Conflict of Interest Policy

JUISI: Jurnal Ilmiah Sistem Informasi maintains a conflict of interest policy to safeguard objectivity, transparency, and credibility throughout the research and scholarly publication process. This policy applies to authors, editors, reviewers, and other parties involved in manuscript evaluation and publication.

A conflict of interest arises when scientific judgments or professional responsibilities may be influenced by secondary interests, including financial, institutional, professional, or personal relationships. Such conflicts may be actual, potential, or perceived.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not automatically result in manuscript rejection. However, all relevant relationships and interests must be appropriately disclosed to enable objective assessment and effective management.

1. Types of Conflicts of Interest

JUISI recognizes several categories of conflicts of interest relevant to Information Systems research:

  1. Financial Interests: Research funding, consultancy fees, software royalties, share ownership, or other financial benefits associated with the research or its findings.

  2. Institutional Interests: Relationships with organizations, companies, or institutions that may directly benefit from the research outcomes or publication decisions.

  3. Professional Interests: Employment relationships, research collaborations, academic competition, or involvement in projects that may compromise independent judgment.

  4. Personal Interests: Family relationships, close personal connections, or other associations that may influence the objectivity of authors, editors, or reviewers.

  5. Technological and Commercial Interests: Relationships with software vendors, digital platform providers, information system developers, or technology companies whose products or services are evaluated in the research.

  6. Data and Research Outcome Interests: Restrictions on data access, sponsor control over research analysis, or organizational pressure to produce particular findings.

These interests must be evaluated according to their relevance and potential influence on the research or editorial process.

2. Disclosure Requirements for Authors

All authors must disclose relationships or interests that could reasonably influence, or be perceived as influencing, the design, implementation, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of their research.

Disclosure must be provided during manuscript submission through a conflict of interest statement or other documentation required by the journal.

Relevant disclosures include:

  • Research funding and financial support.

  • Employment or consultancy relationships with organizations associated with the research.

  • Commercial interests in information systems, software applications, or technological products being evaluated.

  • Professional or institutional relationships that may affect the interpretation of findings.

  • The role of sponsors in research design, data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions.

In studies involving information system development or evaluation, authors must disclose whether the evaluated system was developed by the researchers or belongs to an organization with which they are affiliated, particularly when such relationships could affect the independence of the evaluation.

Authors are responsible for updating their disclosures if relevant circumstances change during the editorial process.

3. Conflicts of Interest in Peer Review

Reviewers must conduct their assessments independently, objectively, and exclusively on the basis of scientific merit.

Before accepting a review assignment, reviewers must inform the editor of any relationships or interests that could compromise their impartiality.

Potential conflicts may arise when reviewers:

  • Have close professional relationships or ongoing research collaborations with the authors.

  • Participate in the development or management of the information system under investigation.

  • Have commercial interests in technologies or products being evaluated.

  • Maintain personal relationships or professional rivalries that could influence their assessments.

  • May benefit directly from the acceptance, rejection, or publication of the manuscript.

Reviewers with significant conflicts of interest must decline or withdraw from the assignment.

The peer review process must not be used to obtain personal advantages, promote reviewers' publications through unjustified citation requests, or advance professional interests unrelated to scholarly assessment.

4. Editorial Independence and Responsibilities

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for ensuring that manuscript evaluation and publication decisions remain free from inappropriate influences.

Editors must disclose financial, institutional, professional, or personal interests relevant to manuscripts under their supervision.

Editors with significant conflicts of interest must transfer responsibility for the manuscript to another qualified and independent editor.

Manuscripts submitted by Editorial Board members must undergo independent editorial evaluation. Editorial members who are authors or have direct interests in a submission must not participate in reviewer selection or editorial decisions concerning that manuscript.

Acceptance and rejection decisions must be based on originality, methodological quality, scholarly contribution, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal's scope.

5. Relationships with the Publisher and Research Sponsors

STIE STEKOM, as the publisher of JUISI, supports editorial independence and transparency in scholarly publishing.

The publisher, research sponsors, and other organizations providing financial or institutional support must not exert inappropriate pressure on editors to accept or reject manuscripts or to modify research conclusions.

Payment of an Article Processing Charge (APC), where applicable, does not provide preferential treatment during manuscript evaluation and does not guarantee publication.

Financial and institutional support must be transparently acknowledged and must not be used to conceal relevant competing interests.

6. Identification and Management of Conflicts of Interest

JUISI addresses conflicts of interest according to their nature, significance, and potential impact on research objectivity and publication integrity.

When a conflict of interest is identified, the editorial team may:

  1. Request clarification or additional disclosure from the relevant parties.

  2. Assign an alternative independent editor or reviewer.

  3. Request information regarding the involvement of sponsors or interested organizations.

  4. Require additional evaluation of research methods, data, or conclusions.

  5. Suspend editorial consideration when further examination is necessary.

  6. Determine proportionate editorial measures based on the available evidence.

The purpose of conflict of interest management is not to restrict legitimate research collaboration but to ensure that relevant relationships do not undermine confidence in scholarly findings.

7. Failure to Disclose Conflicts of Interest

Failure to disclose relevant competing interests may constitute a publication ethics concern, particularly when undisclosed relationships materially affect the assessment of research independence or reliability.

If an undisclosed conflict is identified, the editorial team will examine the circumstances and provide the relevant parties with an opportunity to respond.

Possible actions include requesting additional disclosure, revising the conflict of interest statement, postponing editorial decisions, or implementing other proportionate measures.

For published articles, JUISI may issue a correction to the conflict of interest statement when appropriate. Where serious misconduct affecting the article's reliability is established, further action may be taken in accordance with the journal's Allegations of Research Misconduct Policy and Correction and Retraction Policy.

8. Conflict of Interest Statement

All submitted manuscripts must include a declaration of competing interests that accurately reflects the authors' circumstances.

If no relevant conflicts of interest exist, authors may use the following statement:

Conflict of Interest Statement

"The authors declare that they have no competing interests that could have influenced the research or the findings presented in this manuscript."

Where conflicts of interest exist, authors must provide a clear description of the relevant relationships, the parties involved, and their connection to the research.

The declaration must be accurate, complete, and approved by all authors.

9. Commitment to Editorial Transparency

JUISI is committed to implementing conflict of interest management consistently, fairly, and proportionately to protect the integrity of research and scholarly publication.

All parties participating in the editorial process are responsible for disclosing relevant interests, maintaining independent judgment, and avoiding conduct that could undermine confidence in scientific publishing.

This policy supports transparent and accountable journal governance while promoting the quality, credibility, and independence of Information Systems research.