Conflicts of Interest Policy

Conflict of interest defined

A personal involvement in a case or other matter being reported; a significant financial interest in the matter; or a connection with an author, including personal relationships or direct academic competition, that could give rise to concerns about bias in the evaluation and assessment of work submitted for publication, are all considered conflicts of interest.

Policy for editors and reviewers

Editors will not be involved in the assessment or selection of articles wherein they may be considered to have a conflict of interest. In a similar vein, outside reviewers will be asked to confirm that they are aware of no conflicts of interest before agreeing to review a submission, and they will be expected to abstain from evaluation and selection of articles regarding which they may be reasonably perceived to have a conflict of interest.

Legal cases and funding

When an article in a journal is centered around a court case, the author will disclose in a footnote on the title page any involvement in the case (as a litigant, judge, or advocate). In a similar vein, the editor of the JLLRD will reveal any connection of that kind. In order for these to be included in a footnote, authors will also be required to declare any financial assistance for their works published in theJLLRD.

COPE guidelines for Conflict of interest