Conflict of Interest

Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest occurs when financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships could improperly influence the research, its interpretation, peer review, or editorial decision-making. Jurnal Tunas Siliwangi is committed to maintaining transparency, fairness, and academic integrity throughout the publication process. All parties involved in the publication process—including authors, reviewers, and editors—are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

Authors

  • Every manuscript submitted to Jurnal Tunas Siliwangi must include a Declaration of Competing Interests before the References section. If no competing interests exist, authors should state: “The authors declare no competing interests.”
  • Authors must disclose all sources of research funding, including grant numbers where applicable, and explain the role of the funder in the research design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of findings, and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
  • Authors must disclose relevant employment, consultancy, financial interests, or institutional affiliations that could influence the research, particularly when evaluating educational programs, learning materials, teaching methods, or early childhood education services.
  • Authors must disclose any personal or professional relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the objectivity of their research or its reporting.
  • Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may result in requests for clarification, manuscript rejection, or further action in accordance with the journal’s applicable publication ethics policies.

Reviewers

Reviewers must decline a review invitation or promptly inform the editor if they identify an actual or potential conflict of interest, including situations where they:

  • work at the same institution as one or more of the manuscript’s authors, where this relationship could compromise impartiality;
  • have co-authored publications or collaborated closely with an author in recent years;
  • have a family relationship, supervisory relationship, close personal relationship, or other professional connection with an author that could affect their objectivity;
  • have financial, commercial, or institutional interests related to the research, educational product, program, or materials discussed in the manuscript; or
  • have competing research interests or other circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their evaluation.

Reviewers must treat manuscripts and related information confidentially and provide objective, evidence-based assessments. The editor will determine whether a reviewer should be replaced when a conflict of interest is identified.

Editors

  • Editors must disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest and must not manage manuscripts when their impartiality could reasonably be questioned.
  • When a conflict arises, the manuscript will be reassigned to an independent editor who has no competing interest in the submission.
  • Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, or an editorial board member must be handled independently. The submitting individual must not participate in editorial decisions or access confidential peer-review information beyond what is permitted under the journal’s procedures.
  • Editorial decisions must be based on the manuscript’s scholarly quality, originality, relevance, and compliance with ethical standards—not on personal relationships, institutional affiliations, financial interests, or commercial considerations.
  • Editors must ensure that potential conflicts of interest are handled fairly and confidentially throughout the editorial and peer-review process.

Handling Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after submission, during peer review, or after publication, Jurnal Tunas Siliwangi will assess the matter and take appropriate action in accordance with its publication ethics policies. Depending on the circumstances, actions may include requesting a disclosure or clarification, reassessing the peer-review process, correcting the published record, rejecting the manuscript, or issuing a retraction when warranted.

Jurnal Tunas Siliwangi is committed to ensuring that conflicts of interest are managed transparently and consistently to protect the integrity of scholarly publishing in early childhood education and related fields.