Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat: Humanity and Medicine

Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat: Humanity and Medicine is firmly committed to upholding the utmost standards of transparency, scientific objectivity, institutional independence, and ethical integrity across every phase of the publishing lifecycle. To safeguard the credibility of our medical, healthcare, and community empowerment literature, our editorial board enforces strict conflict of interest disclosure protocols for authors, reviewers, and editors alike.

Understanding Conflicts of Interest

A conflict of interest arises whenever personal, professional, financial, academic, or institutional dynamics have the potential to compromise—or be reasonably perceived to compromise—an individual's impartiality in conducting, evaluating, or reporting community service initiatives and clinical interventions. The existence of a potential conflict does not inherently imply ethical misconduct; rather, it demands clear, complete, and proactive disclosure so that the editorial team and readership can evaluate the work transparently.

Recognized Categories of Conflicts

Within the scope of community-based medical service and healthcare research, relevant conflicts include, but are not limited to:

• Financial Interests: Receipt of research grants, honoraria, paid consultancies, corporate sponsorships, patent ownership, or material support from commercial entities or pharmaceutical/medical technology companies with a stake in the project outcomes.
• Institutional & Professional Relationships: Employment arrangements, advisory board positions, clinical appointments, or institutional affiliations that might induce bias.
• Personal & Social Ties: Direct familial relationships, close personal friendships, or longstanding professional rivalries with individuals involved in the manuscript's creation or review.
• Academic & Competitive Dynamics: Ongoing research collaborations, supervisor-mentee relationships, or direct competition for grants and recognition in specialized medical and public health fields.
• Ideological & Non-Financial Commitments: Deep-seated personal beliefs, advocacy positions, or social commitments that could sway scientific objectivity.

Mandatory Author Declarations

All submitting authors must disclose any potential financial or non-financial conflicts at the time of manuscript submission. Authors are required to outline all funding sources and explicitly detail the involvement of sponsors in the design, execution, data collection, analytical evaluation, manuscript drafting, or submission decisions.

• If no conflicts exist, authors must include the explicit statement:
  "The authors declare that there are no financial, personal, or institutional conflicts of interest regarding the execution of this community service project or the publication of this manuscript."
• If conflicts exist: Authors must provide a comprehensive explanation detailing the precise nature of the relationship or financial interest.

Editorial Board Responsibilities

Editors must remain entirely neutral and objective when adjudicating manuscripts. Any editor holding a financial, institutional, or personal connection with an author or project under consideration must disclose the potential conflict immediately. If the conflict threatens editorial independence, the editor must recuse themselves, transferring all management duties for that manuscript to an unconflicted board member.

Peer Reviewer Obligations

Reviewers must evaluate potential conflicts before agreeing to assess a submission. A reviewer must decline an invitation if they share an institutional affiliation, recent co-authorship, personal connection, or competitive interest with the authors. Reviewers are strictly forbidden from utilizing privileged manuscript information for personal gain or sharing it with third parties.

Management & Resolution Protocols

The editorial board evaluates all conflict disclosures to determine appropriate risk-mitigation measures. These may include requesting supplementary documentation, publicly disclosing specific ties within the final paper, or reassigning editorial and review duties. Transparently disclosed conflicts rarely lead to manuscript rejection, provided they do not compromise the fundamental validity and ethical execution of the project.

Handling Unrevealed Conflicts

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is uncovered—whether during peer review or post-publication—the journal will initiate a formal investigation guided by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) protocols. Sanctions and corrective measures may encompass formal requests for clarification, updating the manuscript's disclosure statement, issuing an official Erratum/Corrigendum, or revoking the paper via Retraction in cases of severe non-disclosure.

Placement in the Published Work

Every accepted paper must feature a dedicated Conflict of Interest section positioned immediately prior to the Reference list. This statement must accurately represent all authors and be collectively approved before final publication. Through these rigorous standards, Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat: Humanity and Medicine ensures that all published community healthcare scholarship remains fair, accountable, and deserving of public trust.