👩‍🔬 Conflicts of Interest for Authors

Authors must disclose all relationships or interests that could be viewed as a conflict of interest, including but not limited to:

• Financial interests (e.g., employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership, patents, grants, or funding)
• Personal relationships or professional affiliations that may influence the research
• Institutional, political, or academic interests related to the submitted work
• Non-financial conflicts that could affect objectivity or interpretation of results

All conflicts of interest must be declared at the time of submission using a Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure Statement.

If no conflicts exist, authors must explicitly state:

“The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

🧪 Conflicts of Interest for Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest that may compromise their ability to provide an objective and unbiased review, including:

• Recent collaboration or co-authorship with the authors
• Affiliation with the same institution as the authors
• Financial or personal interests related to the manuscript
• Competitive, academic, or ideological conflicts

Reviewers with conflicts must decline the review invitation or notify the editorial office immediately.

🏛 Conflicts of Interest for Editors

• Editors and editorial board members must:
  • Recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a conflict of interest exists
  • Avoid making editorial decisions on submissions from:
    • Their own institution
    • Close collaborators
    • Personal or professional associates
  • Disclose relevant conflicts to the publisher or Editor-in-Chief

Alternative editors will be assigned to ensure impartial handling of the manuscript.

🔍 Management of Conflicts of Interest

When a conflict of interest is disclosed or identified:

• The editorial office will assess the nature and extent of the conflict
• Appropriate actions may include:
  • Reassignment of editors or reviewers
  • Additional independent peer review
  • Disclosure of the conflict in the published article

Failure to disclose conflicts of interest may result in manuscript rejection, correction, or retraction, depending on severity.

⚖️ Transparency and Ethical Compliance

Lumina Quest Publishing follows the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to manage conflicts of interest fairly and transparently.

All disclosed conflicts are handled confidentially and in accordance with ethical publishing standards.

📌 Policy Applicability

This Conflicts of Interest Policy applies to all journals published by Lumina Quest Publishing, unless otherwise stated on an individual journal’s webpage.