Conflict of Interest

The International Journal of Education and Teaching Zone (IJETZ) is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, academic integrity, and accountability throughout the scholarly publishing process. All parties involved in publication, including authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the editorial team, are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their professional judgment.

IJETZ follows the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in addressing conflicts of interest. Disclosure enables the journal to assess potential competing interests appropriately and helps readers evaluate published research fairly and objectively.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest arises when financial, professional, institutional, personal, intellectual, or other interests may influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, an individual's judgment in conducting research, preparing a manuscript, reviewing a submission, or making editorial decisions.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily constitute research misconduct or a breach of publication ethics. However, failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may undermine transparency and the integrity of the publication process.

Examples of potential conflicts of interest relevant to education and related fields include:

  • Financial Interests: Research funding, grants, honoraria, consultancy fees, employment, stock ownership, or other financial benefits from organizations that may benefit from or be affected by the research findings.

  • Professional Interests: Professional relationships, supervisory arrangements, collaborative projects, or other professional commitments that may affect an individual's impartiality.

  • Institutional Interests: Affiliations with universities, schools, educational authorities, research institutions, government agencies, private companies, or other organizations whose interests may be affected by the research.

  • Personal Relationships: Family relationships, close friendships, personal disputes, or other relationships with authors, reviewers, editors, or individuals whose interests are relevant to the manuscript.

  • Intellectual or Academic Interests: Strong intellectual commitments, competing research positions, or prior involvement in work that may be directly affected by the manuscript's findings or conclusions.

  • Advocacy and Policy Interests: Active involvement in advocacy groups, educational reform initiatives, policy campaigns, or other activities directly related to the subject of the research.

These examples are illustrative and are not exhaustive. Any interest that could reasonably affect, or appear to affect, the impartiality of a person involved in the publication process should be disclosed.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors are required to disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest relevant to their submitted manuscripts.

Authors must:

  1. Include a Conflict of Interest Statement in the manuscript, placed in the declarations section before the References, in accordance with the IJETZ manuscript template.

  2. Disclose relevant financial and non-financial interests, including professional, institutional, personal, intellectual, or advocacy-related interests.

  3. Provide a separate Funding Statement identifying all sources of financial support for the research and, where applicable, describing the funders' roles in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

  4. Ensure that disclosures are accurate, complete, and consistent across the manuscript and any required submission documents.

  5. Notify the editor promptly if a relevant conflict of interest is identified or arises after submission or publication.

If no relevant conflict of interest exists, authors must explicitly state:

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from consideration. The editorial team will assess the disclosed circumstances and determine whether any additional measures are necessary to protect the integrity and impartiality of the review and publication process.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively, confidentially, and impartially. Before accepting a review invitation, reviewers should assess whether any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest could compromise their ability to provide an independent assessment.

Reviewers must decline an invitation or promptly notify the editor if they:

  1. Have a close personal, professional, financial, or institutional relationship with any of the authors.

  2. Have collaborated closely with an author, supervised or been supervised by an author, or had another relationship that could reasonably compromise impartiality.

  3. Work in the same department, research unit, or closely connected institutional setting as an author, where this relationship may affect their independence.

  4. Have financial, professional, or other interests that could be materially affected by the manuscript's findings.

  5. Have a direct academic dispute, competing research interest, or other circumstance that may prevent an objective assessment.

  6. Believe that they cannot review the manuscript fairly for any other reason.

Reviewers must not use confidential information obtained through peer review for personal advantage, professional gain, or the benefit of another party. They must also maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript and disclose any relevant conflict that emerges during the review process.

The editor is responsible for determining whether a reviewer should be replaced when a conflict of interest is identified.

4. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must exercise independent, fair, and objective judgment when handling submissions. Editorial decisions must be based on the manuscript's scholarly quality, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal's scope, and compliance with publication ethics.

Editors must:

  1. Disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest relating to a submitted manuscript.

  2. Refrain from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest and refer such submissions to an independent editor.

  3. Ensure that manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, colleagues, collaborators, or other individuals with whom they have close professional or personal relationships receive independent editorial handling.

  4. Ensure that an editor who is an author of a submitted manuscript is excluded from all editorial decisions concerning that manuscript and does not have access to confidential reviewer identities or decision-making discussions beyond what is necessary for their role as an author.

  5. Assign independent reviewers who have no relevant conflicts of interest and are able to provide an impartial assessment.

  6. Protect the confidentiality of manuscripts, reviewer identities where applicable, and editorial deliberations in accordance with the journal's peer-review policy.

Where a manuscript is submitted by an author affiliated with the institution responsible for publishing IJETZ, the journal will seek independent editorial handling and reviewers from outside the author's immediate institutional unit whenever practicable.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by an author's institutional affiliation, nationality, gender, religion, political views, personal relationships, or commercial considerations. All submissions must be assessed according to consistent scholarly and ethical standards.

5. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified during peer review or after publication, IJETZ will assess the circumstances and take appropriate action in accordance with its publication ethics policies and relevant COPE guidance.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the case, the journal may:

  • Request an explanation or additional disclosure from the individuals concerned.

  • Require the correction or clarification of the Conflict of Interest Statement or Funding Statement.

  • Reassign a reviewer or editor to preserve the independence of the editorial process.

  • Publish a correction or clarification if the published record requires amendment.

  • Initiate a formal investigation if there are reasonable grounds to suspect a serious breach of publication ethics.

  • Retract a published article when the findings, integrity, or reliability of the publication are seriously compromised and retraction is justified under the journal's applicable policies.

Any action will be proportionate to the circumstances and based on a fair assessment of the available evidence. The individuals concerned will be given an appropriate opportunity to respond, while confidentiality and the integrity of the investigation are maintained.

6. Transparency and Policy Implementation

IJETZ is committed to handling conflicts of interest consistently and transparently throughout submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, and post-publication assessment.

The journal may request additional information or clarification whenever necessary to evaluate a disclosed interest and determine appropriate safeguards. All relevant disclosures and decisions will be handled in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies and applicable editorial procedures.

This policy is reviewed periodically to ensure that it remains consistent with recognized standards of scholarly publishing ethics and the journal's commitment to transparent, fair, and independent editorial practices.