Conflict of Interest

Jurnal Perkotaan is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, and integrity throughout the research, peer-review, editorial, and publication processes. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment or actions concerning a manuscript may be influenced, or may reasonably be perceived to be influenced, by financial, personal, professional, academic, institutional, political, or other competing interests. The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily imply misconduct. However, relevant competing interests must be disclosed transparently so that editors, reviewers, and readers can assess whether they may have influenced the research or publication process.

Conflicts of Interest for Authors

Authors must disclose all relationships, circumstances, or interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the design, conduct, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of their research.

Potential conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:

employment or consultancy relationships;
research funding or financial sponsorship;
grants, honoraria, speaker fees, or travel support;
stock ownership, equity interests, or other financial investments;
patents, intellectual property rights, royalties, or licensing interests;
paid advisory or board membership;
close personal or family relationships;
academic or professional rivalry;
supervisory or mentoring relationships;
institutional affiliations that may create competing interests;
political, ideological, advocacy, or organizational involvement relevant to the research topic; and
any other relationship that could reasonably be perceived as affecting the objectivity of the research.

Authors should disclose both actual and potential conflicts of interest.

A relationship does not need to have demonstrably influenced the research to require disclosure. When uncertain, authors are encouraged to disclose the relationship and allow the Editorial Team to determine its relevance.

Conflict of Interest Statement

All submitted manuscripts must include a Conflict of Interest statement.

If no conflict exists, authors should state:

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to this study or its publication.

If a conflict exists, it should be described clearly and specifically.

For example:

Conflict of Interest: Author A has received research funding from [Organization]. Author B serves as an unpaid adviser to [Organization]. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically prevent publication. The Editorial Team will assess whether the disclosed interest could materially affect the credibility, interpretation, or evaluation of the work.

Funding and Financial Relationships

Authors must report all sources of financial support for the research. Funding information should be reported separately in the manuscript's Funding statement. Where a funder or sponsor had a role in the study, authors should describe that role, including involvement in study design; data collection; data analysis; interpretation of findings; manuscript preparation; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. If the funder had no role in these activities, authors are encouraged to state this explicitly.

Conflict of Interest for Reviewers

Peer reviewers must conduct reviews objectively and independently. Reviewers should decline an invitation or notify the editor if they have a conflict of interest that could interfere with, or reasonably appear to interfere with, their ability to provide an impartial assessment. Potential reviewer conflicts may include:

current employment at the same institution as one or more authors;
recent collaboration or co-authorship with an author;
current or recent research collaboration;
direct supervisory, mentoring, or student relationships;
close personal or family relationships;
significant professional competition or personal disputes;
financial interests related to the subject of the manuscript;
involvement in the research being evaluated;
participation in the same research project, grant, consortium, or closely related work; or
any circumstance in which the reviewer believes that an independent review would be difficult.

A previous acquaintance with an author does not automatically constitute a conflict of interest, but reviewers should disclose any relationship that may reasonably raise concerns about impartiality.

When in doubt, reviewers should inform the Editorial Team before accepting the review assignment.

Reviewer Confidentiality and Competing Interests

Reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal, academic, financial, or competitive advantage. Reviewers must also not delay, obstruct, or manipulate the review process for personal or professional benefit. Any conflict discovered after accepting a review assignment should be reported immediately to the editor. The Editorial Team may assign the manuscript to another reviewer if necessary.

Conflict of Interest for Editors

Editors must make editorial decisions based solely on the scholarly merit, relevance, methodological quality, originality, ethical integrity, and suitability of the manuscript for Jurnal Perkotaan.

Editors should not handle a manuscript when they have a conflict of interest that could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their impartiality. In such circumstances, responsibility for the manuscript should be transferred to another editor who does not have a relevant conflict.

Manuscripts Submitted by Editors or Editorial Board Members

Editors, Editorial Board members, and individuals involved in the management of Jurnal Perkotaan are not prohibited from submitting manuscripts to the journal.

However, such manuscripts must be handled through an independent editorial process.

The submitting editor or board member must not:

participate in reviewer selection;
access confidential reviewer identities where this would not normally be permitted;
influence the editorial decision;
participate in discussions concerning acceptance or rejection; or
use their editorial position to affect the manuscript's processing.

The manuscript should be assigned to another qualified editor who has no conflict of interest.

Where appropriate, the published article may include a statement explaining that the author holds an editorial role with the journal and had no involvement in the review or decision-making process.

Institutional Conflicts of Interest

Institutional affiliation alone does not automatically constitute a conflict in every circumstance. However, editors should consider whether institutional relationships create a reasonable perception of bias. Where authors and potential reviewers or editors are closely connected through the same department, research unit, laboratory, project, or institutional hierarchy, alternative reviewers or editors should normally be selected. The journal may also consider recent institutional relationships when assessing possible conflicts.