Conflict of Interest Policiy

Hayula: Indonesian Journal of Multidisciplinary Islamic Studies is committed to the integrity, transparency, and objectivity of everything it publishes. All parties involved in the publication process — authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher — are required to identify and disclose any interest that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment. Having a conflict of interest is not in itself wrongdoing; failing to disclose it is. This policy follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Guiding principle: when in doubt, disclose. Authors declare their interests in a Conflict of Interest Statement; reviewers and editors with a conflict step aside from the manuscript. Undisclosed conflicts may lead to rejection, correction, or retraction.

1. What Counts as a Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when a primary professional responsibility (conducting, reporting, reviewing, or deciding on research) may be affected by a secondary interest. In the field of multidisciplinary Islamic studies, this includes, but is not limited to:

Financial interests — research grants, honoraria, consultancy fees, salaries, shares, or other payments related to the work.
Institutional affiliations — employment by, or formal ties to, a madrasah, pesantren, university, Islamic organization, government agency, or foundation whose programs, policies, or performance are evaluated in the manuscript.
Religious, organizational, political, or ideological roles — leadership or official positions in a religious organization (e.g., mass Islamic organizations), political party, or advocacy group connected to the topic.
Personal or professional relationships — family ties, close friendships, academic rivalries, or supervisor–student relationships with persons whose work is discussed or reviewed.
Intellectual commitments — strong attachment to a theory, curriculum, textbook, learning model, or instrument that the person developed or promotes.
Insider research — research conducted on one’s own students, colleagues, institution, congregation, or community.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Disclose all relevant financial and non-financial interests from the past three years, as well as any anticipated interests.
State every source of funding, including grant numbers, and describe the funder’s role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and the decision to publish. If the funder had no role, state so explicitly.
When researchers hold a position of authority over participants (e.g., teachers studying their own students), explain how voluntary participation, confidentiality, and objectivity were protected.
Members of the Hayula editorial board who submit a manuscript must declare that role.

Disclosure procedure:

Include a Conflict of Interest Statement in the manuscript (before the References section) and in the submission form.
If no conflict exists, write: “The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.”
Keep the anonymized manuscript free of identifying details; sensitive disclosures may be sent confidentially to the editor via “Comments for the Editor.”
The corresponding author is responsible for collecting declarations from all co-authors.
Any new conflict that arises during review or after publication must be reported to the editor promptly.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must decline the invitation, or inform the editor before proceeding, if they:

know or can identify the author(s);
work at the same institution or unit as any author;
have co-authored, collaborated, or shared a grant with any author within the past three years;
have a close personal relationship or known rivalry with any author;
have a financial interest in the outcome of the work;
are working on directly competing research; or
feel unable, for any reason, to assess the manuscript objectively.

Reviewers must not use information from unpublished manuscripts for personal advantage and must not request citations of their own work without clear scholarly justification. If a conflict becomes apparent during review, the reviewer must stop and notify the editor immediately.

4. Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

An editor who has a conflict of interest with a manuscript must not handle it; the Editor-in-Chief will assign another editor.
Editors and editorial board members submit a declaration of interests each year.
Conflicts involving the Editor-in-Chief are handled by a senior editorial board member or by the publisher.
Manuscripts authored by editors or board members undergo the same double-blind peer review and are handled by an independent editor; the author-editor has no access to the review process of their own manuscript. Such articles are identified upon publication, and their proportion in each issue is monitored.

5. Responsibilities of the Publisher

Universitas Negeri Jakarta, as the publisher, guarantees the editorial independence of Hayula. Commercial, institutional, religious, or political interests — including those of partner associations — shall not influence editorial decisions. Any fees, sponsorship, or cooperation agreements are kept separate from the editorial process (see also the journal’s Sponsorship Disclosure and Revenue Sources policies).

6. Handling Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

Concerns about an undisclosed conflict may be reported to the Editor-in-Chief, who will acknowledge receipt within 7 working days.
The editor will ask the person concerned for an explanation — within 14 days for manuscripts under review, or 30 days for published articles — and assess whether the conflict is relevant to the work.
Depending on the findings, actions may include: adding the missing disclosure, re-reviewing the manuscript, rejecting the manuscript, publishing a correction, retracting the article, or removing a reviewer or editor from the journal’s database or board.
Deliberate concealment of a conflict of interest is treated as a breach of publication ethics and handled according to the journal’s Publication Ethics Statement and COPE flowcharts.

7. Example Statements

“The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.”

“This research was funded by [funder] under grant no. [number]. The funder had no role in the study design, data collection, analysis, or decision to publish.”

“The first author teaches at the school where the study was conducted. To reduce bias, data were collected by an independent research assistant and participation was voluntary and anonymous.”