Conflict of Interest

Albariq: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab is committed to maintaining transparency, impartiality, and integrity throughout the scholarly publication process. Authors, editors, reviewers, and other individuals involved in the editorial process are expected to disclose any relationships or circumstances that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, their professional judgment.

A conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate misconduct. However, failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may compromise the transparency and credibility of the publication process.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when an individual's personal, professional, financial, institutional, academic, or other interests may influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their judgment or actions in the research and publication process.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived.

They may include, but are not limited to:

  • financial relationships, funding, grants, employment, consultancy, honoraria, stock ownership, or other financial interests;

  • personal or family relationships with authors, reviewers, editors, or other parties involved in the publication process;

  • professional or institutional relationships that may affect impartial judgment;

  • academic competition, collaboration, or disputes that may influence an editorial or peer-review decision;

  • intellectual, ideological, or personal commitments that could interfere with objective assessment; and

  • any other relationship or circumstance that could reasonably be perceived as affecting the integrity or independence of the publication process.

2. Authors' Responsibilities

Authors must disclose all relevant conflicts of interest that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the research, interpretation of findings, or presentation of the manuscript.

Authors should disclose relevant interests at the time of manuscript submission. This disclosure should include, where applicable:

  1. sources of research funding or financial support;

  2. financial relationships relevant to the research;

  3. employment, consultancy, advisory, or institutional relationships;

  4. personal or professional relationships that may constitute a conflict;

  5. the role of funding organizations or sponsors in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit the work for publication; and

  6. any other circumstances that readers could reasonably consider relevant when evaluating the research.

If no conflict of interest exists, authors should provide an appropriate declaration, such as:

“The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to this research and publication.”

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically prevent publication. The purpose of disclosure is to ensure transparency and allow editors and readers to assess the research appropriately.

3. Reviewers' Responsibilities

Reviewers must disclose any conflict of interest that could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their ability to provide an independent and objective review.

Reviewers should decline a review assignment when they:

  • have a close personal or professional relationship with any of the authors;

  • have recently collaborated with the authors in a manner that could affect impartiality;

  • have direct financial interests related to the manuscript;

  • are involved in an academic, professional, or personal dispute with the authors;

  • have been directly involved in the research being evaluated; or

  • believe that another circumstance prevents them from providing a fair and independent assessment.

When uncertain whether a relationship constitutes a conflict of interest, reviewers should inform the editor and allow the editor to determine whether the review assignment remains appropriate.

Reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal, academic, professional, or financial advantage.

4. Editors' Responsibilities

Editors must conduct editorial decision-making independently and impartially.

An editor must disclose and, where appropriate, recuse themselves from handling a manuscript when they have a conflict of interest involving the authors, research, institution, funding source, or subject matter.

Potential editorial conflicts may arise when an editor:

  • is an author or co-author of the manuscript;

  • has a close personal, professional, or financial relationship with an author;

  • has recently collaborated with an author;

  • belongs to the same institution or organizational unit where such a relationship could reasonably affect impartiality;

  • has a direct financial or professional interest in the outcome of the publication decision; or

  • has another relationship that could reasonably raise concerns regarding editorial independence.

In such circumstances, responsibility for the manuscript should be transferred to another qualified editor who has no relevant conflict of interest.

5. Editorial Board Members

Members of the Editorial Board are not prohibited from submitting manuscripts to Albariq: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab. However, manuscripts submitted by editors or Editorial Board members must be handled independently.

The submitting editor or Editorial Board member must not:

  • participate in selecting reviewers;

  • access confidential reviewer identities where such identities are protected;

  • influence the peer-review process;

  • participate in editorial discussions concerning the manuscript; or

  • make or influence the final publication decision.

The manuscript should be assigned to another independent editor, and the same editorial standards and peer-review requirements applied to other submissions must be followed.

6. Institutional and Funding Conflicts

Institutional affiliation alone does not automatically constitute a conflict of interest. However, editors and reviewers should consider whether institutional relationships could reasonably affect their independence.

Authors must clearly acknowledge organizations that provided financial or material support for the research.

Where a funder or sponsor has participated in the design, execution, analysis, interpretation, or publication of the research, the nature of that involvement should be disclosed.

Where the funding organization had no role in these activities, authors may state:

“The funder had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, interpretation of the results, preparation of the manuscript, or decision to publish.”

7. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after submission or publication, Albariq: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab will assess its nature, relevance, and potential effect on the integrity of the research or editorial process.

Depending on the circumstances, the journal may:

  • request clarification from the relevant party;

  • require an updated conflict-of-interest declaration;

  • replace a reviewer or editor;

  • reconsider an editorial decision;

  • publish a correction or disclosure statement;

  • issue an expression of concern where appropriate; or

  • take other editorial action when the undisclosed conflict has materially affected the integrity of the publication process.

Failure to disclose a conflict of interest may constitute a breach of publication ethics when the omission is significant and affects the transparency or integrity of the scholarly record.

8. Confidentiality

Information disclosed regarding conflicts of interest will be handled appropriately and shared only when necessary for editorial decision-making, publication transparency, or compliance with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

The journal will seek to balance confidentiality with the need to provide readers with sufficient information to assess relevant interests associated with published research.

9. Conflict of Interest Statement in Published Articles

Albariq: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab encourages a conflict-of-interest statement to be included in published articles.

Where no relevant conflict exists, the article may state:

Conflict of Interest:
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the research, authorship, and publication of this article.

Where a conflict exists, authors should provide a concise and transparent description of the relevant relationship or interest.

10. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions at Albariq: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Arab must be based on the scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, relevance, ethical integrity, and suitability of the manuscript for the journal.

Commercial interests, institutional relationships, personal relationships, or other inappropriate influences must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted or rejected.