Conflict Of Interest

Conflict Of Interest

Zeniusi Journal (ZJ) is committed to upholding integrity, independence, objectivity, and transparency throughout the entire scholarly publication process. A conflict of interest—also referred to as competing interests—may arise when financial, personal, professional, academic, institutional, or other interests have the potential to influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the conduct of research, the interpretation of results, the assessment of manuscripts, editorial decisions, or the publication of articles.

The existence of certain relationships or interests does not automatically imply an ethical breach. However, any relevant interests must be disclosed transparently so that editors, reviewers, and readers can evaluate their potential influence on the content of an article and the publication process.

Author's Responsibilities

All authors are required to disclose any conflicts of interest—whether actual, potential, or perceived—that could influence the research or the publication of the manuscript. Conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:

  1. Financial interests, such as funding, honoraria, consulting fees, share ownership, or financial support from parties with a stake in the research outcomes.
  2. Professional and institutional interests, such as employment relationships, institutional collaborations, program partnerships, or organizational involvement that could potentially influence the objectivity of reporting.
  3. Personal interests, such as familial ties, friendships, or other personal relationships that might affect the assessment and interpretation of results.
  4. Academic or intellectual interests, such as supervisory relationships, academic competition, ownership of intellectual property, or other interests related to research findings and publications.
  5. Organizational or commercial interests, including relationships with sponsors, providers of products or services, implementing partners, or any parties that could potentially benefit from the publication.

Authors are required to include a Conflict of Interest Statement in their submitted manuscript. If a conflict of interest exists, authors must describe the nature of that interest clearly and concisely. If no conflict of interest exists, authors must explicitly state this.

The disclosure of a conflict of interest does not replace the requirement to include the source of funding in a Funding Statement. These two statements serve different purposes and must be provided in accordance with ZJ’s guidelines.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers must disclose to the editor any relationships or interests that could influence the independence and objectivity of their assessment of a manuscript. Conflicts of interest may include professional, institutional, financial, personal, or academic ties to the authors or other parties associated with the manuscript.

Reviewers must decline an invitation to review or withdraw from the review process if a conflict of interest has the potential to compromise the objectivity of their assessment. Furthermore, reviewers are required to maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript and must not use any information obtained during the review process for their own personal gain or for the benefit of any other party.

Responsibilities of the Editor and Editorial Board

Editors and members of the editorial board must maintain the independence of editorial decisions and disclose any conflicts of interest related to manuscripts under consideration. An editor with a conflict of interest must not participate in the assessment of or the editorial decision-making process for the manuscript in question.

In such cases, the handling of the manuscript and the editorial decision must be delegated to another editor who has no conflict of interest. Decisions to accept or reject an article must be based on its relevance to the journal’s focus, scientific quality, originality, integrity, and the outcome of the peer-review process not on personal, institutional, or commercial interests, or specific personal relationships.