Spectrum of Operational Research (SOR) requires authors, reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in the editorial process to disclose relationships, activities, or interests that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, their professional judgment concerning submitted or published work.
A conflict of interest does not necessarily imply improper conduct and does not automatically prevent submission, peer review, editorial involvement, or publication. Appropriate disclosure and management are required to ensure transparency and protect the independence and integrity of the editorial process.
Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, whether for-profit or non-profit, that unreasonably restrict their access to study data, their ability to analyze or interpret the data independently, or their ability to prepare and submit manuscripts for publication in accordance with applicable ethical, legal, contractual, and journal requirements.
All authors must disclose any relationships, activities, or interests that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, their work. Potential conflicts of interest may be financial or non-financial.
Financial conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to, employment, consultancies, advisory roles, stock or share ownership, honoraria, research grants or other funding, paid expert testimony, patents or patent applications, patent-licensing arrangements, and other financial relationships relevant to the submitted work.
Non-financial conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to, relevant personal, professional, academic, institutional, collaborative, or other relationships or affiliations that could affect, or reasonably be perceived to affect, an author's objectivity or professional judgment.
Authors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest through the journal's online submission system during the submission process. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that relevant disclosures from all authors are accurately reported.
The corresponding author must also include a separate section entitled Conflicts of Interest in the manuscript, placed immediately before the reference list. The statement must accurately reflect all relevant conflict-of-interest disclosures provided by the authors.
The existence of a potential conflict of interest does not necessarily prevent publication. The purpose of disclosure is to enable editors, reviewers, readers, and the journal to evaluate the work transparently and to allow appropriate measures to be taken where necessary.
Where relevant conflicts exist, an appropriate statement may take the following form:
Conflicts of Interest: Author A has received research funding from Company A. Author B has received speaker honoraria from Company X and owns shares in Company Y. Author C has acted as a consultant and paid expert witness for Company Z. Author D is an inventor on a patent relevant to the subject of this manuscript.
If no relevant conflicts of interest exist, the authors should state:
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment. Such conflicts may arise from personal, professional, academic, institutional, collaborative, competitive, or financial relationships with the authors, their institutions, the subject matter of the manuscript, or organizations associated with the research.
Reviewers should decline an invitation to review if they believe that a conflict of interest could compromise, or could reasonably be perceived to compromise, their independence or impartiality.
If a potential conflict becomes apparent after a review has begun, the reviewer must promptly inform the responsible editor. The editor will determine whether the reviewer may continue or should withdraw and whether any review already provided may appropriately be considered in the editorial process.
Editors, including the Editor-in-Chief, handling editors, Editorial Board members acting as editors, and Guest Editors, must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest related to manuscripts they are asked to handle.
An editor must not participate in the evaluation or decision-making process for a manuscript where their independence or impartiality could reasonably be questioned.
Relevant conflicts may include recent or ongoing collaboration with the authors, employment at the same institution, close personal or professional relationships, direct academic competition, financial interests, supervisory relationships, or other circumstances that could affect or reasonably be perceived to affect impartial editorial judgment.
Where an editor has a relevant conflict of interest, responsibility for the manuscript will be transferred to an independent editor with appropriate expertise and no relevant conflict.
The conflicted editor must not select or influence the selection of reviewers, participate in the scientific assessment of the manuscript, access confidential peer-review information beyond what is strictly necessary for legitimate administrative purposes, or influence the editorial decision.
Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editors, Editorial Board members, Guest Editors, or other individuals involved in the journal's editorial management are not automatically excluded from consideration for publication.
Such manuscripts must be handled independently by an appropriately qualified editor who has no relevant conflict of interest. The submitting editor or Editorial Board member must have no involvement in reviewer selection, peer-review assessment, or the editorial decision concerning their own manuscript.
These submissions are subject to the same editorial criteria, peer-review requirements, and publication ethics standards as other manuscripts submitted to SOR.
Where an individual acting on behalf of the Publisher or Editorial Office has a personal, professional, financial, institutional, or other relevant interest in a specific manuscript, that interest must not be allowed to influence the scientific assessment or editorial decision.
Individuals with such conflicts should not participate in substantive editorial decision-making concerning the affected manuscript. Editorial decisions remain subject to the journal's Editorial Independence policy.
If a significant undisclosed conflict of interest is identified during the editorial or peer-review process, the journal will assess its relevance and potential effect on the independence, fairness, or integrity of the assessment.
Appropriate action may include requesting clarification or an updated disclosure, replacing a reviewer, transferring the manuscript to an independent editor, reassessing relevant parts of the editorial process, or taking another proportionate measure.
Deliberate concealment or material misrepresentation of a relevant conflict of interest may constitute a publication ethics concern and may be assessed under the journal's Procedures for Dealing with Allegations of Unethical Behaviour .
If a significant undisclosed conflict of interest is discovered after publication, SOR will assess its relevance and potential effect on the interpretation, reliability, transparency, or integrity of the published article and the process through which it was evaluated.
The existence of an undisclosed conflict of interest does not automatically require retraction. The appropriate response will depend on the nature and significance of the undisclosed interest and its potential effect on the article or editorial process.
Where appropriate, the journal may publish a correction or disclosure, issue an Expression of Concern, or take another proportionate post-publication action. Where the circumstances meet the criteria for retraction or another formal amendment of the scholarly record, the matter will be handled in accordance with the journal's Retraction and Correction Policies .
SOR seeks to manage conflicts of interest through appropriate disclosure, independent editorial handling, and proportionate action. Conflict-of-interest declarations are intended to promote transparency and allow readers and those involved in the editorial process to assess relevant relationships or interests in an informed manner.
