Conflict of Interest

JICAI requires transparency about any relationship or interest that could be perceived as influencing the research, its review, or its publication. A conflict of interest (competing interest) exists when professional judgment concerning the validity of research is, or could reasonably be perceived to be, influenced by a secondary interest such as financial, personal, institutional, or academic relationships.

Authors

  • All authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests related to the work, including funding, employment, consultancies, patents, or personal relationships, in a Conflict of Interest statement placed before the references.
  • If there is nothing to disclose, the statement should read: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."
  • Sources of funding and the role of funders in the study design, data handling, and publication decision must be stated.

Reviewers

  • Reviewers must decline an invitation if they have a recent collaboration, shared institution, financial tie, or personal relationship with any author, or if they cannot give an impartial assessment.
  • Reviewers must not use unpublished material from a manuscript for their own benefit and must keep the manuscript confidential.

Editors

  • Editors must not handle manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest. Such submissions are assigned to another editor.
  • Submissions authored by editors or members of the editorial board are handled independently from the author, and the author has no access to the review process.

Undisclosed conflicts discovered after publication may lead to a correction, an expression of concern, or retraction, following the COPE guidelines.