Conflicts of Interest

NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK)
Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Andalas, Indonesia

1. Introduction

NERS Jurnal Keperawatan (NJK) is committed to maintaining the integrity, objectivity, transparency, and credibility of the research it publishes. Disclosure and appropriate management of conflicts of interest are essential to ensuring a fair editorial process and maintaining public trust in scholarly publishing.

This policy outlines the responsibilities of authors, peer reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and journal staff in identifying, disclosing, and managing actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest.

NJK follows relevant publication ethics principles and guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to support the fair and transparent handling of competing interests throughout the publication process.

2. Definition of Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest (COI), also known as a competing interest, exists when financial, professional, personal, or other interests could improperly influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, an individual's judgment or responsibilities in research, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication.

Conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to, the following:

a. Financial Interests

Financial interests may include research funding, employment, consultancy fees, honoraria, paid expert services, stock ownership, patents, royalties, travel support, or other financial relationships with organizations that may benefit from the research or its publication.

b. Personal and Professional Relationships

These may include family relationships, close personal relationships, professional rivalry, supervisory relationships, or current or recent collaborations between authors, reviewers, editors, or other individuals involved in the publication process.

c. Academic and Institutional Interests

These may arise when an individual's institutional affiliation, academic position, research interests, or professional responsibilities could influence their assessment of a manuscript.

d. Intellectual and Other Non-Financial Interests

These may include intellectual commitments, competing research interests, advocacy activities, or other circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as affecting impartial judgment.

e. Research and Clinical Interests

In nursing and health research, conflicts may arise from relationships with pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, healthcare providers, research sponsors, or organizations whose products, services, or interests are relevant to the study.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not automatically indicate misconduct or invalidate research. However, failure to disclose a relevant conflict may undermine confidence in the research and the publication process.

3. General Policy

3.1 Full Disclosure

Authors, reviewers, editors, and journal staff are expected to disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest relevant to their roles and responsibilities.

If no relevant conflicts exist, the individual should explicitly declare that there are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

3.2 Timing of Disclosure

Authors should disclose relevant conflicts when submitting a manuscript and update the declaration if material circumstances change during the editorial process.
Peer reviewers should disclose relevant conflicts when invited to review a manuscript and notify the editor if a conflict becomes apparent later.
Editors and editorial board members should disclose conflicts that may affect their handling of a manuscript or editorial responsibilities.
Journal staff should disclose relevant interests when these could affect their work or the impartial administration of the journal.

3.3 Assessment and Management

NJK will assess disclosed conflicts in the context of the manuscript, the individuals involved, and the potential effect on research integrity or editorial impartiality.

Depending on the circumstances, appropriate measures may include:

Publishing a conflict of interest statement with the article.
Requesting additional disclosure or clarification from the authors.
Assigning a different reviewer or editor.
Arranging independent editorial assessment.
Requesting changes to a manuscript's disclosures.
Rejecting a manuscript when unresolved issues compromise its ethical acceptability or integrity.

The journal will seek to manage conflicts fairly rather than automatically treating every disclosed interest as grounds for rejection.

4. Responsibilities of Authors

4.1 What Authors Must Disclose

All authors are responsible for disclosing relevant financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their research or its reporting.

These may include:

Funding received to support the research.
Employment, consultancy, honoraria, or other financial relationships with interested organizations.
Relevant grants, patents, royalties, or intellectual property interests.
Relationships with pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, healthcare organizations, or other entities related to the study.
Personal, academic, or professional relationships that may affect the interpretation or presentation of findings.
Other interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.

Authors should also disclose the role of any funding organization in study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the work for publication. If the funder had no involvement in these activities, this should be stated.

4.2 How Authors Should Declare Conflicts

Authors should include a Conflict of Interest Statement in the manuscript, in accordance with the journal's submission instructions.

If no conflicts exist, authors may use the following statement:

“The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.”

Where conflicts exist, the statement should describe the relevant interests clearly and accurately.

Funding information should also be provided in the appropriate funding or acknowledgment section of the manuscript, according to the journal's requirements.

NJK may request further information or a separate disclosure form if necessary. Any form required by the journal should be identified in its official submission instructions.

4.3 Failure to Disclose

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts may result in a request for clarification, delays in editorial processing, rejection of a manuscript, or appropriate post-publication action if the omission is discovered after publication.

Any action will depend on the nature of the omission, its significance, and its effect on the integrity of the research or publication record.

5. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

5.1 Disclosure by Reviewers

Peer reviewers must identify and disclose any interests that could affect, or reasonably be perceived to affect, their ability to provide an impartial assessment.

Examples include:

Current or recent research collaborations with one or more authors.
Close personal relationships or significant professional conflicts with the authors.
Financial interests related to the research findings.
Involvement in the development of the manuscript or access to a previous version in circumstances that could affect impartiality.
Other competing academic, professional, or intellectual interests that could materially affect the review.

5.2 Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers should inform the editor of any relevant conflict before accepting the review invitation whenever possible. If a conflict becomes apparent after accepting the invitation, the reviewer should notify the editor promptly.

Depending on the circumstances, the editor may decide that the reviewer should decline or discontinue the review and may invite an alternative reviewer.

Reviewers must also maintain the confidentiality of unpublished manuscripts and must not use information obtained through peer review for personal, professional, or financial advantage.

6. Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

6.1 Disclosure by Editors

Editors, including the Editor-in-Chief and editorial board members, must disclose relevant conflicts that could influence their assessment of a manuscript or their editorial responsibilities.

Such conflicts may include:

Personal or close professional relationships with authors.
Current or recent collaborations with authors.
Financial or institutional interests related to the research.
Direct involvement in the research or manuscript under consideration.
Other interests that could reasonably call their impartiality into question.

6.2 Recusal and Independent Assessment

An editor who has a significant conflict of interest concerning a manuscript must not participate in the editorial decision-making process for that manuscript.

The manuscript should be assigned to another qualified editor who has no relevant conflict. Where appropriate, independent editorial oversight may be arranged.

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editorial board members, or journal staff must be handled through an editorial process that protects confidentiality and ensures independent assessment. Authors who hold editorial positions must not make decisions about their own submissions.

6.3 Confidentiality and Editorial Independence

Editors must base their decisions on the manuscript's scientific merit, relevance, ethical acceptability, and compliance with journal requirements rather than personal relationships, institutional interests, commercial considerations, or other competing interests.

7. Conflicts of Interest at the Journal and Publisher Level

NJK and its publisher, the Faculty of Nursing, Universitas Andalas, are committed to maintaining editorial independence.

Institutional, financial, commercial, or personal interests should not improperly influence manuscript evaluation, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication outcomes.

Where a potential conflict arises at the journal or publisher level, NJK should take appropriate steps to ensure that the affected matter is handled impartially and, where necessary, independently.

8. Undisclosed Conflicts Identified After Publication

If NJK receives credible information suggesting that a published article contains an undisclosed conflict of interest, the journal will assess the concern and may request an explanation from the authors or other relevant individuals.

Depending on the findings and the effect on the published work, the journal may:

Publish a correction to provide the missing disclosure.
Publish an Expression of Concern if substantial questions remain unresolved.
Consider retraction when the circumstances and evidence justify that action under the journal's publication ethics policies.

Any action will be proportionate to the seriousness of the issue and consistent with the objective of maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

9. Record Keeping and Confidentiality

NJK will maintain appropriate records of conflict of interest declarations and relevant decisions made during the editorial process.

Such records will be handled confidentially and accessed only by authorized individuals who need the information for journal-related responsibilities, subject to applicable requirements.

Conflict of interest statements intended for publication will be made available with the relevant article or publication metadata, as appropriate.

10. Policy Review

NJK may periodically review this policy to reflect changes in publication ethics guidance, editorial procedures, and applicable requirements. The current version will be available on the journal's website.