Conflict of Interest Policy
CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY
Media Wisata (MWS) is committed to ensuring that all editorial and publication decisions are made fairly, objectively, independently, and transparently. Authors, reviewers, editors, and other parties involved in the publication process must disclose any relationships or circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgment.
Definition
A conflict of interest (COI), also referred to as a competing interest, exists when an individual has financial, personal, professional, academic, institutional, or other interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their objectivity in the research, peer review, editorial decision-making, or publication process.
Authors
Authors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived competing interests that could affect the research or publication of their manuscript. These may include:
- financial relationships or funding;
- employment or professional relationships;
- personal or family relationships;
- academic or institutional relationships;
- ownership of intellectual property;
- commercial or organizational interests; and
- other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, interpretation, authorship, or publication of the article.
Authors must include a Competing Interests Statement in the manuscript.
If no competing interests exist, authors should state:
“The authors declare that there are no competing interests that could have influenced the research, authorship, or publication of this article.”
Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment. Reviewers should decline the assignment if their relationship with the authors, institutions, research topic, or other parties could compromise their objectivity.
Reviewers must not use information obtained during peer review for personal, professional, or competitive advantage.
Editors
Editors must maintain editorial independence and avoid handling manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest. Where an editor has a conflict, the manuscript should be assigned to another qualified editor who is independent of the conflict.
Editorial decisions must be based on the manuscript's academic quality, relevance, originality, methodological rigor, and contribution, and must not be influenced by personal, institutional, financial, or commercial interests.
Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest
If a previously undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after submission, during peer review, or after publication, Media Wisata may take appropriate action, including requesting clarification or disclosure, reassignment of editorial or review responsibilities, correction of the published article, expression of concern, or retraction where warranted.
