Conflict of Interest Policy

Conflict of Interest Policy

Indonesian Journal of Management and Accounting (IJMA) requires all authors, reviewers, and editors to declare any potential conflicts of interest that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the objectivity, integrity, or reporting of research published in the journal.

This policy ensures transparency and aligns with the ethical standards set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Institute of Indonesia Chartered Accountants (IAI).

  1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest (COI) exists when financial, personal, academic, or professional relationships inappropriately affect an individual's judgment, actions, or decisions in the publication process.

Conflicts of interest can be financial or non-financial:

  • Financial Conflicts: Funding, grants, employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership, patent rights, or paid expert testimonies related to the research.
  • Non-Financial Conflicts: Personal or family relationships, academic competition, strong political or ideological beliefs, or institutional affiliations that may bias research evaluation.
  1. Guidelines for Authors

All authors must disclose any financial or non-financial support or relationships that could bias their work.

  • Declaration Statement: Authors must include a Competing Interests Statement at the end of their manuscript (before references) upon submission.
  • Format:
    • If a conflict exists: "Funding/Support was received from [Name of Organization]. Author [Name] has served as a consultant for [Company Name]."
    • If no conflict exists: "The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article."
  • Funding Sources: Authors must explicitly disclose all financial support received for the research, including grant numbers and the role of the sponsor in study design, data collection, analysis, or manuscript preparation.
  1. Guidelines for Peer Reviewers

Reviewers must provide fair and unbiased evaluations of submitted manuscripts.

  • Mandatory Disclosure: Reviewers must decline an invitation to review if they:
    • Have a direct financial or professional interest in the outcome of the paper.
    • Are currently collaborating, or have recently collaborated (within the past 3 years), with any of the authors.
    • Work at the same institution as one of the authors.
    • Have a close personal relationship with any of the authors.
    • Feel unable to provide an objective and impartial review due to competitive or ideological reasons.
  • Confidentiality: Reviewers must not use unpublished information or ideas from a manuscript under review for their personal or professional advantage.
  1. Guidelines for Editors and Editorial Board

Editors are responsible for managing the peer-review process ethically and impartially.

  • Recusal: Editors and Editorial Board members must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest (e.g., papers authored by colleagues from the same department, family members, or recent collaborators).
  • Editor-Authored Submissions: If an editor or Editorial Board member submits a manuscript to IJMA:
    • The submission will be handled independently by another editor.
    • The submitting editor will have no access to the review process or reviewer details.
    • A transparent disclosure statement regarding the editor's status will be published with the accepted paper.
  1. Handling Undeclared Conflicts of Interest

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified before or after publication:

  1. The Editor-in-Chief will contact the concerned party for clarification, following COPE flowcharts.
  2. If an author fails to disclose a significant conflict of interest, the journal reserves the right to publish a Correction/Corrigendum, issue an Expression of Concern, or Retract the paper depending on the severity and impact on the research findings.