A policy on the Conflicting of Interest pertains to a formal protocol that Journal implements, necessitating a Conflict of Interest statement or disclosure from authors submitting or publishing their work.

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) outlines in its Guidelines on Good Publication Practice (2003) that: “Conflicts of interest emerge when authors, reviewers, or editors possess interests that are not entirely evident and might impact their judgments on published content. These conflicts have been characterized as those that, when disclosed later, could lead a reasonable reader to feel misled or deceived.”

The Journal of Marketing and Management of Innovations follow the principles which outline in:

• Common Standard for Conflict of Interest Disclosure published by Center for Science in the Public Interest.
• Guidelines published on good publication and the Code of Conduct by the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE).
• Guidelines published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Authors.

Authors are required to disclose any interests directly or indirectly related to the paper submitted for publication. The disclosure should encompass interests within the last three years from the commencement of the paper, covering the research and preparation of the manuscript for submission. Additionally, interests outside this three-year timeframe must be disclosed if they could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted paper. This comprehensive disclosure aims to ensure transparency, allowing readers to form their own judgments regarding potential bias. It is essential to note that disclosing a financial relationship with an organization that sponsored the research or received compensation for consultancy work is not inherently inappropriate.

Specific interests that should be considered and disclosed include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Funding.

• Research grants from funding agencies (please specify the research funder and grant number).
• Research support, including salaries, equipment, supplies, reimbursement for attending symposia, and other expenses, provided by organizations that may gain or lose financially through the publication of the manuscript.

2. Employment. Recent, present, or anticipated employment by any organization that may gain or lose financially through the publication of this manuscript, including multiple affiliations if applicable.
3. Financial Interests.

• Stocks or shares in companies (including holdings of spouse and/or children) that may gain or lose financially through the publication.
• Consultation fees or other forms of remuneration from organizations that may gain or lose financially.
• Patents or patent applications whose value may be affected by publication.

Determining a threshold for when a financial interest becomes significant is challenging, and any figure is necessarily arbitrary. A practical guideline is: “Any undeclared financial interest that could embarrass the author if publicly known after publication.”

Non-financial Interests. Professional interests, personal relationships, or personal beliefs that could introduce bias into the submitted paper. Examples include positions on Editorial Boards, Section Editors, Managing Editors writing or consulting for educational purposes, acting as an expert witness, mentoring relationships, and other relevant factors. Primary research articles are obligated to provide a disclosure statement. Review articles, serving as expert syntheses of evidence, may be treated as authoritative works on a subject, requiring a disclosure statement. Other article types, such as editorials, book reviews, comments, may necessitate a disclosure statement based on their content. If unsure whether a specific article type requires a disclosure statement, authors should contact the Editor-in-Chief.

Funding information, recognized as a potential conflict of interest, must be disclosed upon manuscript submission in the peer review process. While this information will automatically be added to the Record of CrossMark, it is not included in the manuscript itself. The ‘Declarations’ section should summarize the provided information along with other declarations, including conflicts of interest/competing interests, ethics approval, consent, data and/or code availability, and authors’ contribution statements. If information is already mentioned elsewhere in the manuscript, authors should ensure its repetition on the ‘Declarations’ page. A single blanket statement suffices when all authors share the same (or no) conflicts and/or funding.

Reviewers.

Reviewers for Marketing and Management of Innovations play a crucial role in providing an impartial evaluation of the scientific quality of a manuscript. It is the responsibility of the reviewers to assess any conflicts of interest disclosed by the authors and, equally important, to self-disclose any situations or relationships to the Editor that could potentially bias or be perceived as biasing their evaluation of the submitted manuscript. These situations may involve personal connections with the authors, ongoing competitive research on the same topic as presented in the manuscript, or professional and financial associations with an organization having interests in the subject being reviewed. In instances where an actual or apparent conflict of interest is revealed, the decision to utilize the provided or requested review is left to the discretion of the Editor.

Editorial Board.

Editorial Board Members, Managing Editors involved with Marketing and Management of Innovations are obligated to disclose any potential conflicts of interest. If a competing interest is identified, they may be excused from participating in the peer review process. Furthermore, they should recuse themselves from managing manuscripts in instances where a competing interest is present. This could involve prior collaborations with the authors or sharing the same institutional affiliation.

If an Editorial Board Members and Managing Editors is listed as an author, they are required to declare this in the competing interests’ section of the submitted manuscript. In cases where they are an author or have any other conflicting interest related to a specific manuscript, another Editorial Board Members nad Managing Editors will be assigned to oversee the peer review process. These submissions undergo the same rigorous review process as any other manuscript.

While Editorial Board Members and Managing Editors are encouraged to submit papers to the journal, these submissions do not receive preferential treatment over other manuscripts. Editorial Board Members or Managing Editors status does not influence editorial consideration.

For the Editorial Office associated with Marketing and Management of Innovations, adherence to strict disclosure standards is mandatory. The Editorial Office must report any interests, whether financial or otherwise, that could impact or be perceived to influence their editorial practices to their employer. Failure to comply with this requirement constitutes a disciplinary offense. Marketing and Management of Innovations maintains a robust policy of Editorial Independence, ensuring that individual acceptance decisions and editorial standards of quality and significance remain uncompromised. While some editors may have financial incentives tied to journal growth, these objectives are explicitly aligned with maintaining submission quality and never compromising editorial standards, as articulated in internal policies and individual contracts or formal objectives.