Conflict of Interest Policy

SAER Journal is committed to transparency, impartiality, and editorial independence in scholarly publishing. Authors, reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in the publication process are responsible for disclosing financial, academic, institutional, personal, or other relationships or activities that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, evaluation, interpretation, or publication decisions.

1. Scope of Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest refers to any relationship, activity, or interest that may influence, or may reasonably be perceived by a third party as influencing, an individual's scientific judgment, professional responsibility, or editorial decision-making.

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

Financial relationships or financial interests,
Employment, consultancy, or institutional affiliations,
Research funding, grants, or sponsorship,
Patents, licenses, or other intellectual property interests,
Academic competition or close collaborative relationships,
Personal, family, or professional relationships,
Strong pre-existing views or interests concerning the work under evaluation.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must disclose all actual or potential conflicts of interest that may be relevant to the conduct, analysis, interpretation, preparation, or publication of the work.

Where no conflict of interest exists, authors may provide an appropriate statement indicating that no competing interests are present. Financial support or sponsorship should also be disclosed separately in the funding information.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must inform the editor of any relationship or circumstance that may affect their ability to provide an impartial assessment and should decline the review where appropriate.

Reviewers should particularly consider whether close academic collaboration, personal relationships, institutional affiliations, direct competition, or other significant interests may compromise their independence.

4. Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members must recuse themselves from the evaluation and decision-making process for manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest. Such manuscripts should, where possible, be handled by an independent editor or another appropriately authorized editorial representative.

Where an editor, editorial board member, or another individual involved in editorial decisions is an author of a submitted manuscript, that individual must not participate in the review or final decision concerning the work.

5. Independence from Institutional and Financial Influence

Editorial decisions at SAER Journal are made independently of the commercial or institutional interests of funders, sponsors, organizations, advertisers, publishers, or other external parties.

Receipt of financial support does not by itself determine acceptance or rejection. However, the source of support and the role of the funder or sponsor in the research must be disclosed transparently.

6. Assessment of Disclosed Conflicts

The existence of a conflict of interest does not automatically constitute an ethical violation or require rejection of a manuscript. The editor will consider the nature of the relationship and its potential effect on scientific independence. Additional disclosure, independent review, or other editorial safeguards may be applied where necessary.

7. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If a significant undisclosed conflict of interest is identified during review or after publication, the editor may request an explanation from the relevant parties.

Depending on the nature of the issue, the editorial decision may be reconsidered and, for published articles, a correction, disclosure statement, or other appropriate post-publication action may be issued.

8. Confidentiality

Conflict-of-interest disclosures are used only to the extent necessary for editorial assessment. However, conflict-of-interest and funding statements that are relevant to readers may be published with the article in the interest of transparency.

9. Principle of Transparency

The purpose of this policy is not to eliminate all possible competing interests, but to ensure that relevant relationships are disclosed transparently and that scientific evaluation and editorial decisions remain independent.

10. Policy Updates

This policy may be reviewed and updated as necessary in response to developments in scholarly publishing and research ethics.