CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

How Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan handles competing interests in research, review, and publication

This policy explains how Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan (AKUA) handles competing interests that could affect the reporting, the evaluation, or the publication of research. Its aims are a transparent editorial process and the protection of the scholarly record. On this page the terms “conflict of interest” and “competing interest” have the same meaning.

A statement is always required

Every manuscript needs a competing interests statement. If the authors have nothing to declare, the statement says so. Declaring an interest lets the editors and the readers judge the work with full information.

Competing interests statement
One statement for the whole manuscript
Funding statement
Required, and separate from the first statement
Where to place them
In the Acknowledgements, as the final paragraphs
Editors and reviewers
Disclose before accepting, and decline if the conflict disqualifies

1. What Is a Competing Interest

A competing interest is any relationship, circumstance, or activity that could influence, or could reasonably appear to influence, the way in which research is conducted, reported, reviewed, or edited.

Disclosure is protective and it is not an accusation. Declaring an interest does not mean that bias or misconduct occurred.

2. Interests That Should Be Disclosed

Disclose the following interests when they are relevant to a manuscript, or to an editorial or review assignment.

Type of interest Examples
Financial relationships Employment, consultancy, honoraria, ownership of shares, patents, royalties, or other commercial benefits. For example, a benefit from a company, a bank or another financial institution, an audit or accounting firm, or a developer of accounting or financial software, or shares in an organization that the study examines.
Funding and sponsorship Research funding, paid expert work, or the involvement of a sponsor in the study. For example, funding from a government office, a foundation, a company, a financial institution, or a university.
Personal and professional relationships A close personal, supervisory, collaborative, or professional relationship with an author, a reviewer, or an editor. For example, a supervisor and a student, close colleagues, or recent coauthors.
Interest in the subject of the study Having designed, developed, or sold the model, the instrument, the software, or the tool that is evaluated, or studying your own employer, client, or institution in a way that may affect objectivity.
Editorial and journal ties An editorial appointment or another tie with the journal that may require a manuscript to be handled independently.
An ordinary scholarly disagreement is not, by itself, treated as a disqualifying conflict.

3. Author Responsibilities

1
Every author must disclose any interest that is relevant to the submitted work.
2
The corresponding author compiles one competing interests statement for the whole manuscript.
3
If there are no competing interests, the statement must say so.
4
Authors must also state the sources of funding. The funding statement names the sources of support, the funding organizations, and the grant numbers, and it states whether the funder had any role, for example in the study design, in the collection and analysis of data, or in the preparation of the manuscript.
5
The funding statement does not replace the competing interests statement. Both are required.

◆ Where to place the statements

In the Acknowledgements

The article template has no separate sections for these statements. Write both of them in the Acknowledgements section, as its final paragraphs. Include the Acknowledgements section even if there is nothing else to acknowledge.

1
Conclusion
2
Acknowledgements, with both statements as the final paragraphs
3
References
◆ Examples of wording
No competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
A competing interest is declared
The first author is employed by [organization], which developed the accounting software that was evaluated in the study. The other authors declare no competing interests.
Funding
This study was funded by [funder] under grant number [number]. The funder had no role in the study design, in the collection and analysis of data, or in the preparation of the manuscript.
Replace the text in square brackets with the real details. A statement must describe the real situation.

4. Editors and Reviewers

What editors and reviewers must do
4.1 Editors
◆
Disclose any relevant interest before accepting an assignment, and inform the journal promptly if an interest arises later.
◆
An editor whose impartiality may be compromised must not make decisions on that manuscript.
◆
This also applies to a manuscript that is submitted by an editor or by a member of the editorial board. An uninvolved editor handles such a manuscript, and the editor who is the author does not take part in its evaluation or in the decision.
4.2 Reviewers
◆
Disclose any relevant interest before accepting an invitation to review, and tell the journal promptly if an interest arises later.
◆
A reviewer who has a disqualifying conflict must decline the review or withdraw from it.
◆
Examples are a close personal or supervisory relationship with an author, a recent collaboration with an author, or a competing interest in the subject of the manuscript.
◆
See also the Peer Review Process page.
4.3 When a conflict is declared
When an editor or a reviewer declares a conflict, an editor who is not affected decides whether safeguards are sufficient, or whether the assignment should go to someone else.

5. Assessment and Late Disclosure

◆
Each declared interest is assessed for its relevance and for its possible effect on the work or on the editorial process.
◆
The outcome may be one of the following.
Publishing the disclosure with the articleRequesting an independent assessmentReplacing the editor or the reviewer who is involved
◆
If a declaration is missing, incomplete, or inaccurate, or if an interest is disclosed after submission or after publication, the journal considers the circumstances in context.
◆
Material concerns are handled under the following policies.
Concern Policy
Ethical duties of all parties Publication Ethics
Suspected misconduct Allegations of Misconduct
Corrections and retractions Correction and Retraction

6. Scope of This Policy

◆
This policy covers interests that are connected with research and with its assessment.
◆
Author fees and the ownership of the journal are described on separate pages.
◆
Commercial considerations do not influence editorial decisions, as stated in the Publication Ethics policy.
Topic Page
Author fees Author Fees
Ownership and management of the journal Ownership and Management

Related Pages and Enquiries

Topic Page
Where the statements belong in the manuscript Manuscript Preparation and Author Guidelines
Contributions and authorship Authorship and Contributorship
Review of manuscripts Peer Review Process
Ethical duties of all parties Publication Ethics
Questions about a disclosure

Send questions about this policy or about a specific disclosure to the AKUA editorial office at jurnal.akua@gmail.com.

Manuscript PreparationPublication EthicsAuthor Guidelines