Conflict of Interest Policy
Scholaria International Journal of Research, published by Scholaria Publications, is committed to maintaining transparency, impartiality, academic integrity, and fairness throughout its editorial and publication processes. All individuals involved in manuscript preparation, peer review, editorial evaluation, and publication are expected to disclose interests that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their professional judgment.
1. Definition of Conflict of Interest
A conflict of interest may arise when personal, financial, professional, academic, institutional, or other relationships could affect an individual's objectivity in the preparation, evaluation, or publication of scholarly work. Actual, potential, and perceived conflicts should be disclosed for appropriate assessment.
2. Responsibilities of Authors
Authors must disclose any relevant financial and non-financial interests that may influence their research or its interpretation. Such interests may include employment, consultancy, research funding, grants, honoraria, patents, personal relationships, institutional affiliations, or other relevant professional commitments.
Authors should include a conflict of interest statement in their manuscript. If no relevant conflicts exist, authors should provide an appropriate declaration stating that they have no competing interests to disclose. Funding sources and the role of sponsors in the research should also be reported where applicable.
3. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose any personal, professional, financial, institutional, or academic relationships that could compromise their ability to provide an independent and impartial assessment of a manuscript.
Reviewers who identify a significant conflict should notify the editorial office and, where necessary, decline the review assignment. Reviewers must maintain manuscript confidentiality and must not use unpublished information for personal or professional advantage.
4. Responsibilities of Editors
Editors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and avoid handling manuscripts where their impartiality could reasonably be questioned. Conflicts may arise from personal relationships, shared institutional affiliations, collaborations, financial interests, or direct involvement in the work under consideration.
Where a conflict exists, the manuscript should be assigned to another appropriately qualified editor who can oversee the evaluation independently. Editors must not use their position to influence decisions for personal, financial, or institutional benefit.
5. Subscription and Commercial Interests
Scholaria International Journal of Research follows a subscription-based access model. Subscription revenue, commercial relationships, advertising, or other financial considerations must not improperly influence manuscript acceptance, rejection, peer-review outcomes, or editorial decisions.
Editorial decisions should be based on scholarly merit, research quality, relevance to the journal's scope, ethical compliance, and the journal's established editorial criteria. Subscription status must not be used as a substitute for scholarly evaluation.
6. Management of Conflicts
Disclosed conflicts will be assessed by the editorial office or an appropriate independent representative. Depending on the circumstances, management measures may include reassignment of a reviewer or editor, additional independent assessment, further disclosure, or other appropriate safeguards.
Failure to disclose a relevant conflict may result in additional review, reassessment of an editorial decision, correction of the publication record, or other action consistent with the journal's applicable policies.
7. Disclosure in Published Articles
Relevant conflict of interest declarations should be included in published articles where appropriate. Funding information and other required disclosures should be presented transparently to help readers evaluate the context of the research.
8. Compliance and Policy Review
Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to comply with this policy and provide accurate disclosures. The journal may review and update this policy as its editorial procedures and publication practices evolve.
9. Contact the Editorial Office
Questions or concerns regarding conflicts of interest may be directed to the journal's editorial office.
Publisher: Scholaria Publications
Location: Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India
Email: editor@scholariajournal.org