Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure Policy

AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) is committed to maintaining editorial independence, transparency, fairness, and academic integrity.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in the publication process are expected to disclose any financial, personal, professional, institutional, or other interests that could reasonably influence, or appear to influence, their judgment.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when an individual's personal, financial, professional, institutional, or other interests could affect, or could reasonably be perceived to affect, the impartiality of their decisions, evaluation, or conduct in relation to a manuscript or published article.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived.

A conflict of interest does not necessarily mean that misconduct has occurred. However, relevant conflicts should be disclosed so that appropriate measures can be taken to protect the integrity and transparency of the publication process.

2. Authors' Disclosure Responsibilities

Authors must disclose any relevant conflict of interest when submitting a manuscript to AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ).

Authors should disclose relevant interests that may include:

  • Financial relationships;

  • Employment or consultancy;

  • Grants or research funding;

  • Institutional affiliations;

  • Personal or professional relationships;

  • Intellectual property interests;

  • Ownership or commercial interests;

  • Academic or professional competition; or

  • Any other relationship that could reasonably influence the research or its interpretation.

Where no relevant conflict of interest exists, authors should provide an appropriate declaration, such as:

“The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.”

3. Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose the sources of financial or material support received for the research or preparation of the manuscript.

Funding information should identify, where applicable:

  • Name of the funding organization;

  • Grant or project number, where applicable;

  • Nature of the support; and

  • Role of the funder in the research, if any.

Where the research received no specific financial support, authors should state:

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

Authors should ensure that funding disclosures are accurate and complete.

4. Role of Funders

Where research has received external funding, authors should disclose whether the funder had any role in:

  • Study design;

  • Data collection;

  • Data analysis;

  • Interpretation of findings;

  • Manuscript preparation;

  • Decision to submit the manuscript; or

  • Decision to publish the work.

If the funder had no involvement in these activities, this should be stated where appropriate.

5. Reviewers' Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest before accepting or completing a review.

Reviewers should decline an invitation to review when a conflict could reasonably affect their impartiality.

Relevant conflicts may include:

  • Recent collaboration with an author;

  • Close personal or professional relationships;

  • Institutional affiliation that creates a conflict;

  • Financial interests;

  • Direct academic competition;

  • Personal disagreement that could affect impartial judgment; or

  • Any other circumstance that could reasonably compromise objectivity.

Reviewers should not use knowledge of an unpublished manuscript for personal, professional, or competitive advantage.

6. Editors' Conflicts of Interest

Editors must disclose and appropriately manage any conflict of interest relating to a manuscript.

An editor should not make editorial decisions or manage peer review for a manuscript where the editor has a significant conflict of interest.

This includes situations where:

  • The editor is an author or co-author of the manuscript;

  • The editor has a close personal or professional relationship with an author;

  • The editor has a direct financial or professional interest in the outcome;

  • The editor has a significant competitive relationship with the authors; or

  • Another circumstance could reasonably compromise editorial independence.

In such cases, the manuscript should be assigned to an independent editor or another appropriate editorial decision-maker.

7. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions made by AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) are based on academic and scholarly considerations, including:

  • Relevance to the journal's scope;

  • Originality;

  • Scholarly quality;

  • Research integrity;

  • Methodological soundness, where applicable;

  • Quality of analysis and argumentation; and

  • Findings and recommendations of the peer-review process.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

  • The author's ability or inability to pay publication charges;

  • Commercial interests;

  • Advertising;

  • Sponsorship;

  • Personal relationships;

  • Institutional pressure; or

  • Political, religious, ethnic, national, or other personal characteristics unrelated to scholarly evaluation.

8. Publication Charges and Conflicts of Interest

The publication fee charged by AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) is separate from the editorial and peer-review decision-making process.

Payment or non-payment of the publication fee must not influence whether a manuscript is accepted, rejected, or sent for peer review.

The journal's publication charges are governed by its separate Publication Charges Policy.

9. Publisher and Journal Management

The publisher and journal management should respect the editorial independence of the journal.

The publisher, management, sponsors, or other external parties must not interfere with editorial decisions concerning individual manuscripts.

Where a potential conflict involving the publisher or journal management arises, appropriate measures should be taken to protect the independence and integrity of the editorial process.

10. Disclosure in Published Articles

Where a relevant conflict of interest or funding relationship has been disclosed, the appropriate declaration should be included in the published article where applicable.

Examples include:

Conflict of Interest:
“The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.”

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

Where funding or conflicts exist, the published statement should accurately reflect the information provided by the authors.

11. Undisclosed Conflicts

If a relevant conflict of interest is identified after submission or publication, AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) may request clarification or additional disclosure from the relevant individuals.

Where necessary, the journal may take appropriate editorial action, which may include:

  • Requesting a correction;

  • Publishing a conflict-of-interest or funding clarification;

  • Reassessing the editorial process;

  • Conducting further investigation; or

  • Taking other action in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy.

12. Conflict of Interest and Peer Review

Information concerning conflicts of interest must be handled confidentially and appropriately within the editorial process.

The disclosure of a conflict does not automatically constitute misconduct. The journal will assess the circumstances and determine appropriate measures to protect the fairness and integrity of the editorial and peer-review process.

13. Transparency and Accountability

AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ) expects authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants in the publication process to provide complete and accurate disclosures.

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict may be considered a publication-ethics concern and may be addressed under the journal's Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy.

14. Policy Updates

This policy may be reviewed and updated when necessary to reflect developments in scholarly publishing standards, research ethics, and best practices.

Any significant changes to the policy will be clearly stated on the journal's website.

Journal:
AL-ĪMĀN Research Journal (IRJ)

Publisher:
Hira Institute of Social Sciences Research & Development