Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests Policy

Social Lens is committed to ensuring transparency, objectivity, and integrity in scholarly publishing. Conflicts of interest, whether financial, institutional, or personal, may compromise or appear to compromise the credibility of research and editorial decision-making. The journal requires full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest from authors, reviewers, and editors.  By participating in the publication process, all stakeholders agree to uphold this Conflict of Interest Policy. Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any conflicts of interest that may affect the publication process. Conflicts may include financial relationships, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, academic competition, or ideological interests. Authors, must disclose all relevant conflicts in the manuscript. Reviewers must decline review invitations where conflicts exist. Editors shall recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which conflicts arise. Undisclosed conflicts identified after publication may result in correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

This policy follows international best practices promoted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).

A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning research, interpretation, or publication may be influenced by secondary interests. Both actual and perceived conflicts must be disclosed.

Author Responsibilities

Authors submitting to SL must disclose all potential conflicts of interest that could influence their work.

Authors must include a Conflict of Interest Statement in their manuscripts.

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts may result in rejection, correction, or retraction.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers are required to:

·         Declare any potential conflicts of interest before accepting a review

·         Decline review assignments when conflicts exist

·         Maintain objectivity and confidentiality

·         Reviewers with conflicts must not participate in the evaluation of affected manuscripts.

Editorial Responsibilities

Editors and editorial board members must:

·         Disclose personal, financial, or institutional conflicts

·         Recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where conflicts exist

·         Ensure impartial and unbiased decision-making

·         Avoid preferential treatment of submissions

·         Editors do not participate in decisions regarding their own manuscripts.

Disclosure and Management of Conflicts

All disclosed conflicts are evaluated by the editorial office.

Management strategies may include:

·         Reassignment of editors or reviewers

·         Disclosure in published articles

·         Independent review

·         Additional oversight

The goal is to ensure fairness without restricting academic freedom.

Handling Undisclosed Conflicts

If undisclosed conflicts are discovered after publication, the journal follows COPE procedures:

https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts

Appropriate actions may include:

·         Publication of corrections

·         Editorial expressions of concern

·         Retractions

·         Institutional notification