TAZKIYA Journal of Psychology, published by the Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Islam Negeri Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, and integrity throughout the research and publication process. All parties involved in scholarly publishing, including authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members, are expected to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, research findings, peer review, editorial decisions, or the publication process.

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from consideration or prevent publication. Rather, disclosure enables the journal to evaluate and manage relevant interests appropriately, protect the independence of editorial decisions, and maintain readers' confidence in the published scholarly record.

1. Purpose

This policy establishes the responsibilities of authors, reviewers, editors, and other relevant parties in identifying, disclosing, and managing conflicts of interest. Its objectives are to:

• Promote transparency in research, authorship, peer review, and editorial decision-making.
• Protect the objectivity and independence of scholarly evaluation.
• Ensure that financial and non-financial interests are appropriately disclosed.
• Prevent actual or perceived conflicts from compromising the integrity of published research.
• Provide a fair and consistent process for managing disclosed and undisclosed conflicts of interest.

2. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when a person's financial, professional, institutional, personal, academic, or other interests could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment, actions, or decisions concerning research or publication.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, or perceived. An actual conflict exists when competing interests are present and relevant to a decision. A potential conflict may arise when circumstances could create a conflict in the future. A perceived conflict exists when a reasonable observer could question a person's impartiality, even if that person believes their judgment is unaffected.

The journal assesses conflicts of interest according to their relevance to the research or publication process rather than assuming that every disclosed relationship necessarily constitutes misconduct or invalidates the research.

3. Types of Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members must disclose interests that may be relevant to the manuscript or publication process. These may include, but are not limited to, the following categories.

4. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors submitting manuscripts to TAZKIYA Journal of Psychology are responsible for identifying and disclosing any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest relevant to their research, authorship, or publication. Disclosures should be accurate, complete, and made at the time of submission. Authors should update the journal if a relevant conflict becomes apparent during peer review or after publication.

Authors must disclose relevant financial support and other substantive relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or reporting of findings.

For psychological research, relevant interests may include relationships involving psychological assessment instruments, research scales, intervention programs, consulting services, organizations, or commercial products evaluated in the manuscript, where those interests could affect the interpretation or presentation of the findings.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have been informed of the disclosure requirements and that the submitted statement accurately represents the interests declared by the author group.

4.1. Required Conflict of Interest Statement

A separate section titled Conflict of Interest must be included in the manuscript before the References section. Authors should use the applicable statement below and adapt it to their circumstances.

4.2. Funding Disclosure

All sources of financial support for the research must be disclosed, including grants, institutional funding, sponsorships, and other material support. Authors should identify the funding organization and grant number, where applicable, and describe the funder's role in the study when relevant.

4.3. Acknowledgments

Authors should acknowledge individuals, institutions, or organizations that provided meaningful assistance but do not meet the criteria for authorship. Acknowledgments should not replace disclosures of funding or conflicts of interest. Authors should obtain permission from individuals named in the acknowledgment section where appropriate.

5. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to provide fair, objective, and confidential assessments of submitted manuscripts. Before accepting a review invitation, reviewers must consider whether any financial, professional, institutional, personal, collaborative, or academic relationship could compromise their impartiality.

Reviewers must notify the editor promptly if they identify a conflict of interest. The editor will determine whether the reviewer may proceed or whether another reviewer should be appointed.

Relevant circumstances may include recent or ongoing co-authorship, shared research funding, close professional connections, personal disputes, financial interests related to the research topic, or other relationships that could reasonably call the reviewer's independence into question.

Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and privileged information obtained during peer review. They must not use unpublished ideas, data, methods, or findings for personal or professional advantage without appropriate authorization.

6. Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members must exercise independent judgment and disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that may affect their handling of a manuscript or participation in an editorial decision.

An editor who has a relevant conflict must recuse themselves from the assessment, reviewer selection, discussion, and final decision concerning the manuscript. The submission should be assigned to an independent editor who can handle it objectively.

Relevant conflicts may include authorship of the submitted manuscript, close personal or family relationships with an author, supervisory or collaborative relationships, financial interests, institutional interests, or other circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing editorial judgment.

Editors and editorial board members must protect confidential information obtained through the editorial process. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in their own research or for personal advantage without the authors' express written permission.

When a submission is authored by the Editor-in-Chief or another editor, the manuscript must be handled by an independent editor who has no relevant conflict. The submitting editor must not participate in the peer-review process or editorial decision for their own manuscript.

7. Disclosure and Manuscript Submission Requirements

Authors must include the relevant declarations in their manuscript before the References section. The journal recommends using separate headings to make each declaration clear and easy to identify.

If no acknowledgment is necessary, authors may omit that section. Authors should ensure that all statements are consistent with the information provided during submission and with any declarations required by the journal's submission system.

8. Management of Disclosed Conflicts of Interest

When a conflict of interest is disclosed, the editorial team evaluates its nature, relevance, and potential effect on the research or publication process. Depending on the circumstances, the journal may request clarification, require a more complete disclosure, assign an independent reviewer or editor, restrict the participation of a conflicted individual, or decline publication when the conflict cannot be managed adequately.

The presence of a disclosed conflict does not automatically lead to rejection. Editorial decisions remain based on scholarly merit, research integrity, methodological quality, relevance to the journal's scope, and the journal's publication ethics requirements.

9. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may constitute a breach of publication ethics, particularly when the omission is intentional or materially affects the transparency or credibility of the research. Each case will be assessed according to the available evidence, the significance of the undisclosed interest, and the circumstances of the omission.

If a potential undisclosed conflict is identified, the journal may request an explanation and supporting information from the authors, reviewers, editors, or other relevant parties. Depending on the severity and effect of the issue, the journal may request a corrected disclosure, publish a correction or clarification, issue an Expression of Concern, reassign an editorial process, reject a manuscript, or consider retraction of a published article if the issue undermines the reliability or integrity of the publication.

Where appropriate, the journal may consult the relevant institution or follow applicable guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Actions will be proportionate to the nature and severity of the issue, and the parties concerned will be given an appropriate opportunity to respond.

10. Confidentiality and Fair Treatment

Information disclosed under this policy will be handled responsibly and shared only with individuals who need it for the assessment, management, or documentation of the relevant conflict, subject to applicable legal, ethical, and publication requirements.

TAZKIYA Journal of Psychology seeks to handle conflict-of-interest concerns fairly, consistently, and without discrimination. Individuals should not be presumed to have acted improperly solely because a conflict exists. The journal evaluates disclosures based on their relevance to the research and publication process.

11. Policy Review

This policy may be reviewed and updated to reflect developments in publication ethics, research integrity, scholarly publishing standards, and applicable guidance from recognized organizations such as COPE. Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members are expected to comply with the version of the policy applicable to their participation in the publication process.