Conflict of Interest Policy

Conflict of Interest Policy – Journal of Advanced Homoeopathic Studies (JAHS)

The Journal of Advanced Homoeopathic Studies (JAHS) is committed to ensuring transparency, accountability, and integrity in scholarly publishing. To maintain trust between authors, reviewers, editors, and readers, all parties must fully disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest (COI) that could influence the objectivity of submitted or published work.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when personal, financial, or professional relationships could inappropriately influence (or be perceived to influence) research, review, or editorial decisions.

Conflicts of interest may include:

  • Financial: Grants, employment, consultancies, honoraria, royalties, stock ownership, paid expert testimony, or patents related to the manuscript.

  • Non-Financial: Personal relationships, academic competition, intellectual passion, or institutional affiliations.

  • Institutional or Political: Advocacy positions or affiliations that could bias interpretation or reporting.

2. Authors’ Responsibilities

  • Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial interests relevant to the submitted manuscript at the time of submission.

  • A Conflict of Interest Statement must be included in the manuscript (e.g., “The authors declare no conflict of interest” OR “Author X has received funding from …”).

  • Funding sources and their role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript preparation must be clearly stated.

  • If no conflict exists, authors must explicitly declare this.

3. Reviewers’ Responsibilities

  • Reviewers must disclose any potential COI before accepting a review assignment, including:

    • Recent collaboration with the author(s).

    • Institutional or professional rivalry.

    • Financial interest in the subject matter.

  • Reviewers with conflicts must recuse themselves to ensure impartial evaluation.

4. Editors’ Responsibilities

  • Editors and Editorial Board members must declare any COI related to manuscripts under consideration.

  • Editors will not handle manuscripts where conflicts exist (e.g., from their own institution, collaborators, or personal associates).

  • Decisions will be reassigned to a neutral editor without conflicts.

5. Journal’s Responsibilities

  • JAHS ensures that disclosed COIs are clearly published with the final article for transparency.

  • In cases of undisclosed conflicts discovered post-publication, the journal may issue:

    • An Erratum or Expression of Concern

    • A Retraction in severe cases, following COPE guidelines.

6. Sanctions for Non-Disclosure

Failure to disclose conflicts of interest may result in:

  • Rejection of the manuscript.

  • Retraction of a published article.

  • Notification to the author’s institution or funding body.

  • Restriction of future submissions to JAHS.

7. Alignment with International Standards

This COI policy follows the principles of:

  • ICMJE Uniform Requirements for Competing Interests

  • COPE Code of Conduct

  • WAME Conflict of Interest in Peer-Reviewed Medical Journals

  • DOAJ Transparency Best Practices