Conflict of Interest Policy
A conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate misconduct or invalidate a manuscript. The primary requirement is transparent disclosure and appropriate management so that readers, reviewers, and editors can evaluate the work fairly and maintain trust in the publication process.
Conflicts may be actual, potential, or perceived. A reasonable perception of influence can be relevant even when the individual believes that their judgment was not affected.
Employment, consultancy, honoraria, grants, travel support, stock ownership, patents, royalties, paid expert testimony, or other financial benefit.
Leadership roles, institutional affiliations, supervisory relationships, professional rivalry, or organisational commitments.
Family, friendship, close collaboration, hostility, or other personal relationships with authors, reviewers, editors, or organisations.
Strongly held positions, direct competition, prior public statements, advocacy roles, or intellectual commitments related to the manuscript.
Affiliations or commitments that may reasonably be perceived to affect interpretation or editorial judgment.
Ownership, control, restriction, or commercial interest in datasets, software, instruments, interventions, or intellectual property.
Every author must disclose all relevant financial and non-financial relationships and activities that could influence—or appear to influence—the submitted work.
Disclosures should be made during submission, included in the manuscript, updated during review if circumstances change, and confirmed before publication.
Funding and conflicts of interest are related but distinct. Authors must identify all financial support and explain the funder's role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit. If the funder had no role, this should be stated.
Reviewers must disclose any relationship or interest that could affect impartial review. A reviewer should decline an assignment when a conflict is significant, including recent collaboration, same institutional unit, direct competition, close personal relationship, financial interest, supervisory relationship, or strong public commitment concerning the manuscript's subject.
Editors and editorial board members must disclose relevant interests and recuse themselves from manuscripts where impartiality could reasonably be questioned. The manuscript should be reassigned to another qualified editor who has no relevant conflict.
Same department, unit, or close institutional relationship with an author.
Recent co-authorship, grant collaboration, supervision, or joint project activity.
Family, friendship, rivalry, financial benefit, or other direct interest.
Manuscripts authored by an editor, editorial board member, journal staff member, or institutional leader may be considered, but the submitting person must not participate in reviewer selection, editorial correspondence, or the final decision. The article should state the independent handling arrangement where appropriate.
The publisher, owner, sponsors, advertisers, and institutional partners must not influence the editorial outcome of individual manuscripts. Relevant relationships between the journal and external organisations should be disclosed where they could reasonably affect reader trust.
The relevant party declares the interest promptly and specifically.
The editor evaluates the nature, closeness, timing, and potential influence of the relationship.
The journal may publish the disclosure, reassign an editor, replace a reviewer, seek independent advice, or apply another proportionate measure.
Material decisions and recusal arrangements should be recorded appropriately.
If a potential conflict is identified during review or after publication, PJKM may request clarification and supporting documentation. Failure to disclose a relevant interest may result in reviewer replacement, editor recusal, manuscript rejection, publication of a correction, expression of concern, retraction, institutional notification, or another proportionate action.
Conflict-of-interest information should be handled confidentially during editorial assessment and disclosed publicly only to the extent necessary for transparency, publication ethics, legal compliance, or reader understanding.
Provide complete and current disclosures and explain the role of funders and sponsors.
Disclose relevant interests promptly and decline assignments when impartiality is compromised.
Assess disclosures, recuse when conflicted, and implement proportionate management.
Protect editorial independence and support transparent governance and disclosure procedures.
