Conflict of Interest

BANUA: Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan 

BANUA: Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan is committed to maintaining objectivity, transparency, fairness, accountability, and editorial independence throughout the research, manuscript submission, peer-review, and publication processes.

The journal requires all authors, reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in scholarly publishing to disclose any relationships, interests, or circumstances that may influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their professional judgment, research activities, scientific interpretations, or editorial decisions.

A conflict of interest, also referred to as a competing interest, occurs when financial, professional, institutional, personal, academic, or other relationships may affect the conduct, evaluation, interpretation, or reporting of scientific research.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived. The existence of a conflict does not necessarily indicate unethical conduct. However, transparent disclosure is essential to maintaining the credibility, reliability, and integrity of published scientific findings.

BANUA recognizes that conflicts of interest may arise in environmental health research, particularly in studies involving environmental pollution, industrial activities, occupational exposure, waste management, environmental monitoring, environmental health technologies, and public health interventions.

All relevant interests must be disclosed to ensure that research findings and publication decisions remain independent and scientifically justified.

1. Authors

Authors must disclose all actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may be relevant to their research and manuscript preparation.

These interests may include:

  1. Financial Interests: Research grants, financial support, consultancy fees, honoraria, employment, commercial sponsorship, stock ownership, patents, royalties, or other financial relationships.

  2. Institutional Relationships: Affiliations, partnerships, or institutional arrangements that may influence the research process, interpretation of findings, or reporting of results.

  3. Professional and Academic Interests: Professional collaborations, academic competition, advisory positions, or relationships that may affect independent scientific judgment.

  4. Personal Relationships: Family relationships, close personal associations, or other connections that may influence research decisions or manuscript preparation.

  5. Commercial Interests: Relationships with companies, industries, environmental consulting organizations, laboratory service providers, or manufacturers of environmental monitoring and sanitation technologies.

  6. Other Relevant Interests: Any circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research objectives, study design, data collection, statistical analysis, interpretation, or conclusions.

In environmental health research, authors must disclose relevant relationships with industries, environmental service providers, regulatory organizations, or other entities that may have a direct interest in the research findings.

Authors must also disclose relevant financial support and explain the role of funding organizations in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decisions when applicable.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have disclosed relevant competing interests and that the information provided is accurate, complete, and consistent with the journal's submission requirements.

Any newly identified conflicts of interest must be communicated to the editorial office before publication.

2. Reviewers

Peer reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest before accepting an invitation to review a manuscript.

Such conflicts may include financial relationships, professional collaborations, institutional affiliations, academic competition, personal relationships, or other circumstances that could compromise the independence and objectivity of the review process.

Reviewers should not accept assignments when:

  1. They have financial or commercial interests directly related to the research.

  2. They have close personal or professional relationships with the authors.

  3. They are currently affiliated with the same institution as the authors or have other institutional relationships that may compromise impartiality.

  4. They have recent or ongoing research collaborations with the authors that may influence their judgment.

  5. They have academic or professional interests that could interfere with an objective evaluation.

  6. They cannot provide an independent and unbiased scientific assessment.

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts solely on the basis of scientific quality, methodological rigor, originality, relevance, and ethical compliance.

If a potential conflict becomes apparent after accepting a review assignment, the reviewer must promptly inform the handling editor.

The editor will determine whether the reviewer may continue the assessment or should withdraw from the review process.

Reviewers must not use unpublished manuscript information for personal, academic, commercial, or professional advantage.

BANUA expects reviewers to maintain confidentiality and comply with recognized principles of ethical peer review.

3. Editors

Editors and Editorial Board members must maintain editorial independence and ensure that manuscript evaluation and publication decisions are free from inappropriate financial, institutional, professional, personal, or academic influence.

Editors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest related to manuscripts under their responsibility.

Such conflicts may arise when an editor:

  1. Has a financial or commercial relationship relevant to the submitted research.

  2. Has a close personal or professional relationship with an author.

  3. Is affiliated with the same institution as an author and the relationship may affect impartiality.

  4. Has recently collaborated with an author or participated in the research presented.

  5. Has a direct academic, institutional, or commercial interest in the research findings.

  6. Has another relationship or responsibility that could compromise independent editorial judgment.

Editors must withdraw from handling manuscripts when their objectivity or independence may reasonably be questioned.

Manuscripts involving an editor as an author must be assigned to another qualified and independent editor who has no relevant conflict of interest.

The appointed editor must manage the editorial assessment, reviewer selection, and publication decision independently.

Editorial decisions must be based exclusively on scientific merit, methodological quality, relevance to the journal's scope, research integrity, and compliance with publication ethics requirements.

No editor may use their position to influence manuscript acceptance, rejection, reviewer selection, or publication outcomes for personal, institutional, academic, or financial benefit.

4. Disclosure Statement

BANUA requires all submitted manuscripts to include a clearly identified Conflict of Interest statement.

This statement must accurately reflect the circumstances of all authors and disclose any relationships or interests that may reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.

The statement must be included in the manuscript in accordance with the journal's Author Guidelines.

When No Conflict of Interest Exists

Authors must use the following declaration:

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

When a Conflict of Interest Exists

Authors must clearly identify and describe the relevant competing interests.

The following statement may be adapted:

Conflict of Interest

The author(s) declare the following potential conflict(s) of interest: [DESCRIPTION OF RELEVANT FINANCIAL, PROFESSIONAL, INSTITUTIONAL, PERSONAL, OR OTHER INTERESTS]. The author(s) confirm that these interests have been disclosed transparently and that responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and interpretation of the research findings remains with the authors.

The declaration must provide sufficient information to allow editors, reviewers, and readers to evaluate the potential influence of the disclosed relationships.

A separate Funding Statement must identify research funding sources and relevant grant information when applicable.

Financial support must not be concealed or reported inaccurately. Authors must also disclose the role of funding organizations when their involvement could influence the research process or interpretation of findings.

5. Management of Conflicts of Interest

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically result in manuscript rejection or disqualification from the publication process.

The Editorial Board will evaluate the nature, relevance, and potential consequences of each disclosed conflict to determine whether appropriate safeguards are necessary.

Depending on the circumstances, BANUA may implement one or more of the following measures:

  1. Request additional information or clarification regarding disclosed relationships or competing interests.

  2. Require authors to revise or expand their Conflict of Interest statement.

  3. Assign an independent editor to manage a manuscript when the original handling editor has a relevant conflict.

  4. Replace a reviewer whose financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships may compromise the independence of the review process.

  5. Request clarification regarding the role of funding organizations or other interested parties in the research.

  6. Apply additional editorial safeguards to ensure objective manuscript evaluation and transparent decision-making.

  7. Suspend manuscript processing when serious concerns require further investigation.

  8. Take appropriate editorial action when relevant conflicts have been deliberately concealed or misrepresented.

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest may constitute a violation of the journal's publication ethics requirements.

When an undisclosed conflict is identified before publication, the editorial team may request clarification, require corrections, reconsider the review arrangements, or take other proportionate measures.

When a significant undisclosed conflict is discovered after publication, BANUA may investigate the circumstances and issue a correction or other appropriate post-publication notice.

In serious cases where an undisclosed conflict is associated with compromised research integrity, unreliable findings, or substantial publication misconduct, further editorial action may be necessary.

All decisions will be based on the available evidence and handled fairly, transparently, and consistently with recognized publication ethics standards.

BANUA: Jurnal Kesehatan Lingkungan follows relevant principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in identifying, disclosing, and managing conflicts of interest.

The journal remains committed to ensuring that all research findings, peer-review assessments, and editorial decisions are conducted independently and without inappropriate influence.