Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests

1. Introduction

The International Journal of Agricultural Sciences (IJASC) is committed to maintaining the integrity, objectivity, transparency, and credibility of scholarly research and publication. The journal recognizes that actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest may arise from financial relationships, personal connections, professional affiliations, academic competition, institutional responsibilities, or other circumstances that could influence—or reasonably appear to influence—research conduct, manuscript evaluation, editorial decisions, and the presentation of scientific findings.

Transparency in the disclosure and management of conflicts of interest is an essential component of responsible scholarly publishing. Accordingly, IJASC requires authors, peer reviewers, editors, editorial board members, journal staff, and other individuals involved in the publication process to identify and disclose relevant competing interests and to cooperate in implementing appropriate measures to manage them.

This policy is informed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices, particularly its guidance on conflicts of interest and competing interests, and the principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing. It establishes the definitions, responsibilities, disclosure requirements, assessment procedures, and management mechanisms applicable to conflicts of interest throughout the editorial and publication process.

IJASC recognizes that the existence of a competing interest does not automatically indicate misconduct or invalidate research. Rather, the primary concern is whether the interest has been appropriately disclosed and whether adequate safeguards are in place to protect the independence and fairness of scholarly judgment. Failure to disclose a relevant interest, deliberate concealment, or inappropriate interference in editorial processes may undermine confidence in the published research and may require corrective action.

Through this policy, IJASC seeks to ensure that editorial and publication decisions are based on scholarly merit, methodological rigor, originality, relevance, and compliance with publication ethics, rather than on personal, financial, institutional, or commercial considerations.

2. Description

2.1. Definition of Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests

A conflict of interest (COI), also referred to as a competing interest, exists when an individual's personal, financial, professional, academic, institutional, or other interests could influence, or could reasonably be perceived as influencing, that individual's professional judgment or responsibilities in the research and publication process.

Such conflicts may affect the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of research; the assessment of a manuscript; the selection of peer reviewers; editorial deliberations; publication decisions; or the communication of research findings.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived:

• Actual conflict of interest: A competing interest currently exists and is relevant to the individual's research, review, editorial, or publication responsibilities.

• Potential conflict of interest: Circumstances exist that could develop into a conflict or influence professional judgment in the future.

• Perceived conflict of interest: A reasonable and informed observer could conclude that an individual's objectivity or independence may be compromised, even if the individual believes that no actual bias has occurred.

IJASC considers all three categories relevant to disclosure and assessment. The obligation to disclose does not depend on whether an individual believes that the interest has actually influenced their judgment.

2.2. Categories of Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of interest may take several forms, including but not limited to the following.

A. Financial interests

Financial interests include direct or indirect financial relationships that may benefit or disadvantage an individual, their immediate family, their institution, or an organization with which they are associated. Examples include:

• Employment, consultancy, or paid advisory positions with organizations whose interests may be affected by the research.

• Research grants, sponsorships, contracts, or other financial support from interested parties.

• Ownership of shares, stock options, equity, or other investments in relevant companies or organizations.

• Honoraria, speaker fees, travel support, gifts, or other payments from organizations with an interest in the research outcomes.

• Patents, patent applications, licensing arrangements, royalties, or other intellectual property interests related to the research.

• Financial interests in agricultural products, technologies, equipment, seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, livestock, irrigation systems, agricultural machinery, biotechnology, or other products and services evaluated in a manuscript.

• Paid expert testimony, litigation-related financial interests, or commercial arrangements that may be affected by publication of the findings.

B. Personal and family relationships

Personal relationships may create actual or perceived conflicts when they affect an individual's ability to assess research or manuscripts impartially. Examples include:

• Family relationships, close friendships, or intimate personal relationships with an author, reviewer, editor, or other person involved in a manuscript.

• Personal disputes, significant professional rivalries, or other antagonistic relationships.

• Relationships involving financial dependency, personal obligations, or other circumstances that could influence professional judgment.

C. Professional, academic, and institutional interests

Professional and academic relationships may create conflicts when an individual has a direct interest in the success, failure, recognition, or priority of particular research or researchers. Examples include:

• Current or recent collaboration with one or more manuscript authors.

• Current employment at the same institution as an author or another relevant participant.

• Supervisor–student, mentor–mentee, doctoral adviser, or comparable academic relationships.

• Joint research projects, grant applications, publications, or other substantial collaborative activities.

• Direct academic competition involving similar research questions, methods, datasets, findings, or unpublished work.

• Institutional interests that may benefit from the publication, rejection, or interpretation of particular findings.

• Participation in a competing research project or preparation of a substantially similar manuscript.

D. Intellectual property and competing research interests

Intellectual interests may create conflicts when an individual has a direct stake in the acceptance, priority, interpretation, or commercial application of particular findings. These interests may include:

• Ownership or development of intellectual property related to the submitted research.

• Involvement in a competing unpublished manuscript, research project, or technology.

• A direct interest in establishing priority for a discovery, method, or scientific claim.

• Access to confidential information that could provide an unfair advantage in the individual's own research or commercial activities.

E. Ideological, political, religious, and advocacy interests

Personal convictions or affiliations may constitute competing interests when they are directly relevant to the subject matter and could reasonably be perceived as affecting the impartial evaluation or presentation of the research. Examples include:

• Leadership or active participation in advocacy organizations whose positions are directly related to the manuscript.

• Political, religious, or ideological commitments that may influence the assessment of the research.

• Public campaigns or declared positions that could reasonably call an individual's impartiality into question in a particular case.

The existence of a personal belief or affiliation does not, by itself, establish a conflict. The relevance of the interest to the specific research or editorial responsibility must be assessed.

F. Editorial and organizational interests

Editorial and organizational conflicts may arise when individuals responsible for evaluating manuscripts have interests in the outcome of a submission. Examples include:

• Submission of a manuscript by the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, an editorial board member, or a member of the journal staff.

• Editorial involvement in a manuscript authored by a close collaborator, family member, student, supervisor, or institutional colleague.

• Pressure from a publisher, sponsor, institution, advertiser, or other organization to influence editorial decisions.

• Financial or reputational interests in increasing citations, accepting particular manuscripts, or promoting specific research outcomes.

G. Funding and sponsorship interests

Funding relationships require transparent disclosure because sponsors may have financial, commercial, or institutional interests in the results of a study. Relevant information includes the identity of the funding organization, the nature of the support, and the sponsor's role, if any, in the design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and decision to submit the work for publication.

Funding disclosure and conflict-of-interest disclosure are related but distinct obligations. Identifying a funding source does not necessarily disclose all relevant competing interests.

2.3. Scope of Application

This policy applies to all individuals and organizations involved in the submission, review, editorial evaluation, publication, and post-publication management of material in IJASC, including:

1. Authors and co-authors.

2. Peer reviewers and statistical or methodological reviewers.

3. The Editor-in-Chief and other editors.

4. Editorial board members and guest editors.

5. Journal employees, editorial assistants, and other editorial support personnel.

6. The journal's publisher and any organization responsible for publication operations.

7. Sponsors, funding organizations, and other parties whose interests may affect editorial independence.

The policy applies to original research articles, review articles, short communications, case studies, editorials, invited contributions, special issues, corrections, and other scholarly content considered or published by the journal, as appropriate to the nature of the material.

It covers conflicts identified before submission, during peer review, at the time of acceptance, after publication, or during subsequent discussions concerning the published record.

2.4. Principles of Disclosure and Management

IJASC applies the following principles:

• Transparency: Relevant interests must be disclosed accurately and in a timely manner.

• Accountability: Each individual is responsible for identifying and declaring their own competing interests.

• Proportionality: Management measures should reflect the nature, seriousness, and relevance of the conflict.

• Editorial independence: Publication decisions must not be determined by commercial, institutional, personal, or other inappropriate interests.

• Confidentiality: Disclosure information must be handled responsibly and shared only with those who need it for legitimate editorial or ethical purposes, subject to applicable publication and transparency requirements.

• Fairness: A disclosed conflict must be assessed objectively, without automatically assuming misconduct or excluding a contribution solely because an interest exists.

• Integrity of the scholarly record: Undisclosed or inadequately managed conflicts identified after publication must be assessed and addressed through appropriate procedures.

3. Policy

3.1. General Requirement for Disclosure

All individuals participating in the IJASC publication process must disclose actual, potential, and reasonably perceived conflicts of interest relevant to their responsibilities.

Disclosure must be complete, accurate, and made as early as reasonably possible. Individuals must also update their disclosures if circumstances change during manuscript preparation, peer review, editorial assessment, or publication.

Where no relevant competing interests exist, authors and other participants must explicitly declare that they have no competing interests to disclose.

The responsibility to disclose rests with the individual concerned. The journal may request clarification or additional information when the disclosure is incomplete, ambiguous, or insufficient to assess the nature of the interest.

3.2. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial interests associated with their submitted work. Each co-author is responsible for identifying their own interests and cooperating in the preparation of a complete declaration.

Authors must disclose:

1. Financial relationships that may be affected by the research findings.

2. Funding, sponsorship, consultancy, employment, or other support relevant to the work.

3. Intellectual property interests, including relevant patents, patent applications, licensing arrangements, or royalties.

4. Personal, professional, academic, or institutional relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.

5. Any other interest that could affect, or appear to affect, the design, conduct, interpretation, or reporting of the study.

Authors must also disclose the role of funding bodies or sponsors in the research process. Where a sponsor had no involvement in a particular aspect of the work, the authors should state this clearly when relevant.

A competing interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from consideration. However, failure to disclose a relevant interest may result in a request for clarification, revision of the disclosure statement, suspension of editorial processing, rejection, or post-publication action, depending on the circumstances.

3.3. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers must provide independent, fair, and objective assessments of manuscripts. Before accepting a review invitation, reviewers must consider whether any financial, personal, professional, academic, institutional, or intellectual interest could affect, or reasonably appear to affect, their impartiality.

Reviewers must disclose relevant conflicts to the responsible editor when responding to an invitation. They should decline the assignment when a conflict is substantial enough to compromise impartiality. If the reviewer is uncertain whether a particular relationship constitutes a conflict, they should consult the editor before proceeding.

Relevant circumstances may include current or recent collaboration with an author, close personal relationships, significant professional rivalry, common institutional affiliations, financial interests in the findings, or involvement in competing research.

If a conflict becomes apparent after the reviewer has accepted the invitation or begun the review, the reviewer must notify the editor promptly. The editor will determine whether the reviewer may continue, whether safeguards are sufficient, or whether the review assignment should be withdrawn and reassigned.

Reviewers must not exploit confidential manuscript information to advance their own research, commercial interests, or professional position.

3.4. Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors, including the Editor-in-Chief, associate editors, section editors, guest editors, and editorial board members, must disclose interests that could affect their editorial responsibilities or decisions.

Editors must not handle manuscripts in which they have a significant actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest. In such circumstances, they must disclose the conflict and recuse themselves from the relevant editorial process.

A manuscript affected by an editorial conflict must be assigned to an independent editor who has no relevant competing interest. The independent editor must oversee the assessment, reviewer selection, peer review, and editorial recommendation or decision, as applicable.

Editors must not use their position to secure preferential treatment for their own manuscripts or those of close collaborators, colleagues, students, or institutional associates.

Where an editor or editorial board member submits a manuscript to IJASC, the submission must undergo an independent editorial process. The submitting editor must not access confidential reviewer identities or reports beyond what is ordinarily made available to authors, select reviewers, influence the decision, or participate in deliberations concerning their own manuscript.

3.5. Responsibilities of Journal Staff, Publisher, and Sponsors

Journal staff must disclose any interest that could interfere with their administrative or editorial duties. Staff must not use confidential submission information for personal, commercial, or professional advantage.

The journal and its publisher must protect editorial independence from undue influence by sponsors, advertisers, institutional authorities, commercial partners, or other interested parties. Decisions concerning acceptance, rejection, revision, correction, or retraction must be based on scholarly and ethical considerations rather than financial or promotional interests.

Sponsors and funding bodies must not be permitted to dictate editorial outcomes or suppress legitimate research findings through inappropriate interference with the journal's decision-making process.

3.6. Assessment and Management of Disclosed Conflicts

IJASC will assess disclosures in context, considering the type of interest, its relationship to the manuscript, the person's role, the potential consequences for impartiality, and the availability of safeguards.

Depending on the circumstances, management measures may include:

• Recording the disclosure in the journal's editorial management system.

• Requesting additional information or clarification from the relevant individual.

• Requiring an amended or more specific conflict-of-interest statement.

• Publishing the relevant disclosure alongside the article.

• Reassigning a manuscript to an independent editor.

• Replacing a reviewer or restricting a conflicted individual's participation.

• Establishing independent oversight for a manuscript or special issue.

• Declining to proceed with a submission where an unacceptable risk to research integrity or independent assessment cannot reasonably be managed.

• Initiating an investigation when there is evidence of deliberate concealment, misrepresentation, or inappropriate interference.

The journal will seek to manage conflicts proportionately. Disclosure alone does not establish wrongdoing, and the existence of a manageable conflict should not automatically result in rejection.

3.7. Publication of Conflict-of-Interest Statements

IJASC requires a conflict-of-interest statement for every article accepted for publication, including a statement declaring that no competing interests exist when applicable.

The published statement should identify relevant interests clearly enough for readers to assess the context in which the research was conducted and reported. Where appropriate, the statement may identify the nature of a financial relationship, the relevant organization, and the relationship between the interest and the research.

Funding information must also be reported in accordance with the journal's submission requirements. A funding statement does not replace a conflict-of-interest statement, and a conflict-of-interest statement does not replace the required identification of funding sources.

The journal may request revisions to a declaration before acceptance or publication if the existing wording is incomplete, ambiguous, or inconsistent with the information provided during submission.

3.8. Conflicts of Interest Identified After Publication

If IJASC receives credible information that a relevant conflict of interest was not disclosed or was inadequately disclosed after publication, the journal will assess the matter in accordance with its publication ethics procedures.

The journal may contact the corresponding author, other authors, editors, reviewers, institutions, or other relevant parties to obtain clarification or supporting information. The assessment should be conducted fairly, confidentially, and independently of any individual whose conduct is under examination.

Depending on the findings and their implications for the integrity of the published article, appropriate actions may include:

• Publishing a correction to the conflict-of-interest or funding statement.

• Publishing an editorial notice or expression of concern when further investigation is necessary and readers should be informed of unresolved concerns.

• Retracting the article when the circumstances and evidence justify retraction under the journal's applicable policy.

• Taking appropriate editorial or administrative action regarding individuals who failed to disclose a material conflict or improperly influenced the publication process.

The journal will distinguish between an omission that can be corrected transparently and a conflict that has materially compromised the reliability, interpretation, or integrity of the published work. Post-publication action will be proportionate to the evidence and the implications for the scholarly record.

3.9. Consequences of Failure to Disclose

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest, knowingly providing misleading information, or refusing to cooperate with a reasonable disclosure inquiry may constitute a breach of this policy.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the breach, IJASC may request corrective disclosure, delay editorial processing, suspend consideration, reject a manuscript, correct a published article, issue an expression of concern, retract an article, or take other appropriate action consistent with the journal's publication ethics policies.

Where appropriate, the journal may refer concerns to the author's institution, employer, funder, or another responsible body. Any such referral should be justified by the circumstances, handled responsibly, and consistent with applicable confidentiality and procedural requirements.

4. Technicalities to Achieve and Materialise the Policies

A. For Authors

1. What to Disclose

Authors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that are directly related to, or could reasonably be perceived as influencing, the submitted work. Relevant disclosures include:

• Financial support, research grants, sponsorship, and contracts.

• Employment, consultancy, paid advisory roles, or other relevant professional relationships.

• Ownership of shares, equity, or other financial interests in organizations whose products, services, or activities are discussed in the manuscript.

• Relevant patents, patent applications, royalties, licensing arrangements, or other intellectual property interests.

• Personal, family, academic, professional, or institutional relationships that could affect the work.

• Participation in organizations or advocacy activities directly relevant to the research topic where the relationship could reasonably affect perceived impartiality.

• Other circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of the research.

Authors must disclose the source of financial or material support and explain the sponsor's role in the research, including study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the manuscript, where applicable.

2. How to Disclose

Authors must provide a conflict-of-interest declaration during manuscript submission and ensure that the declaration is consistent across the submission system, disclosure forms, and manuscript.

The corresponding author must coordinate the collection of relevant information from all co-authors and ensure that the final declaration accurately reflects the interests disclosed by each author. The corresponding author must not assume that the absence of a disclosure from a co-author means that no relevant interest exists; clarification should be obtained where necessary.

The conflict-of-interest statement should be included in the manuscript in the location specified by the journal's author guidelines. If IJASC adopts a separate disclosure form, authors must complete and submit that form as part of the submission process.

3. Suggested Wording

Where no relevant competing interests exist, authors may use the following statement:

“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 manuscript.”

Where competing interests exist, authors should provide a specific and accurate statement describing the relevant relationships and their connection to the work.

For example:

“Author A has received research funding from [organization]. Author B has served as a consultant for [organization]. The authors declare that these relationships are disclosed for transparency. The funder had [describe its role] in the research and manuscript preparation.”

The example must be adapted to reflect the actual circumstances. Authors must not use generic wording that obscures the nature of a material interest.

4. Consequences of Non-Disclosure

If a disclosure is incomplete or inconsistent, IJASC may request clarification or an amended statement before proceeding. Deliberate or material non-disclosure may result in rejection or, if identified after publication, appropriate corrective or editorial action.

B. For Peer Reviewers

1. What to Disclose

Reviewers must disclose circumstances that could interfere with, or reasonably appear to interfere with, an impartial assessment. These may include:

• Current or recent collaboration with one or more authors.

• A current or recent supervisory, mentoring, or student relationship.

• Close personal relationships or significant professional conflicts with an author.

• Financial interests in the research outcome or in a competing product, technology, or research project.

• Direct involvement in a competing study or a substantially similar unpublished manuscript.

• Institutional or organizational relationships that could compromise the independence of the review.

• Any other circumstance that could reasonably affect the reviewer's objectivity.

2. How to Disclose

Reviewers must notify the responsible editor of a relevant conflict when invited to review, preferably before accepting the invitation.

If a conflict emerges after acceptance, the reviewer must promptly inform the editor and refrain from further assessment until the editor provides instructions.

3. Action on Disclosure

The editor will determine whether the conflict can be managed or whether the reviewer should be replaced. When a conflict is significant, the reviewer should normally be recused from the assignment.

The editor must ensure that the decision is based on the nature of the conflict and the need to preserve a fair, independent review process.

C. For Editors and Journal Staff, Including Editorial Board Members

1. What to Disclose

Editors and journal staff must disclose relevant interests, including:

• Financial relationships with organizations whose products or activities are discussed in a manuscript.

• Personal or professional relationships with authors or reviewers.

• Current or recent research collaborations or institutional relationships.

• Direct involvement in competing research.

• Submission of their own manuscripts to IJASC.

• Any other relationship that could affect, or appear to affect, their editorial responsibilities.

2. How to Disclose

Editors and staff must report relevant conflicts to the Editor-in-Chief or, where the Editor-in-Chief is conflicted, to an appropriate independent authority designated by the journal or publisher.

IJASC should maintain appropriate internal records of declared interests and may establish a process for periodic updates to declarations made by editors and editorial board members.

3. Management and Recusal

An editor or staff member with a significant conflict must not participate in the review, discussion, or decision-making process for the affected manuscript.

The manuscript must be assigned to an independent editor with no relevant conflict. Where the Editor-in-Chief is involved or conflicted, the publisher or another designated independent authority should arrange alternative oversight.

Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, or journal staff must undergo the same scholarly and ethical standards as other submissions, with independent handling and appropriate safeguards to prevent preferential treatment or access to confidential review information.

D. Journal and Publisher Conflicts of Interest

IJASC and its publisher are responsible for maintaining editorial independence and ensuring that institutional, commercial, financial, or promotional interests do not improperly influence scholarly decisions.

The journal's business and administrative arrangements should support, rather than compromise, independent editorial judgment. Payment of publication fees, funding relationships, sponsorship, advertising, institutional affiliation, and other financial considerations must not determine the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript.

Where a journal-level or publisher-level conflict is identified, the responsible parties must assess the issue and establish appropriate safeguards. These may include independent editorial oversight, transparent disclosure, separation of commercial and editorial responsibilities, or other measures appropriate to the circumstances.

E. Record Keeping, Confidentiality, and Policy Review

IJASC will maintain appropriate records of conflict-of-interest disclosures and decisions made to manage them. Records may include author declarations, reviewer disclosures, editorial recusals, reassignment decisions, correspondence concerning conflicts, and any resulting corrective actions.

Such records must be handled confidentially and accessed only by individuals who require the information for legitimate editorial, ethical, or administrative purposes, subject to applicable legal and publication requirements.

The journal will retain records in accordance with its applicable record-retention and data-protection procedures. The retention period should be defined by the journal and applied consistently.

This policy will be reviewed periodically by the editorial leadership and publisher to ensure that it remains consistent with COPE guidance, recognized principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing, and the journal's operational needs.

Any substantive revision should be approved through the journal's appropriate governance process and communicated transparently to authors, reviewers, editors, and readers.

References and Related Guidance

1. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Our Core Practices: Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests. Available at: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

2. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Available at: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.1.9

3. COPE, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Available at: https://publicationethics.org/

Implementation note for IJASC: Before publication, the editorial team should confirm the official disclosure form or submission-system procedure, the independent authority for handling conflicts involving the Editor-in-Chief, the location of the published disclosure statement, and the journal's record-retention arrangements. These operational details should reflect IJASC's actual procedures and must not be presented as established practice until approved.