Conflict of Interest

Fundamental Scientific Reports in Multidisciplinary Areas (FSRMA) is committed to maintaining transparency, impartiality, and integrity throughout the editorial, peer-review, and publication process.

A conflict of interest, also referred to as a competing interest, exists when financial, professional, personal, academic, institutional, intellectual, or other relationships have the potential to influence, or could reasonably be perceived as influencing, an individual's judgment, conduct, or decisions in relation to scholarly work.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily imply misconduct. However, all relevant competing interests must be disclosed so that they can be appropriately assessed and managed.

FSRMA expects authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, journal staff, and the publisher to disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

Conflicts of Interest for Authors

Authors must disclose all relationships or circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the conduct, interpretation, presentation, or publication of their research.

Potential conflicts may include, but are not limited to:

Employment or consultancy relationships.
Research grants or other financial support.
Honoraria or speaking fees.
Advisory board membership.
Stock ownership, shares, or other financial interests.
Patents, patent applications, licences, or intellectual-property interests.
Personal or family relationships.
Academic competition or rivalry.
Institutional relationships.
Professional collaborations.
Leadership or fiduciary roles in relevant organizations.
Any other relationship that could reasonably be perceived as affecting objectivity.

All relevant conflicts should be disclosed at the time of manuscript submission.

If no competing interests exist, authors should include an appropriate declaration such as:

“The authors declare that they have no competing interests.”

Disclosure of a competing interest does not automatically result in rejection of a manuscript. The editorial team will determine whether the disclosed relationship can be appropriately managed.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all sources of financial or material support related to the research.

Where applicable, authors should identify:

The name of the funding organization.
Grant or project number, where relevant.
The role of the funder in study design.
The role of the funder in data collection.
The role of the funder in data analysis or interpretation.
The role of the funder in manuscript preparation.
Whether the funder influenced the decision to submit or publish the work.

If the funder had no role in these activities, this should be stated clearly.

If the research received no specific external funding, authors may include a statement such as:

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

Conflicts of Interest for Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived competing interest before agreeing to review a manuscript.

Reviewers should normally decline a review assignment when a relationship or circumstance could prevent an independent and objective assessment.

Relevant conflicts may include:

Recent or ongoing research collaboration with an author.
Employment at the same institution as an author where this creates a meaningful conflict.
Personal, supervisory, mentoring, or family relationships.
Direct academic or professional competition.
Financial interests related to the research.
Prior involvement in the work under consideration.
Strong personal or professional relationships that could compromise impartiality.

If a reviewer discovers a competing interest after accepting the review, they should inform the editor immediately.

Reviewers must not use confidential information obtained through peer review for personal, academic, financial, or professional advantage.

Conflicts of Interest for Editors

Editors and editorial board members must disclose any competing interest that could affect their handling of a manuscript.

An editor must not make an editorial decision on a manuscript where they have a relevant conflict of interest.

Such manuscripts should be reassigned to another qualified editor who has no competing interest.

Examples may include situations where an editor:

Is an author or co-author of the manuscript.
Has recently collaborated with one or more authors.
Works closely with an author in a manner that may affect impartiality.
Has a personal or family relationship with an author.
Has a financial interest in the research or its outcome.
Has been directly involved in the research being evaluated.

If an Editor-in-Chief, editorial board member, or other member of the journal team submits a manuscript to FSRMA, the submission must be handled independently by another editor with no relevant conflict of interest.

The author's editorial role must not influence the peer-review process or publication decision.

Conflicts Involving the Publisher or Journal

The publisher, owner, sponsors, advertisers, commercial partners, and journal management must not interfere with editorial decisions concerning individual manuscripts.

Financial considerations, including Article Processing Charges or other journal income, must not determine whether an article is accepted or rejected.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly quality, relevance, validity, integrity, and applicable ethical standards.

Where the journal, publisher, or its management has a relevant competing interest concerning particular content, that interest should be appropriately disclosed and managed.

Institutional and Academic Conflicts

A shared institutional affiliation does not automatically constitute a conflict of interest in every situation. However, editors should consider whether the relationship could reasonably affect independence or create a perception of bias.

Where such a risk exists, another reviewer or editor should be selected.

Similarly, academic disagreement alone is not necessarily a competing interest, but reviewers or editors should recuse themselves where personal rivalry, hostility, or close professional competition could impair objective judgment.

Disclosure in Published Articles

Relevant conflict-of-interest declarations should be included in the published article where appropriate.

FSRMA encourages every article to contain a clearly identifiable section such as:

Conflict of Interest

If competing interests exist, they should be described transparently.

If none exist, the article should state:

“The authors declare that they have no competing interests.”

Funding declarations should also be presented clearly where applicable.

Undisclosed Conflicts Identified Before Publication

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified before publication, the journal may:

Request clarification from the relevant person.
Require an updated disclosure statement.
Reassign the manuscript to another reviewer or editor.
Repeat part of the peer-review process where necessary.
Delay the editorial decision while the matter is assessed.
Reject the manuscript where the conflict has resulted in serious ethical or editorial concerns.

The appropriate response will depend on the nature and seriousness of the conflict.

Undisclosed Conflicts Identified After Publication

If a relevant undisclosed competing interest is discovered after publication, FSRMA will assess whether the omission materially affects the interpretation, reliability, or editorial handling of the article.

Where appropriate, the journal may:

Publish a correction or disclosure notice.
Issue an expression of concern.
Conduct a formal investigation.
Contact relevant institutions or other responsible bodies.
Retract the article where serious misconduct has materially compromised the integrity or reliability of the published work.

Editorial action will be proportionate to the nature and impact of the undisclosed conflict.

Confidentiality of Disclosures

Conflict-of-interest information will be handled responsibly and disclosed publicly where transparency requires it.

Sensitive personal information that is not relevant to assessment of a competing interest should not normally be published.

Responsibility for Disclosure

The responsibility for declaring relevant competing interests rests primarily with the individual concerned.

Authors, reviewers, and editors should disclose relationships whenever there is reasonable uncertainty about whether a conflict exists.

When in doubt, disclosure is preferable to non-disclosure.

Relationship with Other Journal Policies

This policy should be read together with FSRMA's:

Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy.
Peer Review Policy.
Authorship and Contributorship Policy.
Funding Disclosure Policy.
Complaints and Appeals Policy.
Corrections and Retractions Policy.

FSRMA aims to manage all competing interests fairly, consistently, transparently, and in a manner that protects the independence and integrity of scholarly publishing.