Editorial integrity and competing interests
How JPBS protects independent decisions and manages conflicts.
Independence
Editors assess manuscripts on scholarly merit, relevance, methodological soundness and ethical acceptability. Ownership, advertising, institutional relationships, personal views and the ability to pay must not determine an editorial decision.
Disclosure
Authors, reviewers and editors must disclose financial, professional, personal or intellectual relationships that could reasonably be perceived to influence their work. A disclosed interest is assessed and managed; disclosure does not automatically disqualify participation.
Recusal and reassignment
An editor or reviewer with a material conflict must decline or be replaced. The journal records the reason without unnecessarily disclosing confidential personal information. Decisions involving an editor’s own work are assigned outside that editor’s control.
Confidentiality
Manuscripts, reports, identities and correspondence are used only for the assigned editorial purpose. Unpublished information must not be used for personal advantage, shared without authority, or entered into an external system that has not been approved for confidential editorial material.
Suspected influence or manipulation
Attempts to direct reviewer selection deceptively, interfere with reports, fabricate identities, trade citations or condition decisions on unrelated benefits may lead to rejection, suspension of review and referral to institutions under the publication-ethics process.