Review of Multidisciplinary Education, Culture and Pedagogy is committed to ensuring that research, peer review, editorial handling, and publication are conducted transparently, objectively, independently, and with integrity.

A Conflict of Interest (COI), or competing interest, exists when a relationship, activity, interest, or circumstance could influence, or could reasonably be perceived to influence, the judgment, interpretation, peer review, editorial handling, or publication of scholarly work.

 

Authors

All authors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest relevant to the submitted manuscript. This may include, but is not limited to:

• financial interests, grants, funding, sponsorship, employment, consultancy, honoraria, or commercial relationships;
• personal or family relationships;
• academic, professional, institutional, or collaborative relationships;
• competitive or professional interests;
• political, ideological, or organizational interests; and
• any other relationship or circumstance that could reasonably be perceived to influence the work.

All relevant financial and non-financial support, including funding, sponsorship, institutional support, or other assistance related to the research, must also be disclosed.

Every manuscript must include a Conflict of Interest Statement (see the Manuscript Template), whether or not a conflict exists.

• If there is no conflict: “The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.”
• If there is a conflict: describe the relationship clearly, including the role of any company or funder (see the examples in the Manuscript Template).

 

Peer Reviewers

Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that may affect, or may reasonably be perceived to affect, their independence and objectivity. Such interests may include personal, financial, academic, institutional, professional, collaborative, or competitive relationships with the authors, institutions, funders, or organizations associated with the manuscript.

• If a significant conflict exists, the reviewer must inform the editor and, where appropriate, decline the review.
• If a potential conflict becomes apparent after accepting the review, the reviewer must promptly inform the editor so that appropriate action can be taken.

 

Editors and Editorial Team

Editors and editorial team members must disclose any relevant conflict of interest associated with a manuscript under consideration.

• Editors must not handle manuscripts in which they have an unmanaged conflict arising from personal, academic, financial, institutional, competitive, collaborative, commercial, or other relationships with the authors, reviewers, institutions, funders, or organizations associated with the manuscript.
• Where an editor has a relevant conflict, the manuscript must be reassigned to another qualified editor who is free from that conflict.
• If the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict concerning a manuscript, it must be handled independently by another appropriate editor or Editorial Board member.

 

Editorial Independence

Disclosure of a conflict of interest does not, by itself, constitute misconduct and does not automatically disqualify a manuscript, author, reviewer, or editor from participating in the publication process.

The editorial team will assess the nature and significance of the disclosed interest and decide whether disclosure, recusal, reassignment, additional review, or another measure is necessary.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by article processing charges or other fees, fee waiver requests, sponsorship, institutional relationships, commercial interests, or any consideration unrelated to the scholarly and ethical evaluation of the manuscript.

 

Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If a potentially significant undisclosed conflict is identified during editorial processing, ROMEO may request clarification or additional disclosure and may suspend editorial processing until the matter is clarified.

If an undisclosed conflict is identified after publication, ROMEO may take appropriate action in line with the journal’s Post-publication Policy and Publication Ethics, including a correction, a disclosure statement, or another editorial notice.