The International Journal of Sustainable Competitiveness in Tourism (IJSCOT) is committed to maintaining transparency, impartiality, and integrity throughout the scholarly publishing process. All authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their judgment or professional responsibilities.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest occurs when personal, financial, professional, institutional, or other relationships may compromise, or be perceived to compromise, the objectivity and independence of research, peer review, or editorial decisions.

A conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate misconduct. However, failure to disclose relevant interests may undermine the credibility and transparency of scholarly publishing.

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

• Financial interests: Employment, consultancy, honoraria, research funding, grants, stock ownership, or other financial relationships relevant to the research.

• Personal relationships: Family relationships, close personal relationships, or disputes that may affect impartial judgment.

• Professional and academic relationships: Recent collaboration, supervisory relationships, competing academic interests, or other professional connections with the authors.

• Institutional interests: Affiliations or responsibilities that may influence the assessment or reporting of research findings.

• Intellectual interests: Strong theoretical, academic, or professional commitments that may reasonably affect impartial evaluation.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors must disclose relevant actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest at the time of manuscript submission.

Authors are responsible for:

• Declaring relevant financial and non-financial interests related to the submitted work.

• Disclosing funding sources and the role of sponsors in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions, where applicable.

• Ensuring that all co-authors are aware of relevant conflicts and declarations.

• Providing accurate and complete disclosures in the manuscript or the journal's submission system.

• Updating the editorial office if a relevant conflict is identified after submission.

If no relevant conflict exists, authors should include the following statement:

"The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to the research, authorship, or publication of this article."

Disclosures should be sufficiently specific to enable editors and readers to understand the nature of the relationship and its potential relevance to the research.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment.

Reviewers should decline an assignment or notify the editorial team if they:

• Have a significant personal or professional relationship with one or more authors.

• Have recently collaborated with an author or have another relationship that could compromise impartiality.

• Have financial, institutional, or professional interests that may affect their judgment.

• Believe they cannot provide an independent and fair assessment.

Reviewers must maintain manuscript confidentiality and must not use unpublished information for personal, professional, or financial advantage.

The editorial team will determine whether a disclosed conflict requires reassignment or other appropriate action.

4. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest that could affect their editorial judgment.

An editor with a relevant conflict must not manage the manuscript or make decisions concerning its peer review and publication. The manuscript should be reassigned to an independent editor without a relevant conflict.

Manuscripts submitted by editors or editorial board members must be handled independently to prevent preferential treatment or inappropriate influence.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, relevance to the journal's scope, and compliance with publication ethics rather than personal relationships, institutional affiliations, or commercial interests.

5. Funding Disclosure

Authors must identify financial support received for the research and manuscript preparation, where applicable.

Funding statements should include the name of the funding organization and, where relevant, the grant or project identification number. Authors should also disclose the funder's role in the research and publication process.

If the funder had no involvement in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decision, authors may state this explicitly.

Funding disclosure is distinct from a conflict of interest declaration, although both may be relevant to the assessment of a manuscript.

6. Disclosure and Management Procedures

When a conflict of interest is identified, the IJSCOT editorial team will assess its nature, relevance, and potential impact on the integrity of the research or publication process.

Depending on the circumstances, the journal may:

• Request additional information or clarification.

• Require an appropriate disclosure statement.

• Assign an independent reviewer or editor.

• Implement additional safeguards to protect editorial independence.

• Decline a manuscript or take further action when a conflict cannot be adequately managed.

Disclosures will be handled with appropriate confidentiality, while relevant information will be communicated to readers when necessary for transparency.

7. Failure to Disclose

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may lead to further editorial assessment.

Depending on the circumstances and the stage of publication, IJSCOT may request a correction to the disclosure statement, suspend editorial processing, reject a manuscript, publish a correction, or take other appropriate action in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies.

Concerns will be assessed fairly and proportionately, taking into account the available evidence and the potential impact on the integrity of the scholarly record.

8. Commitment to Transparency

IJSCOT is committed to ensuring that conflicts of interest are disclosed and managed appropriately to preserve the credibility, independence, and transparency of scholarly publishing.

Authors, reviewers, and editors share responsibility for maintaining ethical standards and ensuring that competing interests do not improperly influence research findings, peer review, or editorial decisions.

9. Policy Review

The editorial team is responsible for reviewing this policy periodically and updating it when necessary to reflect developments in research integrity and scholarly publishing ethics.

International Journal of Sustainable Competitiveness in Tourism (IJSCOT)
Published by Politeknik Pariwisata NHI Bandung

Website: https://journal.poltekpar-nhi.ac.id/index.php/ijscot/index