Declaration of Conflicting Interests Policy
FEP Foundation – Future Education Pioneer is committed to transparency and integrity in scholarly publishing. Authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants in the publication process are expected to disclose any interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgment, research, review, or editorial decision-making.
A Declaration of Conflicting Interests policy requires authors and other relevant parties to disclose actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest associated with submitted or published scholarly work.
Conflicts of interest do not necessarily imply misconduct. Their disclosure allows editors and readers to evaluate relevant relationships transparently and helps maintain trust in the scholarly record.
1. Definition of Conflicting Interests
A conflicting or competing interest may arise when an author, reviewer, editor, or other participant has personal, professional, financial, institutional, academic, or other interests that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their judgment or actions.
Such interests may result from relationships, affiliations, obligations, loyalties, hostilities, financial interests, or other circumstances that may affect the impartiality of research or publication decisions.
The issue is particularly important where an undisclosed interest could lead a reasonable reader to feel misled after publication.
Journals managed or supported by FEP Foundation may require authors to include a formal declaration of conflicting interests in submitted and published articles.
2. Examples of Conflicting Interests
Examples of potential conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:
- Receiving consulting fees, honoraria, advisory payments, or other financial compensation related to the subject of the research.
- Receiving research funding, grants, sponsorship, or other financial support.
- Being employed by, consulting for, or having a professional relationship with an organization that may be affected by the publication.
- Holding stocks, shares, ownership interests, patents, or other financial interests in a company or organization related to the subject matter.
- Receiving reimbursement for travel, conference attendance, accommodation, speaking engagements, or related professional activities.
- Having close personal, academic, institutional, professional, or competitive relationships that could reasonably influence judgment.
If another interest exists that a reasonable reader might consider relevant to the interpretation of the research or publication, authors are encouraged to disclose it.
Note: A declaration of a competing interest does not necessarily require disclosure of detailed confidential financial arrangements unless such detail is necessary under the policy of the relevant journal.
3. Author Obligations
Authors are responsible for providing complete and accurate disclosure of relevant financial and non-financial interests.
Authors should ensure that:
- All relevant sources of financial support for the research, authorship, or publication are acknowledged.
- Commercial, financial, institutional, professional, or personal relationships that could create an actual or apparent conflict of interest are disclosed to the editor.
- Any involvement of sponsors in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decisions is appropriately disclosed.
- No agreement with a sponsor prevents the authors from reporting legitimate positive or negative research findings.
- Authors review and comply with the specific conflict-of-interest requirements stated in the submission guidelines of the relevant journal.
- All co-authors are aware of and approve the conflict-of-interest declaration submitted with the manuscript.
4. Journal-Specific Requirements
Conflict-of-interest requirements may vary between journals. Authors should therefore review the manuscript submission guidelines and publication policies of the specific journal before submitting a manuscript.
Individual journals may require a declaration during manuscript submission, in the manuscript itself, through an online submission form, or as part of a publishing agreement.
Where a journal requires a formal declaration, authors should comply with the wording, location, and disclosure requirements specified by that journal.
5. Editor and Reviewer Obligations
Conflicting-interest responsibilities apply not only to authors, but also to editors, guest editors, reviewers, and editorial board members.
Editors and reviewers should disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict that could affect their ability to evaluate a manuscript impartially.
Where a conflict is significant, the individual should normally withdraw from reviewing, handling, or making editorial decisions on the manuscript.
Editors who write editorials, commentaries, or other content for their journals should disclose relevant competing interests in the same way expected of other authors.
6. How to Make a Declaration
Where a journal requires a Declaration of Conflicting Interests, authors should normally include the declaration near the end of the manuscript in the location specified by the journal.
Unless otherwise instructed, it may appear after the Acknowledgements section and before Funding, Notes, or References.
If a conflict exists
Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) disclosed the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: [describe the relevant interest].
If no conflict exists
Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Where a declaration is required, the disclosure should be sufficiently specific to allow readers to understand the nature of the relevant relationship or interest.
7. Funding Acknowledgements
Research articles should include a clear funding statement where applicable.
The funding statement should identify organizations or agencies that provided financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of the article.
Where available, grant numbers or other relevant funding identifiers should also be included according to the journal's formatting requirements.
Example: One funding agency
Funding: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by [Name of Funding Agency] [grant number XXXX].
Example: Multiple funding agencies
Funding: This work was supported by [Funding Agency One] [grant numbers XXXX, YYYY]; [Funding Agency Two] [grant number ZZZZ]; and [Funding Agency Three] [grant number AAAA].
Where no specific funding was received
Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Authors should ensure that funding acknowledgements are accurate and consistent with information submitted to the journal and any relevant funding organizations.
8. Peer Review and Anonymity
In journals using anonymous or double-anonymous peer review, certain disclosures may reveal the identity of the author or research institution.
If providing conflict-of-interest or funding information during initial submission could compromise anonymity, the journal may allow identifying information to be withheld from the version sent to reviewers and provided in full after the manuscript has been accepted.
Authors should follow the specific anonymization instructions of the relevant journal.
9. Additional Information
FEP Foundation encourages authors, reviewers, and editors to consult recognized guidance on conflicts of interest and publication ethics.
Useful guidance is available from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) .
Questions concerning a specific manuscript should normally be directed to the editor of the relevant journal.
General publishing inquiries may also be sent to info@fepfoundation.org.
Transparency and Editorial Fairness
Declaring a competing interest does not automatically prevent publication. Manuscripts should continue to be evaluated on their scholarly quality and relevance while disclosed interests are managed transparently and appropriately.
FEP Foundation encourages disclosure whenever an interest could reasonably be perceived as affecting research, authorship, peer review, or editorial judgment.