Conflict of Interest

Conflict of Interest Policy: Loreto College Open Book Platform

Loreto College Academic Press (LCAP) is committed to the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct. To protect the objectivity of the scholarship hosted on our Open Book Platform, all authors, editors, and reviewers are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest (COI) that could influence—or appear to influence—their professional judgment.

What is a Conflict of Interest?

A conflict of interest exists when personal, financial, academic, or professional relationships might compromise the impartiality of the research or the editorial process. These may include:

• Financial: Research grants, employment, consultancies, honoraria, or stock ownership.
• Academic/Professional: Recent collaborations, institutional rivalries, or shared affiliations.
• Personal: Close personal relationships or deeply held beliefs that could bias the evaluation of a work.
• Institutional: Competing organizational or departmental interests.

Responsibilities of Contributors

1. Author Responsibilities

Authors must be transparent regarding the origins and support of their work:

• Disclosure: Declare all financial support, sponsorships, or personal relationships related to the research.
• Transparency: State clearly if no conflict of interest exists.
• Co-author Consensus: Ensure all co-authors or contributors are in agreement with the submitted disclosure.
• Placement: Conflicts must be declared during the submission process and included as a formal "Conflict of Interest Statement" within the book’s front matter.

2. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers act as the gatekeepers of quality and must:

• Impartiality: Decline any assignment where a conflict (e.g., reviewing a close colleague’s or former student's work) could compromise objectivity.
• Communication: Notify the Editorial Team immediately if a potential conflict is identified during the review process.

3. Editor Responsibilities

Editors ensure the fairness of the platform by:

• Recusal: Avoiding the management of manuscripts where they have a personal or financial stake.
• Neutrality: Selecting reviewers who are free from conflicts with the author or the subject matter.
• Merit-Based Decisions: Making publication choices solely based on the scholarly quality and relevance of the work.

Transparency in Funding

All sources of financial or institutional support must be clearly acknowledged in the manuscript. Authors must specify whether the funding body had any influence on the study design, data analysis, or the decision to publish.

Handling Undisclosed Conflicts

LCAP follows the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Failure to disclose a conflict of interest may lead to:

• Rejection of the manuscript.
• Formal retraction of the published book.
• Notification to the author’s home institution.

Conflict of Interest Statement (Samples)

If no conflicts exist:

"The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this book."