Authors' Conflict of Interest
Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could potentially influence the impartiality, integrity, or findings of their research. Full transparency is fundamental to fostering trust in the peer review and scholarly publishing processes.
Financial Interests
Examples of potential financial conflicts of interest include:
Research funding or financial support received from external entities (e.g., corporations, government agencies, or non-profit organizations).
Employment, consultancy roles, or the provision of paid advisory services to a specific organization.
Stock ownership or equity holdings.
Royalties, honoraria, or travel reimbursements.
Patent ownership, licensing agreements, or patent applications directly related to the research.
Non-Financial Interests
Non-financial interests may encompass:
Professional affiliations or relationships that may be construed as competing interests.
Personal views or ideological beliefs relevant to the subject matter of the research.
Affiliations with political, religious, or advocacy groups that might compromise academic neutrality and objectivity.
Disclosure of Interests
All authors must include a dedicated section entitled "Conflict of Interest" in their submitted manuscript. Where conflicts exist, they must be articulated clearly and comprehensively. Each author bears individual responsibility for the accuracy and veracity of these declarations.
Funding Declarations and Information
As part of the submission requirements, authors must incorporate a distinct funding statement within the declarations section, specifying whether external funding was received and, if applicable, identifying the funding source.
These declarations must remain consistent with the details provided in the acknowledgments and conflict of interest sections. Furthermore, authors are required to explicitly clarify whether the funding body had any role in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.
Standard Disclosure Templates
Conflict of Interest
"Author (A) received research funding from Company (B), and Author (C) served in an advisory capacity for Organization (M). The remaining authors declare no competing financial or personal interests."
Funding
"This research was supported by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University under Grant No. [XXXX]."
"This study received financial support from the National Research Council under Grant No. [ABC123]."
"This research was conducted without external financial support."
Joint Declaration by All Authors
"All authors declare that they have no competing interests relevant to this study and that no external funding was received for this work."
Editors' Conflict of Interest
Editors and editorial board members are bound to maintain strict impartiality when handling submissions. They must recuse themselves from managing any manuscript where an actual or potential conflict of interest arises.
Disclosure and Mitigation of Bias
Editors must promptly disclose any of the following circumstances:
Recent academic collaboration or co-authorship with any of the submitting authors.
Institutional affiliation shared with the authors.
Personal, familial, or professional relationships with any of the contributors to the study.
Editorial Recusal in Conflicts of Interest
Whenever a conflict of interest is identified, the affected editor must recuse themselves from the handling process. A neutral editor with no competing interests will be assigned to oversee peer review and editorial decision-making. Under no circumstances may editors who submit their own work as authors to Umm Al-Qura University Journals participate in editorial evaluations or decisions regarding their submissions.