CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

1. Policy Statement

The Indonesian Journal of Community Service in Education (IJCSE), published by PT. Intelektiva Global Nusantara, is committed to maintaining transparency, impartiality, accountability, and editorial independence in the publication of educational community service and community engagement scholarship.

All authors, editors, reviewers, and other individuals involved in manuscript evaluation must disclose relationships, activities, and interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their professional judgment.

Competing interests may arise through financial support, community partnerships, institutional relationships, program sponsorship, commercial interests, academic commitments, or other circumstances associated with the reported activities.

Disclosure of a competing interest does not automatically indicate wrongdoing or invalidate a community service article. Transparent reporting enables appropriate editorial assessment and helps readers evaluate potential influences on the published work.

2. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest, also referred to as a competing interest, arises when an individual has a financial, personal, institutional, professional, or other relevant interest that could influence, or be perceived as influencing, the design, implementation, evaluation, reporting, peer review, or publication of a community service activity.

Conflicts may be actual, potential, or perceived. Relevant relationships must be declared even when the individuals concerned believe that the interests have not influenced their work.

3. Types of Competing Interests

4. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors must disclose interests relevant to community service activities, evaluation methods, reported outcomes, and scholarly publication.

• Declare relevant funding, commercial arrangements, consultancy payments, or sponsored activities.
• Disclose financial or professional interests associated with products and services used in community programs.
• Identify relevant relationships with partner institutions and organizations when these may affect reporting or judgment.
• Disclose personal, supervisory, institutional, or professional circumstances that could influence objective evaluation.
• Describe relevant sponsor participation in program implementation, evaluation, data analysis, or manuscript preparation.
• Ensure that competing interest disclosures are accurate and complete.
• Notify the editorial office when new competing interests become relevant during manuscript processing.

The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating declarations from all authors, while individual authors remain accountable for the completeness and accuracy of their own disclosures.

5. Conflict of Interest Declaration

IJCSE requires all manuscripts to include a Declaration of Competing Interests, including submissions where no relevant competing interests are identified.

Declarations must reflect the actual circumstances of the program and should be updated whenever relevant circumstances change.

6. Submission and Double-Blind Peer Review

IJCSE requires three separate submission documents: Cover Letter, Title Page, and Anonymous Manuscript.

Author-identifying competing interest information must be provided in the Title Page and relevant submission metadata rather than the Anonymous Manuscript.

Material interests requiring special editorial management should also be disclosed to the editor through the Cover Letter.

The Anonymous Manuscript must remain appropriately anonymized during double-blind peer review. Relevant competing interest declarations will be included in the published article following acceptance.

7. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose relevant interests before accepting assignments and must provide impartial, independent, and confidential evaluations.

• Declare financial or professional relationships with relevant sponsors, community organizations, or educational institutions.
• Identify close relationships with known or suspected authors or program partners when relevant.
• Disclose direct academic or professional competition relating to the manuscript.
• Decline or withdraw from assignments when impartiality cannot reasonably be maintained.
• Protect confidential manuscript information and avoid its unauthorized use.

The handling editor determines whether a disclosed interest requires reviewer reassignment or other appropriate safeguards.

8. Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and Editorial Board members must disclose interests that could influence decisions concerning community service manuscripts.

Editors must recuse themselves from manuscripts when significant financial, personal, institutional, professional, or other relevant conflicts exist.

The journal will assign affected submissions to independent editors without the relevant competing interests. Editorial staff must not exploit unpublished information, confidential program data, or manuscript content for personal advantage.

9. Manuscripts Submitted by Editors or Affiliated Individuals

Articles submitted by editors, Editorial Board members, publisher-affiliated individuals, or their close associates must undergo appropriate editorial screening and peer review under the same academic and ethical requirements applied to other manuscripts.

Conflicted individuals must not supervise their own manuscript evaluation, select reviewers, make acceptance decisions, or otherwise influence the review process.

An independent editor will oversee the manuscript to protect editorial impartiality and confidentiality.

10. Funding, Sponsorship, and Community Partnerships

Authors must disclose financial and material support for reported community service activities, including grants, sponsorship, provision of equipment or educational materials, and relevant institutional assistance.

The role of sponsors and partners in program design, delivery, data collection, evaluation, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decisions must be described when relevant.

Community partnerships and financial support do not automatically constitute unacceptable conflicts. However, authors must distinguish genuine program findings from promotional claims and disclose interests that may affect objective reporting.

IJCSE maintains editorial independence from funding agencies, partner organizations, product suppliers, and other external stakeholders.

11. Editorial Assessment and Management

When a competing interest is declared or discovered, the Editorial Board may:

• Request additional details or supporting documentation.
• Require clarification of financial, institutional, or community partnership arrangements.
• Appoint independent reviewers or editors.
• Require recusal from editorial or peer-review responsibilities.
• Examine whether relevant interests have affected program evaluation or reporting.
• Require corrected disclosures or take further editorial action when serious undisclosed conflicts are identified.

Editorial decisions must be proportionate to the evidence. Disclosure of competing interests does not automatically result in manuscript rejection.

12. Undisclosed Conflicts and Post-Publication Actions

When an undisclosed competing interest is identified after publication, IJCSE will examine the circumstances according to its Publication Ethics and Research Misconduct Policies.

Appropriate responses may include requesting clarification, updating the declaration, publishing a correction, or issuing an expression of concern if serious unresolved issues affect confidence in the publication.

Retraction may be considered only when the evidence establishes serious problems affecting the integrity or reliability of the published work and in accordance with the journal's Retraction Policy.

13. Confidentiality and Policy References

Conflict of interest disclosures are treated with appropriate confidentiality during editorial evaluation. Relevant declarations are made available in published articles to support transparency and informed scholarly interpretation.

IJCSE considers the following resources when applying this policy:

• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Guidance
• ICMJE Disclosure of Interest
• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing