisclosed conflict before publication, the journal may:

  1. request an explanation;

  2. request a formal disclosure;

  3. reassess the editorial process;

  4. appoint new reviewers or an independent editor;

  5. require additional review;

  6. delay publication while the matter is investigated;

  7. reject the manuscript where the integrity of the process has been compromised.

The response will be proportionate to the circumstances.

26. Undisclosed Conflicts After Publication

If a material conflict is discovered after publication, JEDL may:

  • request clarification from the authors;

  • publish a correction or disclosure statement;

  • add an editorial note;

  • reassess the article where necessary;

  • issue an Expression of Concern;

  • consider retraction where the conflict materially affects the reliability or integrity of the publication.

The existence of an undisclosed conflict does not automatically require retraction.

27. Conflicts Affecting Research Integrity

A conflict may become an ethical concern when it has resulted in:

  • manipulation of data;

  • selective reporting;

  • suppression of findings;

  • misleading interpretation;

  • inappropriate authorship;

  • biased peer review;

  • editorial manipulation;

  • undisclosed financial influence;

  • other forms of publication misconduct.

Where appropriate, such cases may be investigated under JEDL's Publication Ethics & Malpractice Policy and Plagiarism & Research Misconduct Policy.

28. Conflicts and Research Ethics

Where a conflict affects research involving human participants, animals, personal data, or other ethically sensitive subjects, JEDL may require additional information regarding:

  • ethical approval;

  • informed consent;

  • institutional oversight;

  • participant protection;

  • funding arrangements;

  • researcher relationships.

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict may require further investigation.

29. Conflict of Interest in Editorial Decision-Making

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

  • financial gain;

  • advertising;

  • sponsorship;

  • personal relationships;

  • institutional pressure;

  • professional rivalry;

  • political considerations;

  • academic prestige;

  • author nationality;

  • commercial relationships.

The academic and ethical merits of the manuscript should remain the primary basis for editorial decisions.

30. Commercial and Sponsorship Interests

Where JEDL receives financial support, sponsorship, advertising revenue, grants, or other commercial support, such relationships must not determine editorial decisions.

Sponsors and advertisers must not:

  • select reviewers;

  • influence acceptance or rejection;

  • alter peer-review outcomes;

  • control editorial content;

  • require favorable publication decisions.

Editorial independence must be maintained.

31. Conflict Disclosure in Published Articles

Where relevant, JEDL may publish:

  • Conflict of Interest statements;

  • Funding statements;

  • Author contribution statements;

  • relevant editorial disclosures.

These disclosures form part of the transparency record of the article.

32. Confidentiality of Disclosures

Conflict-of-interest information will be handled confidentially during editorial assessment when appropriate.

However, relevant disclosures may be published with the article where transparency requires it.

Information may also be shared with appropriate institutions or authorities when necessary to investigate serious ethical concerns.

33. False or Misleading Disclosures

Individuals must provide truthful and complete disclosures.

Deliberately:

  • concealing a material conflict;

  • providing false information;

  • misleading editors or reviewers;

  • manipulating disclosure information

may constitute publication misconduct.

Such cases may be handled under JEDL's publication ethics and research misconduct procedures.

34. Appeals Concerning Conflict Decisions

An author, reviewer, or editor who disagrees with a conflict-of-interest determination may provide a written explanation and relevant evidence.

JEDL may reconsider the decision where:

  • relevant information was overlooked;

  • a factual error occurred;

  • the conflict was misunderstood;

  • new evidence becomes available.

The final management decision will be made by an appropriate independent editorial authority where reasonably possible.

35. Responsibilities of the Corresponding Author

The corresponding author should coordinate conflict-of-interest declarations among all co-authors.

The corresponding author should ensure that:

  • all authors have been asked about relevant conflicts;

  • disclosures are accurate;

  • undisclosed interests are not intentionally omitted;

  • the final statement reflects the collective information provided by the authors.

Each author remains individually responsible for the accuracy of their own disclosure.

36. No Conflict Statement

If no relevant conflict exists, authors should provide a clear statement.

JEDL recommends wording such as:

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.

Authors may use equivalent wording where appropriate.

37. Relationship With Other JEDL Policies

This policy should be read together with JEDL's:

  • Publication Ethics & Malpractice Policy;

  • Peer Review Policy;

  • Authorship & Contributorship Policy;

  • Plagiarism & Research Misconduct Policy;

  • Research Ethics & Ethical Approval Policy;

  • AI & Generative AI Policy;

  • Copyright & Licensing Policy;

  • Open Access Policy;

  • Complaints & Appeals Policy;

  • Correction, Retraction & Withdrawal Policy;

  • Privacy Policy;

  • Data Availability & Reproducibility Policy.

Where another JEDL policy provides more specific requirements, those requirements should also be followed.

38. Final Statement

JEDL recognizes that transparency about competing interests is essential to maintaining trust in scholarly communication.

The journal therefore expects all participants in the publication process to:

  • disclose relevant interests honestly;

  • avoid allowing conflicts to compromise scholarly judgment;

  • cooperate with reasonable conflict-management procedures;

  • protect the independence of peer review and editorial decision-making;

  • correct material omissions when they are identified.

JEDL will assess conflicts on a case-by-case basis and will take proportionate action to protect the integrity of the research and publication process.

Effective Date: June 2026
Journal: Journal of Education and Development Lab (JEDL)
Website: https://jedl.us/