Competing Interest Policy

The Indonesian Journal of Islamization Studies (INJAS) is committed to upholding absolute transparency, objectivity, and academic integrity across its publication workflow in accordance with the standards set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Competing interests—also known as conflicts of interest—refer to any financial, personal, professional, academic, or political relationships, affiliations, or commitments that could improperly influence, bias, or be reasonably perceived to compromise the objectivity and credibility of research outcomes. INJAS enforces a comprehensive Competing Interest Policy that applies strictly to authors, peer reviewers, and editors involved in the submission, evaluation, and publication of scholarly manuscripts.

Authors are required to declare all potential competing interests that might be perceived as exerting undue influence on their research methodology, data analysis, or conceptual conclusions. Disclosable interests encompass direct or indirect financial arrangements, institutional employment, research grant funding, commercial consultancies, patent ownership, or personal affiliations relevant to the subject matter. Authors must provide an explicit Competing Interest Statement during initial manuscript submission, which will be published transparently alongside the final accepted article, or explicitly affirm the absence of competing interests if no such conflicts exist.

Peer reviewers must evaluate manuscripts with complete impartiality and are required to declare any potential conflicts of interest prior to or during the review process. Reviewers must immediately recuse themselves from an assignment if they share institutional affiliations, recent research collaborations, financial ties, or personal relationships with any of the manuscript's authors. Should a reviewer discover a competing interest after accepting an evaluation request, they are obligated to inform the editorial office immediately so that the manuscript can be reassigned to an independent expert without delay.

Editors hold ultimate responsibility for preserving unbiased decision-making and must recuse themselves from managing, assigning, or making publication decisions on any manuscript where a competing interest exists. In such cases, management of the manuscript is transferred entirely to an independent member of the editorial board or a guest editor who possesses no conflict of interest regarding the work or its authors. If an undisclosed competing interest is discovered post-publication, INJAS will investigate the matter in strict compliance with COPE flowcharts and issue appropriate formal corrections, clarifications, or article retractions as necessary to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.