Conflict of Interest Policy

Arado Business Journal (ABJ) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and transparency in scholarly publishing. This policy ensures that all parties involved in the publication process—authors, reviewers, and editors—disclose any conflicts of interest that could potentially influence research outcomes or editorial decisions.

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, including but not limited to:

Financial gain (funding, employment, consultancies, stock ownership)
Personal relationships (family, close collaborators)
Academic competition or institutional rivalry
Intellectual bias toward specific theories or methods

Author Disclosure Requirements

All authors submitting manuscripts to ABJ must declare any potential conflicts of interest at the time of submission. This includes:

Financial relationships: Grants, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership, patent rights, or any financial support related to the research.
Institutional affiliations: Current employment, advisory roles, or board memberships that may relate to the research topic.
Personal relationships: Any familial or close personal relationships with editors, reviewers, or individuals mentioned in the manuscript.
Previous work: Prior publications or ongoing projects on the same topic that may create intellectual bias.

Declaration Format:
Authors must include a statement in their manuscript using one of the following formats:

"The authors declare no competing interests."
"The authors declare the following interests: [specify details]."

This statement will be published alongside the article if accepted.

Reviewer Obligations

Reviewers play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of the peer review process. Reviewers must recuse themselves from reviewing a manuscript if any of the following conditions apply:

They have co-authored a publication with any of the authors in the past 3 years.
They are direct competitors in the same research field or have a vested interest in the outcome.
They have personal relationships with any of the authors (e.g., family members, close friends, or colleagues at the same institution).
They have a financial interest in the research or its outcomes (e.g., patent rights, consulting agreements).

If a conflict of interest arises during the review process, the reviewer must immediately notify the editorial office.

Editorial Team Responsibilities

Editors and members of the editorial board are expected to uphold the highest ethical standards. The following policies apply:

Editorial abstention: Editors must abstain from handling manuscripts submitted by colleagues from their own institutions or by individuals with whom they have close personal or professional relationships.
Annual disclosure: All editorial board members must submit an annual declaration of interests, which will be published in the January issue of each volume.
Independent decision-making: Editorial decisions must be based solely on the manuscript's academic merit, methodological rigor, and relevance to the journal's scope, without influence from external pressures or personal interests.

Handling Undisclosed Conflicts

If a conflict of interest is discovered after publication, ABJ will take appropriate corrective action, including:

Post-publication corrections: If the undisclosed conflict is minor and does not affect the validity of the research, a correction notice will be published.
Expression of concern: If the undisclosed conflict raises questions about the research's integrity, an expression of concern may be issued pending investigation.
Retraction: In cases of deliberate concealment of significant conflicts that undermine the research's credibility, the article may be retracted in accordance with COPE guidelines.
Reviewer database removal: Reviewers who repeatedly fail to disclose conflicts of interest will be removed from the journal's reviewer pool.

Compliance Standards

This policy aligns with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on conflict of interest management.