Editorial Conflict of Interest and Recusal Policy

This policy applies to the Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Director, associate or section editors, Editorial and Advisory Board members, guest editors, reviewers, journal staff, publisher officials, and any person participating in an editorial decision.

 

Conflicts requiring disclosure or recusal

A conflict may be personal, family-related, supervisory, academic, professional, institutional, collaborative, competitive, ideological, or financial. Relevant examples include recent co-authorship, current collaboration, direct supervision, close personal relationships, employment in the same unit, direct competition, financial interest in the outcome, or involvement in the reported work.

 

Required safeguards

A conflicted person must disclose the conflict promptly and must not access the manuscript, select or contact reviewers, view confidential reports, participate in discussion, influence the decision, or approve acceptance. OJS permissions must be restricted where technically possible. The recusal and reassignment must be recorded in a confidential log.

 

Independent handling

Manuscripts involving a journal editor, board member, reviewer, staff member, publisher official, or Thamar University colleague must be assigned to a qualified independent editor with no relevant conflict and reviewed by at least two independent experts. The author must receive no preferential treatment because of role, affiliation, fee discount, or waiver status.

 

When the Editor-in-Chief is conflicted

When the Editor-in-Chief is an author, has a conflict, is the subject of a complaint, or is unable to act independently, responsibility transfers to the Section editor for the related scientific area scope. The conflicted Editor-in-Chief must have no access to the file or decision.

 

Separation of Editorial Board and Peer-Review Roles

TUJNAS maintains a formal separation between Editorial Board membership and peer-review responsibilities. Editorial Board members do not act as peer reviewers for manuscripts submitted to TUJNAS. Manuscripts that pass initial editorial screening are evaluated by at least two independent expert reviewers selected based on subject expertise, independence, and absence of conflicts of interest. Editorial Board members may advise on journal policy, scope, governance, and editorial development but do not replace, constitute, or count as the independent reviewers required for a manuscript.

 

Financial separation

Editors and reviewers must not have access to waiver requests, ability-to-pay information, invoices, payment status, or refund discussions while a manuscript is under consideration. Financial decisions are made by the Financial Office of the journal.