CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

This page explains how Jurnal Ilmiah Kesehatan Masyarakat, abbreviated as SEHATMAS, handles interests that could affect the reporting, the evaluation, or the publication of research. In this policy, the terms "conflict of interest" and "competing interest" have the same meaning. The policy applies to authors, peer reviewers, and editors.

Disclosure protects everyone. Declaring an interest is a protective step and not an accusation. A declaration does not mean that the work is biased or that misconduct has occurred. Problems arise when a relevant interest is hidden.

Policy at a Glance

Who	What is required
Authors	One competing interests statement and one funding statement for the whole manuscript, placed in the final paragraphs of the Acknowledgements section.
Peer reviewers	Disclose relevant interests before accepting a review, and decline or withdraw when impartiality is compromised.
Editors	Disclose relevant interests before accepting an assignment, and step aside when impartiality is compromised.
If an interest is found late	The editors assess it in context. The journal may publish the disclosure, ask for an independent assessment, or replace the person involved.

1. What Is a Competing Interest?

A competing interest is any relationship, circumstance, or activity that could affect, or could appear to affect, the way research is conducted, reported, reviewed, or edited. The appearance of an interest matters as well as its real effect, because readers need to be able to trust the published record. Public health research can influence clinical practice, health programs, and public policy, so transparency is especially important.

2. Interests That Should Be Disclosed

The following interests should be disclosed when they are relevant to a manuscript, a review, or an editorial assignment.

Type of interest	Examples
Financial relationships	Employment, consultancy, honoraria, shares, patents, royalties, or other commercial benefits, for example from a pharmaceutical or medical device company, a producer of health products, a health insurer, a hospital or clinic, or a developer of health software.
Funding and sponsorship	Research funding, paid expert work, or the involvement of a sponsor in the study, for example from a government office, a health agency, a foundation, a company, or a health institution.
Personal and professional relationships	Close personal, supervisory, collaborative, or professional ties with authors, reviewers, or editors, for example between a supervisor and a student, between close colleagues, or between recent coauthors.
Interest in the subject of the study	Having designed, developed, or sold the program, the intervention, the instrument, the product, or the application that is evaluated, or studying your own clinic, health facility, community program, or patients in a way that may affect objectivity.
Editorial and journal ties	Editorial appointments or other ties with the journal that may require a manuscript to be handled independently.

Ordinary scholarly disagreement is not, by itself, a conflict of interest. When you are unsure whether an interest is relevant, disclose it, and let the editors decide.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

3.1 Competing Interests Statement

Requirement	Details
Who discloses	Every author must disclose relevant interests to the corresponding author.
One statement	The corresponding author prepares one competing interests statement for the whole manuscript.
When there is none	If no author has a competing interest, the statement must say so.
Late discovery	An interest that is disclosed after submission or after publication is handled as a late disclosure (see section 5).

3.2 Funding Statement

Requirement	Details
Funding sources	State every source of funding, including the names of the funders and the grant numbers.
Role of the funder	State whether the funder had any role in the design of the study, in the collection and analysis of data, or in the preparation of the manuscript.
Separate statements	The funding statement does not replace the competing interests statement. Both statements are required.

3.3 Where to Place the Statements

The SEHATMAS template does not have separate sections for these statements. Therefore, write both statements as the final paragraphs of the Acknowledgements section. Include the Acknowledgements section even when there is nothing else to acknowledge. For more details, see Manuscript Preparation.

3.4 Examples of Statements

Situation	Example statement
No competing interests	The authors declare no competing interests.
A competing interest is declared	[Initials of the author] is employed by [name of the organization], which developed the [name of the health program or product] that was evaluated in this study. The other authors declare no competing interests.
Funding	This study was funded by [name of the funder] (grant number [number]). The funder had no role in the design of the study, in the collection and analysis of data, or in the preparation of the manuscript.
No funding	This study did not receive any specific funding.

3.5 Quick Checklist for Authors

Ask yourself	If the answer is yes
Did anyone pay for this study, or provide equipment, materials, or services for it?	Name the funder in the funding statement, and state the role of the funder.
Do I or my coauthors work for, advise, or own shares in an organization that gains or loses from the results?	Declare it in the competing interests statement.
Did I design, develop, or sell the program, product, instrument, or application that I evaluate?	Declare it in the competing interests statement.
Do I have a close personal, supervisory, or professional tie with an editor of the journal that could affect the handling of the manuscript?	Tell the editorial office when you submit the manuscript, so that an editor who is not involved can handle it.
Am I unsure whether an interest is relevant?	Disclose it, and let the editors decide.

4. Responsibilities of Editors and Peer Reviewers

4.1 Editors

Situation	What is done
Before an assignment	An editor discloses relevant interests before accepting an assignment, and informs the journal promptly if an interest arises later.
Impartiality is compromised	An editor must not make a decision on that manuscript. This step is called recusal.
Manuscripts of editors and board members	A manuscript that is submitted by an editor or a member of the Editorial Board is handled by an editor who is not involved. The author does not take part in the evaluation or in the decision.

4.2 Peer Reviewers

Situation	What is done
Before accepting a review	A reviewer discloses relevant interests before accepting an invitation, and reports later interests promptly.
Disqualifying conflict	A reviewer must decline or withdraw. Examples are close personal or supervisory ties with an author, a recent collaboration with an author, or a competing interest in the subject of the manuscript.

More about the review is available on the Peer Review Process page.

4.3 When a Conflict Is Declared

An editor who is not affected by the conflict decides whether safeguards are sufficient or whether the assignment should be given to another editor or reviewer. This decision is made on the facts of each case.

5. Assessment and Late Disclosure

Each declared interest is assessed for its relevance and for its possible effect on the research or on the editorial process.

Possible outcome	When it is used
Publish the disclosure with the article	The interest is relevant, and readers should know about it.
Request an independent assessment	The interest may affect the evaluation of the work.
Replace the editor or the reviewer involved	The impartiality of the editor or the reviewer is compromised.

Declarations that are missing, incomplete, or inaccurate, and interests that are disclosed after submission or after publication, are considered in context. Material concerns are handled under the Publication Ethics, Allegations of Misconduct, and Correction and Retraction policies.

6. Scope of This Policy

This policy covers interests that are connected with research and with its assessment. Author fees and the ownership and management of the journal are explained on separate pages: Author Fees and Ownership and Management. Editorial decisions are based on the scholarly quality and the integrity of a manuscript, and not on commercial considerations.

Related Pages and Enquiries

Topic	Page
Where to place the statements	Manuscript Preparation and Author Guidelines
Authorship	Authorship and Contributorship
Ethics, concerns, and corrections	Publication Ethics, Allegations of Misconduct, and Correction and Retraction