Conflict of Interest

Swami Vivekananda University Press (SVUP) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in the publication process. All authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may influence their work or compromise the objectivity of the publication.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest (COI) exists when an individual’s personal, financial, academic, or professional relationships could influence — or appear to influence — their research, judgment, or actions within the publication process.

Conflicts may be:

• Financial – funding, grants, employment, consultancies, honoraria, stocks, royalties.
• Academic/Professional – collaborations, rivalries, institutional affiliations.
• Personal – relationships or beliefs that may bias the work.
• Institutional – competing organizational or departmental interests.

2. Author Responsibilities

Authors must:

• Disclose any financial support, funding sources, or sponsorships related to the research.
• Declare any personal, academic, or professional relationships that may influence the manuscript.
• State clearly if no conflict of interest exists.
• Ensure that all co-authors are aware of the submitted disclosure.

Where to declare:
Conflicts must be declared during the submission process and included in a “Conflict of Interest Statement” within the manuscript, if required.

3. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers must:

• Decline review assignments if they have any conflict that could compromise impartiality.
• Avoid reviewing work from close colleagues, recent collaborators, students, or supervisors.
• Inform the Editorial Team immediately upon identifying a potential conflict.

4. Editor Responsibilities

Editors must:

• Avoid handling manuscripts where they have a personal, academic, or financial conflict.
• Assign unbiased reviewers free from any conflicts.
• Make publication decisions solely on the scholarly merit of the work.

If an editor has a conflict of interest, the manuscript must be reassigned to another qualified editor.

5. Transparency in Funding

All sources of research funding, institutional support, sponsorship, or financial contributions must be clearly acknowledged.

Authors must specify whether:

• The funding body influenced the study design, analysis, or publication decision
  OR
• Had no involvement in the research.

6. Undisclosed Conflicts

Failure to disclose conflicts of interest may result in:

• Manuscript rejection
• Retraction of published work
• Notification to the author’s institution
• Restrictions on future submissions
• Editorial actions consistent with COPE guidelines

SVUP follows guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in handling undisclosed or discovered conflicts.

7. Conflict of Interest Statement Format (Sample)

If no conflicts:

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.