Conflict of Interest Policy

Purpose

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis Islam (JEBI), e-ISSN 2829-2995, is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Institut Agama Islam Sufyan Tsauri Majenang (INSIMA), Indonesia. The journal is committed to ensuring that all editorial and publication decisions are based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigor, academic integrity, and relevance to the development of Islamic economics and business.

JEBI requires authors, reviewers, editors, and all individuals involved in the publication process to disclose any financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment and responsibilities.

The journal recognizes that the existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily constitute research or publication misconduct. However, failure to disclose relevant competing interests may compromise transparency, impartiality, and public confidence in the integrity of the scholarly publication process.

Definition of Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest arises when an individual's financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships could improperly influence their research activities, manuscript evaluation, editorial judgment, or publication decisions.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived and may include, but are not limited to:

1. Financial Interests: Employment, consultancy arrangements, honoraria, research grants, sponsorships, equity ownership, investments, patents, or other financial benefits that may be related to the research. In the context of Islamic economics and business, these may include financial relationships with Islamic banks, Islamic financial institutions, halal industry organizations, business enterprises, or other relevant stakeholders.

2. Professional or Institutional Interests: Employment at the same institution, direct supervisory relationships, close professional collaborations, institutional affiliations, or organizational responsibilities that may affect impartiality.

3. Personal Relationships: Family relationships, close friendships, personal disputes, or other personal connections that could influence objective judgment during research evaluation or editorial decision-making.

4. Academic Competition: Direct competition involving research projects, scholarly publications, intellectual property, research funding, or professional advancement that may influence the assessment of a manuscript.

5. Other Competing Interests: Political, ideological, religious, commercial, or other interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing research findings, interpretation, peer review, or editorial decisions.

The relevance and significance of a competing interest will be evaluated according to the specific circumstances of each case.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to JEBI are required to disclose all relevant financial and non-financial competing interests during the manuscript submission process.

The disclosure must identify the nature of any competing interests and, where necessary, explain their potential relationship to the research, interpretation of findings, or publication of the manuscript.

Authors must also disclose all relevant sources of research funding and financial support, including grants, institutional sponsorships, and assistance from governmental, commercial, or non-profit organizations.

Where applicable, authors must clarify the role of funders or sponsoring institutions in research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and decisions concerning publication.

For research related to Islamic banking and finance, Islamic accounting, halal industries, zakat and waqf management, Islamic social finance, entrepreneurship, or Sharia-based economic systems, authors should disclose relevant relationships with organizations or institutions that could benefit from or be affected by the research findings.

If no relevant competing interests exist, authors must provide an explicit declaration, such as:

"The authors declare that they have no competing interests related to the research, authorship, or publication of this article."

The corresponding author is responsible for consulting all co-authors and ensuring that the conflict of interest declaration is accurate, complete, and approved by all contributors.

Authors must promptly inform the editorial team if any relevant competing interests become apparent or change during manuscript evaluation or after publication.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers appointed by JEBI must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest before accepting a manuscript review assignment.

Reviewers must conduct their assessments objectively, independently, and fairly, without being influenced by financial interests, professional relationships, institutional affiliations, personal connections, or academic competition.

Reviewers should decline a review invitation when a relevant conflict could compromise their impartiality. Such circumstances may include:

• Recent or ongoing research collaboration with one or more authors.

• Direct supervisory, mentoring, or employment relationships with an author.

• Close personal relationships or significant personal disputes.

• Financial or commercial interests related to the research topic or findings.

• Direct involvement in competing research projects or professional activities.

• Other circumstances that could reasonably affect the independence of the review.

If a potential conflict becomes apparent during the peer-review process, the reviewer must promptly notify the responsible editor.

The editor will evaluate the circumstances and determine whether the reviewer may continue the assessment or whether an alternative independent reviewer should be appointed.

Reviewers must not use confidential manuscript information for personal, academic, institutional, or commercial advantage.

Responsibilities of Editors

Editors of JEBI are responsible for identifying, disclosing, and appropriately managing any conflicts of interest that may arise during manuscript evaluation and editorial decision-making.

Editors must ensure that decisions are based exclusively on the scholarly quality, originality, methodological soundness, relevance, and contribution of manuscripts to the fields of Islamic economics and business.

An editor must not handle or unduly influence the evaluation of a manuscript when a relevant financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationship could compromise impartiality.

Where such a conflict exists, the manuscript must be reassigned to another qualified editor who has no relevant competing interests.

Editorial decisions must remain independent of authors' institutional affiliations, academic positions, professional reputations, financial relationships, or personal connections with members of the editorial team.

Editors must also ensure that relationships with the publisher, sponsoring institutions, or other stakeholders do not improperly influence manuscript selection, peer review, acceptance, or rejection.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for overseeing the appropriate management of editorial conflicts of interest and maintaining fairness throughout the publication process.

Management of Conflicts of Interest

When an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest is disclosed or identified, JEBI will evaluate its nature, relevance, and possible impact on the integrity of the research and publication process.

Depending on the circumstances, appropriate management measures may include:

• Requesting clarification or additional disclosure from authors, reviewers, editors, or other relevant individuals.

• Reassigning a manuscript to an independent editor without relevant competing interests.

• Appointing an alternative reviewer to ensure an objective and impartial evaluation.

• Requesting additional information regarding financial support, institutional relationships, or the role of research sponsors.

• Including relevant competing interest declarations in the manuscript or published article.

• Taking other reasonable and proportionate measures to safeguard transparency, fairness, and editorial independence.

The editorial team may request supporting information when a conflict of interest declaration is incomplete, unclear, or potentially misleading.

All disclosed conflicts will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account their significance and potential implications for the publication process.

Disclosure in Published Articles

JEBI is committed to promoting transparency by ensuring that relevant competing interests are appropriately disclosed in published articles.

Authors are expected to include a conflict of interest statement in their manuscripts, in accordance with the journal's author guidelines.

Where relevant competing interests exist, the published declaration should clearly describe their nature and relationship to the research.

When no relevant competing interests are identified, the published article may include the following statement:

"The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding the research, authorship, and publication of this article."

Funding acknowledgments and competing interest declarations should be presented transparently and consistently with the journal's publication policies.

If a significant undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after publication, the editorial team will assess its potential impact on the reliability, interpretation, and integrity of the published research.

Depending on the seriousness of the matter, JEBI may request clarification, publish a correction or an expression of concern, or take other appropriate editorial action in accordance with its publication ethics policies.

Confidentiality and Fairness

JEBI will handle all conflict of interest disclosures responsibly, confidentially, and fairly, while maintaining the transparency required for ethical scholarly publishing.

Information regarding competing interests will be shared only with individuals who have legitimate responsibilities in evaluating or managing the disclosed circumstances, except where disclosure is necessary for transparent publication or appropriate editorial action.

The journal recognizes that the disclosure of a competing interest does not automatically indicate unethical conduct or invalidate the research.

All conflicts will be managed proportionately, with due consideration for the rights and responsibilities of the individuals involved.

JEBI is committed to ensuring that authors, reviewers, and editors are treated fairly and that editorial decisions remain independent, objective, and free from inappropriate influence.

Policy Implementation

The Editor-in-Chief and editorial team of Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis Islam (JEBI) are responsible for implementing and monitoring this Conflict of Interest Policy.

This policy forms part of the journal's broader commitment to publication ethics, academic integrity, transparent peer review, and responsible scholarly communication.

Its implementation is guided by the journal's publication ethics standards and relevant recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

As a scholarly journal published by Institut Agama Islam Sufyan Tsauri Majenang (INSIMA), Indonesia, JEBI is committed to maintaining a fair, independent, and trustworthy publication process that supports the advancement of knowledge in Islamic economics, finance, and business.