Conflict of Interest Policy

1. Definition and Overview:
Trust in the peer-review process and the credibility of published articles depend partly on how transparently conflicts of interest are handled during writing, peer review, and editorial decision-making. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as research validity) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain or personal relationships).

2. Editorial Assignment & Screening:
In order to avoid potential conflicts of interest, journal submissions are assigned to editors. Conflicts between editors and authors are avoided in the following relationships: Current colleagues, recent colleagues, recent co-authors, and doctoral students on whose committee the editor served as chair. Individual editors are required to notify the managing editor of any conflicts that are not listed above after papers are assigned. If none of the editors pass all of the conflict screenings, the manuscript will be assigned to the co-editors who are least conflicted. Furthermore, sitting editors assign co-editors who are least conflicted for all paper submissions. To avoid conflicts of interest, journal submissions are also assigned to referees. After papers are assigned, referees are asked to inform the editor of any conflicts that may exist.

3. Authors’ Disclosure Responsibilities:
All authors must disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Financial conflicts include (but are not limited to) research grants, honoraria, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, expert testimony, or patent rights. Authors must include a clear "Conflict of Interest Statement" within their manuscript, even if it is to declare that "The authors declare no conflict of interest." All financial and material support for the research must be explicitly acknowledged in the funding declaration section.

4. Peer Reviewers’ Responsibilities:
Reviewers must recuse themselves from reviewing a manuscript if they have any competing financial, personal, academic, or collaborative relationships with any of the authors or institutions affiliated with the submission. Reviewers must not use unpublished material or data disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research without the explicit written consent of the authors.

5. Submissions by Editorial Board Members:
To ensure complete fairness and objectivity, if an Editor, Editorial Board member, or Associate Editor submits a manuscript to LJACS, they will be entirely excluded from the editorial handling, peer-reviewer selection, and decision-making processes regarding their work. An independent guest editor or managing editor will oversee the review process to guarantee an objective evaluation.

6. Post-Publication Enforcement:
If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after publication, the journal will conduct an investigation in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Depending on the severity of the omission, the journal reserves the right to publish a formal correction, an Expression of Concern, or a complete retraction of the published article.