Authors' Conflict of Interest
Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial interests that could compromise the impartiality, credibility, or findings of their research. Complete transparency is vital to maintaining integrity and trust within the peer review and academic publishing processes.
Financial Interests
Examples of financial conflicts of interest include:
Research grants or financial support from external entities (e.g., commercial enterprises, government agencies, or non-profit organizations).
Employment, consultancy roles, or the provision of paid advisory services to a specific organization.
Stock or equity ownership.
Royalties, honoraria, or travel reimbursements.
Patent ownership or pending patent applications related to the submitted research.
Non-Financial Interests
Non-financial interests may encompass:
Professional relationships or affiliations that could be perceived as conflicts of interest.
Personal views, convictions, or beliefs pertinent to the subject matter of the research.
Affiliations with political, religious, or advocacy groups that might influence objectivity and impartiality.
Disclosure of Interests
All authors must include a designated section titled "Conflict of Interest" within their manuscript. Any competing interests must be explicitly stated in detail; otherwise, an explicit statement of no conflict must be provided. Each author bears individual responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of their disclosures.
Funding Declarations and Information
As part of the manuscript submission requirements, authors must include a dedicated funding disclosure within the acknowledgments section, indicating whether external funding was received and, if applicable, identifying the funding source.
Funding statements must align consistently with the details provided in the acknowledgments or conflict of interest sections. Authors are required to state explicitly whether the funding sponsor participated in the study design; data collection, analysis, or interpretation; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Standard Disclosure Templates
Conflict of Interest
"Author A has received research grants from Company B, and Author C has served as a consultant for Organization D. The remaining authors declare that they have no competing interests."
Funding
"This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University under Grant No. (XXXX)."
"This study was supported by the National Research Council under Grant No. (ABC123)."
"This research received no external funding."
Joint Author Declaration
"All authors declare that they have no competing interests regarding this study and that no external financial support was received."
Editors' Conflict of Interest
Editors and members of the editorial board must uphold the highest standards of impartiality when handling submissions. They are required to recuse themselves from managing any manuscript in the presence of an apparent or potential conflict of interest.
Disclosure and Mitigation of Bias
Editors must declare any of the following circumstances where applicable:
Recent collaboration or co-authorship with any of the submitting authors.
Current institutional affiliation with any of the authors.
Personal or close professional relationships with any contributor to the study.
Editor Recusal Policy
In the event of a conflict of interest, the editor must recuse themselves from overseeing the manuscript. An alternate editor with no competing interests will be appointed to manage the peer review process and render the editorial decision. Furthermore, editors who submit their own manuscripts to Umm Al-Qura University Journals are strictly prohibited from participating in any editorial deliberations or decisions concerning their work.