Conflict of Interest

Dampak requires authors, reviewers and editors to disclose any interest that could influence, or appear to influence, their work, and manages each disclosed interest by publishing a statement, asking the person to step aside, or handing the manuscript to an independent editor.

1. Introduction

Dampak: Jurnal Teknik Lingkungan Universitas Andalas protects the integrity, objectivity and credibility of the research it publishes. Readers, authors and reviewers need to know whether anyone involved in a paper had an interest that could have shaped it. This policy follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and sets out the duties of authors, reviewers, editors, the editorial office and the publisher.

It applies to every manuscript submitted to or published in Dampak. Having a conflict of interest is not misconduct. Failing to disclose one is.

2. Description

A conflict of interest, also called a competing interest, is anything that interferes with, or could reasonably be seen as interfering with, the presentation, peer review, decision-making or publication of research. It can be financial or non-financial, personal or professional, and can involve a person or an organisation.

Financial interests include:

  • employment, consultancy or paid contracts, including work on environmental permits and documents (such as AMDAL, UKL-UPL or technical approvals), design, monitoring or supervision;
  • shares, fees, honoraria, and grants received or pending;
  • patents, patent applications and royalties;
  • advisory board roles and paid expert testimony;
  • equipment, materials or services supplied free or at a discount by a manufacturer or vendor whose product is studied.

Non-financial interests include:

  • family ties and close friendships;
  • professional relationships, such as recent co-authors, a supervisor and student relationship, or working in the same department or laboratory;
  • a role in an organisation whose plant, site, policy or product is studied, for example as an operator, regulator, adviser or campaigner;
  • a competing unpublished manuscript or research rivalry;
  • personal, political or religious commitments that bear directly on the work;
  • any other interest that could reasonably appear to bias the work.

In environmental engineering, typical cases are an author who works for, or consults for, the company, utility or agency whose treatment plant, landfill or programme is evaluated; research paid for by a party with a stake in the result; and authors who developed the method or product that the paper evaluates.

3. Policy

3.1 Disclosure

Everyone involved in a manuscript must disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest on their own initiative. If there are none, that must also be stated.

Who When To whom, and how
Authors At submission, and again if something changes during review or revision To the editor, in a declaration in the manuscript and in the submission form
Reviewers When invited, before accepting, and immediately if a conflict appears later To the editor, by reply to the review invitation
Editors and editorial board members On appointment, once a year, and for each manuscript they are asked to handle To the Editor-in-Chief, in writing
Editorial office staff On appointment, once a year, and for each manuscript they handle To the Editor-in-Chief, in writing
The Editor-in-Chief On appointment, once a year, and for each manuscript To the editorial board and the publisher

3.2 Assessment and management

The editor assesses each disclosed interest for its potential to bias the work or the review. Depending on the case, the journal may:

  • publish the author's declaration with the article;
  • ask a reviewer or editor to step aside and assign someone without the conflict;
  • add an independent reviewer or a second editor;
  • decline the manuscript in exceptional cases where the risk to integrity cannot be managed.

3.3 Published statements

Every published article carries a Declaration of competing interest and the sources of funding. Where there is no conflict, the statement says so, for example "The authors declare no competing interests." The declaration appears before the References. Funding is declared in the Acknowledgements.

3.4 Conflicts found after publication

A significant undisclosed conflict reported after publication is handled under the Allegations of Misconduct policy, following COPE guidance. The outcome may be a correction that adds the declaration, an expression of concern, or, in severe cases, retraction.

4. Duties and procedures

4.1 Authors

Authors disclose all financial and non-financial relationships, current or in the past three years, that could bias the work or be seen to bias it. This includes:

  • every source of funding, and what role the funder had in the study design, data collection, analysis, writing and the decision to publish (if none, the manuscript says so);
  • ties to organisations or people whose sites, data, products or policies are studied;
  • relationships with the providers of any AI tool used, as the AI Policy requires;
  • the affiliations of every author.

The corresponding author collects the declarations of all co-authors and confirms them at submission. Authors may name, with reasons, people they believe should not review their manuscript. Non-disclosure can lead to delay or rejection, and after publication to correction or retraction.

4.2 Reviewers

A reviewer discloses any of the following, and declines the invitation or asks the editor to decide:

  • a current collaboration with an author, or one in the past three years;
  • working in the same institution, department or research group as an author, or a supervisor and student relationship with one;
  • a close personal relationship with, or a rivalry with, an author;
  • a financial interest in the outcome of the research or in a competing work;
  • earlier involvement with the manuscript, such as reviewing it for another journal;
  • strong views that would stop an objective review.

Reviewers keep manuscripts confidential and do not use what they learn for personal advantage, as stated in the Publication Ethics statement. The editor decides whether a declared interest requires the reviewer to step aside.

4.3 Editors, editorial board members and staff

Editors, board members and staff disclose:

  • financial ties to organisations whose products or services fall within the journal's scope;
  • personal or close professional ties with the authors or reviewers of a manuscript they handle, including working in the same department or laboratory, or a supervisor and student relationship;
  • research that overlaps substantially with the manuscript;
  • their own submissions and those of close associates.

An editor with a significant conflict takes no part in the review or the decision on that manuscript. The Editor-in-Chief assigns another editor or board member who has no conflict.

4.4 Manuscripts by editors, board members, staff and the publisher's institution

A manuscript written or co-written by the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, a board member or a member of staff is reviewed independently:

  • it is handled by an editor who is not a co-author and, where possible, belongs to a different institution;
  • the author has no access to the manuscript's record in the journal system and takes no part in choosing reviewers or in the decision;
  • reviewers come from outside the author's institution;
  • if the Editor-in-Chief is an author, the board nominates another member to handle the manuscript;
  • the published article states that the author is a member of the editorial team and that the manuscript was handled independently.

The editorial board checks once a year the share of articles written by its own members and by authors from the publisher's institution.

4.5 The journal and the publisher

Dampak is published by the Department of Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Andalas. Editorial decisions rest on the scientific merit of the work only. Sponsorship, advertising, publication fees, the interests of the publisher and the wishes of any funder must not influence them. Where the journal itself has a conflict, it is handled openly and the board is told.

4.6 Records and review

The editorial office keeps a confidential record of the declarations made by authors, reviewers and editorial personnel, and of the action taken, for at least five years. The editorial board reviews this policy at least once a year and updates it as COPE guidance changes.

5. COPE resources and related policies