Conflict of Interest Policy

Al Qalam: Jurnal Ilmiah Keagamaan dan Kemasyarakatan, published by Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Al-Qur'an Amuntai (STIQ Amuntai), is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, and integrity throughout the scholarly publishing process. The journal recognizes that conflicts of interest may influence, or be perceived to influence, the impartiality of research findings, manuscript evaluation, and editorial decisions. Therefore, all individuals involved in the publication process, including authors, peer reviewers, editors, and editorial board members, are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest in accordance with the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Definition and Scope of Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest arises when an individual's professional judgment, research activities, or editorial responsibilities may be influenced by financial, personal, professional, institutional, or other competing interests. Such conflicts may be actual, potential, or perceived and may affect the credibility, objectivity, or independence of scholarly publications.

Financial conflicts of interest may include research funding, employment relationships, consultancy arrangements, honoraria, sponsorships, or other financial benefits associated with the research. Non-financial conflicts may involve personal relationships, academic competition, institutional affiliations, professional collaborations, intellectual commitments, or circumstances that could compromise impartial decision-making.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not automatically indicate misconduct. However, transparent disclosure is essential to ensure that potential influences can be appropriately identified, evaluated, and managed.

Responsibilities of Authors

All authors submitting manuscripts to Al Qalam: Jurnal Ilmiah Keagamaan dan Kemasyarakatan must disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the design, implementation, interpretation, or reporting of their research.

Authors are required to provide a clear conflict of interest statement during manuscript submission, including relevant financial support, sponsorship arrangements, institutional relationships, or other competing interests. Where no conflicts exist, authors should explicitly declare:

"The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article."

Authors must ensure that all disclosures are accurate and complete and promptly notify the editorial office if any relevant conflicts arise or become known during the review or publication process.

Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers are expected to conduct manuscript evaluations independently, objectively, and confidentially. Before accepting a review invitation, reviewers must disclose any personal, financial, academic, or professional relationships that could affect their ability to provide an impartial assessment.

Potential conflicts may include close personal relationships with the authors, recent research collaborations, direct academic competition, financial interests, or institutional circumstances that could compromise the reviewer's independence. Reviewers who identify significant conflicts of interest must notify the editorial team and decline or withdraw from the review assignment when impartiality cannot be reasonably maintained.

Reviewers must not use confidential manuscript information for personal, professional, or financial advantage.

Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members are responsible for ensuring that all editorial decisions are based on the scholarly merit, methodological quality, originality, and relevance of submitted manuscripts. Editorial decisions must remain independent of personal relationships, institutional interests, financial considerations, or external influences.

Editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest associated with manuscripts under their responsibility. When a significant conflict exists, the editor concerned must withdraw from the evaluation and decision-making process, and the manuscript should be assigned to another qualified editor without the relevant conflict.

Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members, or individuals with close professional relationships to the editorial team must undergo an independent and impartial editorial and peer-review process. The publisher must not improperly influence editorial decisions based on commercial, institutional, or personal interests.

Disclosure and Management of Conflicts of Interest

The journal requires all relevant conflicts of interest to be declared at the appropriate stage of manuscript submission, peer review, and editorial evaluation. The editorial team will assess disclosed interests and determine whether additional safeguards are necessary to maintain the integrity and independence of the publication process.

Such measures may include assigning independent reviewers, replacing conflicted editors, requesting additional disclosures, or implementing other appropriate procedures to prevent potential bias.

Relevant author declarations will be included in published articles to promote transparency and enable readers to evaluate possible competing interests. If an undisclosed conflict is identified after publication, the editorial team will investigate the circumstances and may issue a correction, editorial notice, or other appropriate action in accordance with applicable publication ethics guidelines.

Commitment to Publication Ethics

Al Qalam: Jurnal Ilmiah Keagamaan dan Kemasyarakatan is committed to ensuring that financial, personal, institutional, or professional interests do not compromise the integrity of scholarly research or the independence of editorial decisions. The journal refers to the ethical principles and recommendations of COPE and ICMJE in identifying, disclosing, evaluating, and managing potential conflicts of interest.

Through the implementation of this policy, the journal seeks to strengthen accountability, promote fair and transparent peer review, and maintain the trust of authors, reviewers, readers, and the wider academic community.

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