Conflict of Interest Policy

The Journal of Environmental Impact and Management Policy (JEIMP) requires that all parties involved in the publication process — authors, reviewers, and editors — disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence the results, interpretation, or publication of research.

  1. Definition

A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain, personal relationships, academic competition, or institutional affiliation).

  1. For Authors

All authors must disclose, at the time of submission, any financial or non-financial interests that could be perceived as influencing their work. This includes: funding sources (grants, commercial sponsorship); employment or consultancy with organisations that may benefit from the research; personal relationships with editors or reviewers; and equity holdings or patent applications related to the research topic.

A 'Conflict of Interest Statement' section must be included in the manuscript. If no conflicts exist, authors must explicitly state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."

  1. For Peer Reviewers

Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if they have: collaborated with any of the authors in the preceding three years; a supervisory or student relationship with any author; a financial interest in the outcome of the research; or a personal conflict that would prevent objective assessment. Reviewers must declare any potential conflicts to the handling editor before accepting a review assignment.

  1. For Editors

Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest. In such cases, the manuscript will be reassigned to another editor or a guest editor. Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for their own research without the explicit written consent of the authors.

  1. Disclosure

Declared conflicts of interest are published at the end of the article under the heading 'Conflict of Interest Statement.' The journal will not reject an article solely because a conflict of interest is declared; however, undisclosed conflicts that are later revealed may result in retraction.