Conflicts of Interest

A competing interest is any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationship or circumstance that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the conduct, reporting, review, or publication of research submitted to POACE: Jurnal Program Studi Administrasi Pendidikan, published by Universitas Muhammadiyah Metro (UM Metro). Disclosure of competing interests promotes transparency and enables the journal to manage potential conflicts appropriately. The existence of a competing interest does not automatically indicate bias or research misconduct.

1. INTERESTS TO DISCLOSE

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose relevant interests that could affect the objectivity or impartiality of research and editorial decisions, including:

• Financial interests: Employment, consultancy, honoraria, grants, ownership interests, patents, or other financial benefits related to the research.

• Funding and sponsorship: Financial or in-kind support from government agencies, educational institutions, foundations, private organizations, or other sponsors that may influence the research or its interpretation.

• Professional and institutional relationships: Employment, leadership positions, supervisory relationships, institutional affiliations, or professional commitments that could affect impartiality.

• Personal relationships: Family relationships, close personal relationships, collaborations, or professional disputes that may influence the assessment of a manuscript.

• Research and academic interests: Relationships with research partners, institutions, schools, universities, educational organizations, or other stakeholders involved in the study.

• Editorial relationships: Editorial appointments or other connections with POACE that may require independent editorial handling.

Ordinary academic disagreement or differences in scholarly interpretation do not automatically constitute a disqualifying conflict of interest. When uncertainty arises, the relevant circumstances should be disclosed to the editorial team for assessment.

2. AUTHOR DECLARATIONS AND FUNDING

All authors must disclose relevant financial and non-financial competing interests associated with their submitted manuscript. The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating the disclosure process and ensuring that the manuscript contains an accurate statement reflecting the circumstances of all authors.

If no relevant competing interests exist, the manuscript must include an explicit declaration, such as:

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no competing interests relevant to this study.

Authors must also provide a separate Funding statement identifying financial or in-kind support, the names of funding organizations, and grant numbers or identifiers where applicable.

The Funding statement should explain the role of the funder, if any, in the research design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of findings, manuscript preparation, and decision to submit the manuscript for publication. If the funder had no involvement in these activities, this should be stated explicitly.

If the research received no specific funding, authors should include a declaration such as:

Funding: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Funding disclosure does not replace the requirement to declare competing interests. Authors must update their declarations if relevant circumstances change during editorial assessment or publication.

3. EDITORS AND REVIEWERS

Editors and reviewers must disclose any competing interests before accepting an editorial assignment or reviewing a manuscript. If a relevant conflict becomes apparent later, it must be reported promptly to the responsible editorial authority.

The editorial team will assess the disclosed circumstances and determine whether appropriate safeguards, reassignment, or other measures are necessary to maintain an impartial editorial process.

Editors must not make editorial decisions on their own manuscripts or on submissions involving relationships that compromise their independence. Reviewers who have conflicts that could impair their impartiality must decline the review or withdraw from the assignment.

Where necessary, manuscripts involving editors, members of the editorial board, colleagues, collaborators, or close institutional associates should be handled by an independent editor without the relevant competing interest.

4. ASSESSMENT AND LATE DISCLOSURE

POACE assesses disclosed competing interests according to their relevance to the manuscript and their potential effect on research integrity or editorial impartiality.

Depending on the circumstances, appropriate measures may include:

• Publishing a competing-interest declaration alongside the article.

• Requesting clarification or additional disclosure from the authors.

• Obtaining an additional independent review.

• Reassigning the manuscript to an editor or reviewer without the relevant conflict.

• Requesting corrections to incomplete or inaccurate declarations.

Failure to disclose a competing interest is assessed in context and does not automatically constitute grounds for rejection or retraction. However, material omissions or inaccurate declarations may require further investigation under the journal's research integrity procedures.

Concerns involving potential misconduct or compromised research integrity will be handled in accordance with the journal's applicable Allegations of Misconduct and Integrity Investigations policies. Necessary updates to published disclosures will be managed under the journal's Corrections Policy.

5. POLICY SCOPE AND RELATED POLICIES

This policy governs competing interests associated with research, manuscript preparation, peer review, and editorial decision-making.

Journal-level revenue, sponsorship, and financial relationships affecting the operation of POACE are addressed through the journal's relevant revenue and sponsorship disclosure arrangements.

Authors, editors, reviewers, and other relevant parties who identify a potential competing interest or have concerns about disclosure are encouraged to contact the POACE editorial team at [email protected]. Correspondence should include the manuscript title or submission identifier, where applicable, and a clear explanation of the concern.