Conflict of Interest Policy

Al-Qal'aa Journal for Scientific Publishing is committed to ensuring transparency and integrity in all aspects of the publication process, as disclosing any potential conflict of interest is essential to maintaining the credibility of research. A conflict of interest occurs when personal, financial, or academic relationships or obligations affect the objectivity and impartiality of the parties involved in the research, evaluation, or publication, whether this conflict is actual, potential, or perceived. The responsibilities regarding the conflict of interest policy are distributed as follows:

1. Authors' Responsibilities

  • Full Disclosure: All authors must disclose any potential conflict that may affect the research results or their interpretation.

  • Elements of Disclosure: These include funding sources (organizations, companies, grants), relationships with relevant entities (employment, consultancy, partnership), patents and intellectual property rights, as well as influential personal relationships.

  • Dedicated Section: A section titled "Conflict of Interest Disclosure" must be included at the end of the research before the reference list, stating the conflict or indicating its absence.

  • Submission Form: The research submission form includes a specific section for this purpose that must be filled out accurately.

2. Reviewers' Responsibilities

  • Objective Evaluation: Reviewers must disclose any conflict that may affect their ability to provide an objective evaluation, such as personal or professional relationships with the authors, academic competition, or having a financial interest in the results.

  • Recusal from Review: In the event of a conflict that prevents impartiality, the reviewer must notify the editorial board and immediately recuse themselves from reviewing the research.

3. Editorial Board Responsibilities

  • Impartiality of Decisions: Board members must disclose any conflict that compromises the objectivity of their editorial decisions.

  • Member as an Author: If an editorial board member is an author of a research paper under review, they are completely excluded from all stages of the research evaluation and decision-making process.

  • Integrity Procedures: The board is committed to handling disclosures transparently and may take actions such as excluding a member or reviewer from handling a specific research paper to ensure scientific integrity.

4. Malpractice and Procedures Followed

  • Considered as Misconduct: Concealing a conflict of interest is considered a form of scientific misconduct and falls under unethical behaviors that warrant investigation.

  • Penalties: If the concealment of a conflict of interest is proven, the journal reserves the right to take firm actions, including rejecting the research prior to publication, or retracting the article after publication while notifying the authors' affiliated academic institutions.