Conflict of Interest Policy

Pedagogia: Jurnal Ilmiah Pendidikan is committed to ensuring that all published research is objective, unbiased, and free from any undue influence. In accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), we require complete transparency from all parties involved in the publication process—authors, reviewers, and editors—regarding any potential conflicts of interest.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest (Competing Interests)

A conflict of interest (CoI) exists when professional judgment concerning the validity of research is, or may reasonably be perceived to be, influenced by secondary interests. These conflicts can be:

  • Financial Interests: Employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding.

  • Non-Financial Interests: Close personal or professional relationships, academic rivalry, direct supervisory relationships, or strong political/religious beliefs that could compromise objectivity.

2. Authors' Responsibilities

Authors must ensure full transparency regarding any relationships or interests that could influence their work.

  • Mandatory Declaration: All authors must explicitly state any potential conflicts of interest in a dedicated Declaration of Competing Interest section at the end of the manuscript, immediately before the References.

  • No Conflict Scenario: If no conflict exists, the authors must explicitly state: "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper."

  • Funding Disclosures: All sources of financial support for the research must be fully disclosed, including the sponsor's specific role in study design, data collection, analysis, or the decision to submit the article for publication.

3. Reviewers' Responsibilities

The Double-Blind Peer Review process at Pedagogia is designed to minimize bias. However, reviewers must actively evaluate their own potential conflicts.

  • Duty to Decline: Invited reviewers must decline the invitation to review a manuscript if they suspect a conflict of interest, such as recognizing the authors’ identity despite the blinded format, having recently collaborated with the authors, or sharing the same institutional affiliation.

  • Declaration to the Editor: If a reviewer is unsure whether a specific situation constitutes a conflict, they must immediately contact the Editor-in-Chief at [email protected] for guidance before proceeding with the review.

  • Confidentiality: Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work they are reviewing to further their own academic or financial interests.

4. Editors' Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for ensuring the integrity of the review process and must avoid handling manuscripts where their own conflicts of interest are present.

  • Editor Recusal: An editor (including the Editor-in-Chief or Section Editors) will recuse themselves from the editorial and decision-making process of a manuscript if they have a financial, personal, or collaborative conflict of interest with any of the authors.

  • Submissions by Editorial Board Members: If an editor or editorial board member submits a manuscript to Pedagogia, the peer-review process will be handled by an independent editor who is entirely separate from the author. The submitting editor will have no access to the review process, reviewer identities, or decision-making channels for that specific manuscript in the Open Journal Systems (OJS) portal.

5. Handling Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If a potential conflict of interest is discovered after a manuscript has been accepted or published:

  • The Editorial Board will immediately investigate the matter in strict adherence to the applicable COPE Flowcharts.

  • If an undisclosed conflict is found to have significantly compromised the integrity or objectivity of the research, the journal reserves the right to issue a formal Corrigendum, publish an Expression of Concern, or, in severe cases, execute a Retraction of the published article.