Social and Legal Studios adheres to the principles of transparency, impartiality and academic integrity at all stages of the editorial and publication process. All authors, reviewers, editors, members of the Editorial Board and other persons involved in the consideration of a manuscript are required to disclose any actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest.
A conflict of interest is understood as any financial, professional, academic, institutional, personal, family-related, ideological or other circumstance that may influence, or create the impression of influencing, the objectivity of the research, peer review or editorial decision.
This policy is aimed at preventing bias, ensuring the independence of expert evaluation, the transparency of editorial decisions and trust in published materials.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ON THE PART OF AUTHORS
Authors must inform the editorial office of all actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest when submitting a manuscript.
Such conflicts may include:
- financial relationships, including employment, consultancy, fees, grants, scholarships, share ownership, participation in the activities of companies, patents or patent applications;
- professional or academic relationships, including joint projects, employment-related dependency, academic supervision, competition or academic rivalry;
- personal or family relationships with persons or organisations related to the research;
- ideological, political, religious or other beliefs that may affect the interpretation of the results or the conclusions of the research.
The existence of a conflict of interest is not necessarily grounds for rejecting a manuscript. However, failure to disclose it may be regarded as a breach of publication ethics.
In every published article, the journal includes a separate note entitled “Conflict of Interest”. If conflicts of interest exist, they must be clearly described. If the authors have no conflicts of interest, the article states: “None”.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ON THE PART OF REVIEWERS
Reviewers are required to inform the editorial office of any circumstances that may affect their ability to evaluate a manuscript objectively, independently and impartially.
A reviewer must decline to review a manuscript or immediately inform the editorial office if he or she:
- has financial, professional, academic, personal or family relationships with the author or authors;
- works or has recently worked at the same institution as the author;
- has joint publications, research projects, grants or other academic collaboration with the author;
- is in direct scientific competition with the author or the research;
- has a personal interest, bias, friendly or conflictual relationship that may affect the content of the review;
- considers that the subject matter of the manuscript falls outside his or her area of competence.
If a conflict of interest is identified, the editorial office appoints another reviewer. The reviewer may not use unpublished materials, data, ideas or conclusions from the manuscript for his or her own benefit or transfer them to third parties.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ON THE PART OF EDITORS
Editors, members of the Editorial Board and other persons involved in making editorial decisions must disclose any circumstances that may affect their impartiality.
An editor must recuse himself or herself from considering a manuscript if he or she:
- is the author or co-author of the submitted article;
- works at the same institution as the author or is in an employment-related subordinate relationship with the author;
- has joint publications, grants, research projects or other academic collaboration with the author;
- has financial, personal, family, professional or institutional relationships with the author or with an organisation related to the research;
- may be perceived as biased through his or her participation in the editorial process.
In such cases, the manuscript is assigned to another editor or member of the Editorial Board who has no conflict of interest. Where necessary, the editorial office may involve an independent expert for additional evaluation of the manuscript.
The Editor-in-Chief, members of the Editorial Board or guest editors do not participate in decision-making concerning manuscripts in which they have a personal, professional, academic or financial interest.
MANAGEMENT OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
If a conflict of interest is identified before the start of peer review, the editorial office replaces the relevant reviewer, editor or adviser.
If a conflict of interest is identified during peer review or after an editorial decision has been made, the editorial office assesses its impact on the objectivity of the manuscript consideration and may appoint additional independent peer review, reconsider the previous decision or take other necessary measures.
If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after publication of an article, the editorial office considers the situation in accordance with the principles of publication ethics and may publish a clarification, correction, expression of concern or, in exceptional cases, retract the article.
The journal ensures transparent disclosure of conflicts of interest in every published article and expects all participants in the publication process to comply with this policy in good faith.
