Conflict of Interest

 

The Indonesian Journal of Hospital Administration (IJHAA) upholds the principles of transparency, objectivity, accountability, and publication ethics in all stages of the editorial and scholarly publishing process. A conflict of interest occurs when financial, personal, professional, institutional, or academic relationships may influence, or may reasonably be perceived to influence, the research process, manuscript evaluation, or editorial decision-making. The journal is committed to identifying, disclosing, and managing competing interests to ensure that all manuscripts are assessed fairly and independently.

Disclosure by Authors

All authors submitting manuscripts to IJHAA are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may be relevant to their work. These may include, but are not limited to, financial relationships, employment, consultancy, research grants, honoraria, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, professional collaborations, academic interests, or other circumstances that could affect the objectivity of the research or the presentation of its findings.

Authors must also acknowledge all financial and non-financial support received for their research. Where applicable, they should clearly explain the role of funding bodies, sponsors, or affiliated institutions in the study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of results, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

All relevant disclosures must be submitted alongside the manuscript. If no competing interests exist, the authors must include an explicit declaration stating that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Disclosure by Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to maintain independence, fairness, and objectivity when evaluating manuscripts submitted to IJHAA. They must inform the Editor of any circumstances that could interfere with, or reasonably be perceived to interfere with, their impartial judgment. Such circumstances may include financial interests, personal or professional relationships with the authors, institutional affiliations, recent or ongoing research collaborations, supervisory relationships, or competing academic interests.

If a reviewer identifies a potential conflict of interest, the matter must be reported to the Editor without delay. The Editor will evaluate the situation and determine whether the reviewer may continue the assessment or should withdraw from the review process. These procedures are intended to safeguard the confidentiality, fairness, and credibility of peer review.

Disclosure by Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members must disclose any competing interests that may affect their handling of a manuscript or their participation in editorial decisions. Such interests may arise from financial relationships, institutional or professional affiliations, personal connections, collaborative research activities, or direct involvement in the submitted work.

An editor who has a conflict of interest concerning a manuscript must refrain from managing its peer-review process and making decisions regarding its publication. The manuscript will instead be assigned to an independent editor who has no relevant competing interests. This measure ensures that editorial decisions are determined by the manuscript’s academic quality, relevance to the journal’s scope, methodological rigor, and the results of an impartial peer-review process.

Management of Conflicts of Interest

The Editor-in-Chief, or an authorized independent editor, is responsible for evaluating disclosed conflicts of interest and determining the appropriate measures to address them. Depending on the nature and severity of the conflict, the journal may request further information, require additional disclosures, appoint alternative reviewers, reassign editorial responsibility, or implement other safeguards necessary to maintain an impartial publication process.

If a conflict of interest that was not previously disclosed is discovered after publication, the journal will investigate the matter and evaluate its potential effect on the integrity, interpretation, and transparency of the published article. When necessary, IJHAA may issue a correction, publish an additional disclosure, or take other appropriate editorial action in accordance with established publication ethics practices.

IJHAA is committed to handling all competing interests consistently, fairly, and transparently, taking into account the relevant principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and other applicable scholarly publishing standards.