Conflicts of Interest

1. Introduction

Jurnal Agrotatanen is committed to maintaining the integrity, objectivity, transparency, and credibility of the research it publishes. Transparency regarding potential conflicts of interest, also known as competing interests, is essential to maintaining public trust in scholarly publishing.

This policy establishes the responsibilities of authors, peer reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and journal staff in disclosing, assessing, and managing any interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their professional judgment or actions during the publication process. Jurnal Agrotatanen follows the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in developing and implementing this policy.

2. Description

A Conflict of Interest (COI) or Competing Interest occurs when an individual's professional judgment concerning a primary interest, such as the validity of research, the quality of a manuscript, or the integrity of the peer review process, may be influenced by a secondary interest.

Conflicts of interest may be financial or non-financial and include, but are not limited to, the following:

Financial Interests: Employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, research grants received or pending, patents or patent applications, royalties, advisory board membership, paid expert testimony, travel support, or other financial benefits related to the research under consideration.
Non-Financial Interests: Personal relationships, family ties, professional relationships, current or recent research collaborations, mentor–mentee relationships, institutional affiliations, academic competition, intellectual property interests, competing research projects, or personal beliefs and commitments that could reasonably be perceived as influencing an individual's judgment.
Research-Related Interests: Involvement in competing research, ownership of research materials or data, access to unpublished findings, or affiliations with organizations that may benefit from the publication's findings.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily imply misconduct or invalidate research findings. However, failure to disclose relevant interests may undermine the credibility of the research and the integrity of the publication process.

This policy applies to all individuals involved in the publication process of Jurnal Agrotatanen, including authors, peer reviewers, the Editor-in-Chief, handling editors, guest editors, editorial board members, and journal staff.

3. Policy

3.1. Principle of Full Disclosure

All individuals involved in the publication process must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest relevant to their roles and responsibilities. Disclosures must be accurate, complete, and updated whenever relevant circumstances change.

If no competing interests exist, this must be explicitly stated.

3.2. Timing of Disclosure

Authors: Authors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest when submitting a manuscript and update their declarations if new or previously undisclosed interests arise during peer review or revision.
Peer Reviewers: Reviewers must disclose potential conflicts of interest when invited to review a manuscript and before accepting the invitation. If a conflict becomes apparent after the review has begun, the reviewer must inform the editor immediately.
Editors and Editorial Board Members: Editors must disclose any conflicts of interest that may affect their editorial responsibilities to the Editor-in-Chief or publisher, as appropriate. Editors must not handle manuscripts when a significant conflict of interest exists.
Journal Staff: Journal staff must disclose any relevant interests that could compromise, or be perceived to compromise, their responsibilities in the publication process.

3.3. Assessment and Management of Disclosed Conflicts of Interest

Jurnal Agrotatanen will assess disclosed conflicts of interest to determine whether they could compromise the objectivity, fairness, or integrity of the research, peer review, or editorial decision-making process.

Depending on the nature and severity of the conflict, the journal may take one or more of the following actions:

Request additional information or clarification from the individual concerned.
Publish a conflict of interest statement alongside the article.
Assign an alternative reviewer or editor who has no relevant conflict of interest.
Require an editor or reviewer to withdraw from the evaluation of a particular manuscript.
Apply additional independent review or editorial oversight when necessary.
Decline to consider or publish a manuscript if the conflict presents an unacceptable risk to the integrity of the publication process.

3.4. Publication of Conflict of Interest Statements

For all published articles, Jurnal Agrotatanen will include an appropriate conflict of interest statement based on the authors' disclosures.

If no competing interests are declared, the following statement may be used:

“The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.”

Research funding information must also be disclosed in accordance with the journal's funding disclosure requirements. Any relevant role of the funding organization in the research process must be clearly stated.

3.5. Conflicts of Interest Identified After Publication

If a significant undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after publication, Jurnal Agrotatanen will investigate the matter fairly and confidentially, following applicable COPE guidance and the journal's publication ethics procedures.

Depending on the findings, the journal may publish a correction, an editorial expression of concern, or retract the article when justified by the seriousness of the issue and its implications for the integrity of the published work.

4. Implementation Procedures

A. Authors

1. What Must Be Disclosed

Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of their research.

Relevant disclosures include, but are not limited to:

Financial Interests: Research funding, employment, consultancy, stock ownership, patents, royalties, honoraria, or other financial benefits from organizations that may have an interest in the research outcomes.
Non-Financial Interests: Personal, academic, institutional, or professional relationships that could affect the objectivity of the research or its interpretation.
Research and Institutional Affiliations: Relationships with organizations, companies, government agencies, research institutions, or other entities that may benefit from the publication's findings.
Funding Sources: All sources of financial support for the research must be identified. Authors must explain the role of the funding organization, if any, in the study design; data collection, analysis, and interpretation; manuscript preparation; and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. If the funding organization had no involvement in these activities, this should be explicitly stated.

2. How to Disclose

Authors must provide a conflict of interest declaration during manuscript submission using the journal's designated submission system, disclosure form, or other procedure specified by the editorial office.

A conflict of interest statement must also be included in the manuscript, generally in a dedicated section before the References section or in another location specified by the journal.

If no competing interests exist, authors should include the following statement:

“The authors declare no competing interests.”

3. Consequences of Non-Disclosure

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest may result in requests for clarification, delays in editorial processing, rejection of the manuscript, or post-publication corrective action, including a correction or retraction where warranted.

B. Peer Reviewers

1. What Must Be Disclosed

Peer reviewers must disclose any interests that could compromise, or reasonably be perceived to compromise, their ability to provide a fair, independent, and objective assessment of a manuscript.

These interests may include:

Current or recent research collaborations with one or more authors.
Close personal relationships or significant professional conflicts with an author.
Financial interests in the research outcomes or competing work.
Direct involvement in developing the manuscript or access to a previous version under circumstances that may compromise independent assessment.
Professional or academic competition that could affect impartiality.
Other circumstances that could reasonably prevent an objective review.

2. How to Disclose

Reviewers must inform the handling editor of any potential conflict of interest before accepting a review invitation. If a conflict becomes apparent after acceptance or during the review process, the reviewer must notify the editor immediately.

3. Action on Disclosure

When a significant conflict of interest is identified, the reviewer will generally be asked to decline the invitation or withdraw from the review. The handling editor will determine the appropriate action based on the nature and severity of the disclosed interest.

C. Editors and Editorial Board Members

1. What Must Be Disclosed

The Editor-in-Chief, handling editors, guest editors, editorial board members, and other editorial personnel must disclose interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their editorial responsibilities.

These interests may include:

Financial relationships with companies, institutions, or organizations relevant to the manuscript.
Personal relationships or close professional collaborations with the authors.
Research interests that overlap substantially with the submitted manuscript.
Direct involvement in the research being evaluated.
Submission of their own manuscripts to Jurnal Agrotatanen or manuscripts authored by close collaborators or associates.

2. How to Disclose

Editorial personnel must disclose relevant conflicts to the Editor-in-Chief or publisher, as appropriate. The journal may maintain confidential records of these disclosures and make relevant information publicly available when appropriate.

3. Management and Recusal

An editor with a significant conflict of interest must not participate in reviewer selection, manuscript evaluation, editorial deliberations, or publication decisions concerning the affected manuscript.

An independent editor without a relevant conflict will be appointed to manage the manuscript.

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editors, editorial board members, or journal staff must undergo a rigorous and independent peer review process. The submitting individual must have no involvement in the review or editorial decision-making for their own manuscript. Independent editorial oversight must be arranged to safeguard fairness, confidentiality, and editorial independence.

D. Journal-Level Conflicts of Interest and Editorial Independence

Jurnal Agrotatanen is committed to maintaining editorial independence and ensuring that publication decisions are based on the scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigor, relevance, and contribution of submitted manuscripts.

The journal and its publisher will take reasonable measures to ensure that commercial, institutional, financial, or other non-academic interests do not improperly influence editorial decisions, peer review, or publication outcomes.

Any journal-level relationships that could create a conflict of interest will be managed transparently and in accordance with applicable publication ethics principles.

E. Record Keeping and Confidentiality

Jurnal Agrotatanen will maintain confidential records of conflict of interest disclosures submitted by authors, peer reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and journal staff.

Such records will be handled responsibly and accessed only by authorized personnel for legitimate editorial or publication ethics purposes. Disclosure information will be published or shared when necessary to maintain transparency and protect the integrity of the scholarly record, subject to applicable confidentiality and privacy requirements.

5. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed periodically and updated when necessary to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, applicable publication ethics standards, and relevant COPE recommendations.

Jurnal Agrotatanen expects all authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and journal staff to comply with this policy to maintain transparency, accountability, and public trust in the research it publishes.