Conflict of Interest

1. General Principles

The Journal of Tourism Sustainability (JTOS), published by Politeknik Negeri Bandung, is committed to maintaining transparency, independence, objectivity, and integrity throughout the scholarly publication process.

JTOS requires authors, reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in editorial decision-making to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their professional judgment.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not automatically constitute research misconduct or disqualify a manuscript from publication.

However, relevant conflicts must be disclosed and appropriately managed to safeguard the credibility of the research and the independence of editorial decisions.

2. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest arises when financial, professional, personal, institutional, or other relationships or interests may compromise, or reasonably be perceived to compromise, an individual's objectivity, judgment, or responsibilities in research and scholarly publishing.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived, and may include:

Financial Interests: Research funding, employment, consultancy fees, honoraria, sponsorships, ownership interests, patents, royalties, or other financial relationships.
Professional Interests: Professional competition, academic collaborations, supervisory relationships, or involvement in related research projects.
Personal Relationships: Family relationships, close friendships, personal disputes, or other relationships that may affect impartial judgment.
Institutional Interests: Organizational affiliations, institutional partnerships, institutional responsibilities, or interests that may influence evaluation or publication decisions.
Academic and Intellectual Interests: Strong academic commitments, competing research interests, or intellectual positions that may interfere with objective evaluation.
Commercial Interests: Relationships with tourism businesses, destination management organizations, consultancies, industry associations, or other entities that may benefit from particular research outcomes.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors submitting manuscripts to JTOS must disclose relationships, financial support, professional interests, or other circumstances that could influence or reasonably appear to influence their research.

Authors must disclose relevant conflicts regardless of whether they believe those interests have directly influenced the research findings.

Relevant disclosures may include:

Financial support from government, industry, or private organizations.
Consultancy or employment relationships with organizations relevant to the research.
Financial or commercial interests associated with the research outcomes.
Institutional or professional relationships that may influence research interpretation.
Personal relationships that may create reasonable concerns regarding impartiality.
Other relationships or activities that may be perceived as influencing the research process or findings.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that conflict-of-interest information is collected from all co-authors and accurately reported to JTOS.

Authors must update their disclosures if relevant circumstances change during editorial assessment or before publication.

4. Conflict of Interest Declaration

JTOS requires manuscripts to include a dedicated section entitled Conflict of Interest before the reference list.

When no relevant conflicts exist, authors should include the following statement:

"The authors declare that they have no known financial, professional, personal, or institutional conflicts of interest that could have influenced the research reported in this manuscript."

When conflicts exist, authors must provide an accurate and sufficiently detailed declaration.

An example statement is:

"The authors declare the following potential conflicts of interest: [describe the relevant relationships, financial interests, institutional affiliations, or other circumstances]. The authors confirm that these interests have been disclosed to the journal."

Disclosure of conflicts of interest must be distinguished from the acknowledgment of research funding.

Funding sources and their roles in the research should be reported separately in an appropriate Funding Statement.

5. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are required to conduct manuscript evaluations objectively, independently, and confidentially.

Before accepting a review invitation, reviewers must assess whether any relationship or interest may compromise their impartiality.

Potential conflicts may include:

Recent or ongoing research collaboration with the manuscript's authors.
Close personal, professional, or supervisory relationships.
Direct academic or commercial competition involving the research.
Financial interests related to the research findings.
Institutional or organizational relationships that may affect independent judgment.
Any other circumstances that could reasonably compromise reviewer impartiality.

Reviewers must promptly disclose potential conflicts to the handling editor.

Where a conflict could compromise independent assessment, the reviewer must decline or withdraw from the assignment.

Reviewers must not use confidential manuscript information for personal, academic, professional, or commercial advantage.

6. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must ensure that all manuscripts receive fair, independent, and evidence-based editorial consideration.

Editors must disclose any relevant financial, personal, professional, or institutional relationships that may affect their impartiality.

An editor who has a relevant conflict of interest concerning a manuscript must withdraw from its editorial assessment and decision-making process.

The manuscript must be assigned to another qualified editor who does not have a relevant conflict of interest.

Editors must not use confidential information obtained through the editorial process for personal or professional benefit.

Editorial decisions must be based on manuscript quality, originality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal's focus and scope.

7. Manuscripts Submitted by Editorial Board Members

JTOS recognizes that members of the editorial board may also contribute scholarly manuscripts to the journal.

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editors, Editorial Board members, or individuals with editorial responsibilities must be subject to the same scholarly standards and peer-review requirements as other submissions.

Editors and editorial board members must not participate in the evaluation, reviewer selection, editorial handling, or publication decision concerning their own manuscripts.

Such manuscripts must be handled by an independent qualified editor without a relevant conflict of interest.

Editorial affiliation does not guarantee manuscript acceptance or preferential treatment.

8. Institutional and Publisher Independence

JTOS is published by Politeknik Negeri Bandung.

The publisher supports the journal's scholarly publication activities while respecting the independence of editorial assessment and publication decisions.

Institutional affiliations, administrative positions, funding relationships, or organizational interests must not improperly influence editorial decisions.

Manuscripts submitted by authors affiliated with Politeknik Negeri Bandung must undergo the same editorial screening, peer-review procedures, and publication standards as manuscripts submitted by external authors.

Where institutional conflicts may arise, the manuscript must be assigned to an appropriately independent editor.

9. Research Funding and Sponsorship

Authors must disclose financial support received for conducting or reporting the research.

The role of funding bodies, sponsors, or supporting organizations should be clearly identified when relevant.

Such roles may include involvement in:

Research design and methodology.
Data collection and analysis.
Interpretation of findings.
Manuscript preparation.
Decisions concerning publication.

Research sponsors must not improperly interfere with scientific interpretation, author independence, or editorial decisions.

Authors must disclose any contractual restrictions that could affect access to research data, reporting of findings, or publication.

10. Conflict of Interest Assessment and Management

When a potential conflict of interest is identified, the editorial team will evaluate its nature, relevance, and possible effects on the manuscript or editorial process.

Appropriate management measures may include:

Requesting additional disclosure or clarification.
Requiring an appropriate conflict-of-interest statement.
Assigning independent reviewers or editors.
Reassigning editorial responsibility when conflicts arise.
Excluding individuals from specific assessments or decisions.
Requesting clarification of funding relationships or sponsor involvement.
Taking further editorial action when serious undisclosed conflicts are identified.

Conflict management measures will be proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the identified concern.

11. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may constitute a breach of publication ethics.

When an undisclosed conflict is identified during manuscript assessment, JTOS may request clarification, additional documentation, or appropriate correction of the disclosure statement.

When undisclosed conflicts are identified after publication, the editorial team will evaluate whether the omission materially affects the transparency, credibility, or integrity of the published research.

Depending on the circumstances, editorial actions may include:

Publication of a correction to the conflict-of-interest declaration.
Further investigation of research or publication integrity concerns.
Publication of an expression of concern when justified.
Retraction when serious integrity violations warrant such action.

Editorial actions will be undertaken in accordance with JTOS Publication Ethics and applicable COPE guidance.

12. Transparency and Confidentiality

JTOS is committed to transparency in the disclosure and management of conflicts of interest.

Relevant author disclosures will be included in published articles.

Confidential information provided by reviewers, editors, or other parties will be handled responsibly and disclosed only when necessary for legitimate editorial or ethical purposes.

The journal will maintain appropriate documentation of significant conflicts and measures taken to manage them.

13. Policy Compliance

By submitting a manuscript to JTOS, authors acknowledge their responsibility to disclose relevant conflicts of interest and comply with this policy.

Reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in publication decisions are also expected to comply with these requirements.

JTOS may periodically review and update this policy to reflect developments in scholarly publishing ethics and international editorial standards.

Conflict of Interest Declaration Templates

A. No Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no known financial, professional, personal, or institutional conflicts of interest that could have influenced the research reported in this manuscript.

B. Conflict of Interest Exists

The authors declare the following potential conflicts of interest: [provide details of relevant financial, professional, personal, or institutional relationships]. These interests have been disclosed to the journal.

C. Funding Disclosure

This research was supported by [name of funding organization and grant number, if applicable]. The funding organization [describe its role, if any] in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decision.