Conflict of Interest (COI)
Applies to the ESS Press book line: books, monographs, chapters, and conference proceedings. Journal articles follow the COI rules of the respective journals on their websites. Where a COI exists, the manuscript is reassigned to an independent editor/reviewer.
1) Purpose and scope
1.1. This policy sets out principles for identifying, disclosing, and managing conflicts of interest for authors, editors, reviewers, and guest editors/volume editors.
1.2. A conflict of interest is any financial, academic, personal, or organizational circumstance that may influence (or be perceived as influencing) the objectivity of the presentation, assessment, or editorial decision.
2) Definitions and examples
2.1. Financial COIs: salary/honoraria/consulting fees; equity interests/options; grants and targeted funding; paid expert opinions; sponsored travel/gifts.
2.2. Non-financial/academic COIs: current or recent (≤3 years) joint publications, co-authorship on a project/grant; academic supervision/subordination; membership in the same laboratory/unit; strong academic disputes/competition.
2.3. Personal COIs: family, friendship, romantic relationships; explicit hostility/antipathy.
2.4. Institutional COIs: contractual relationships between an author’s/editor’s institution and interested parties (sponsors, commercial partners).
2.5. Questionable independence: a volume edited by an author’s supervisor; a guest editor who is a co-author/supervisor of a chapter; a reviewer who is a recent co-author or a close colleague within the same unit.
3) Disclosure principles
3.1. Completeness and timeliness. COIs must be disclosed upon manuscript submission, upon accepting an invitation to review/edit, and updated if circumstances change.
3.2. Threshold. Relationships occurring within the previous 36 months must be disclosed (unless otherwise specified in a given project/series). Material historical relationships (e.g., co-authorship within 5 years) may be disclosed at the party’s discretion.
3.3. Public disclosure. Authors’ COIs, funding sources, and the funder’s role are normally published in the book/chapter/volume. Reviewers’ COIs remain confidential. Editors’ COIs are recorded by the publisher and disclosed when necessary (e.g., in a volume foreword).
4) Responsibilities of parties
4.1. Authors
- Complete a COI declaration and provide funding information and the funder’s role; describe sponsor involvement in study design, analysis, writing, and the publication decision.
- Declare employment/board memberships/paid consulting where thematically relevant to the content.
- For edited volumes/proceedings, disclose relationships with the guest editor/volume editor.
4.2. Editors / guest editors / volume editors
- Refrain from handling manuscripts where a COI exists (e.g., submissions from their employee/student/recent co-author).
- Transfer the manuscript to an independent editor and record the transfer in the editorial protocol.
- Not use privileged information for personal benefit or for the benefit of third parties.
4.3. Reviewers
- Assess COI upon invitation; if a COI exists, decline the review or, where acceptable to the editor, provide a limited “editor-only” assessment.
- Not contact authors directly and not use unpublished data for personal gain.
5) COI management (procedure)
5.1. Screening and registration. Upon submission and/or acceptance of an invitation, a COI form must be completed. The editorial office checks completeness and may request clarifications (≤10 business days).
5.2. Risk identification:
- Low (declared relationship unlikely to affect evaluation) → process continues;
- Moderate (recent co-authorship of reviewer/editor) → reviewer/editor reassignment;
- High (corporate funding with sponsor involvement in analysis and/or publication decision) → appoint an additional independent reviewer and document mitigation measures; an editorial note in the publication may be required.
5.3. Transparency. For authors, a “Conflicts of Interest / Funding” section is published. For externally funded volumes, a separate statement on the sponsor’s role is provided.
5.4. Breaches / undisclosed COIs. A formal assessment is initiated (see Publication Ethics Policy). Measures range from requesting a correction/declaration to rejection or withdrawal/retraction in cases of material nondisclosure.
6) Funder role and editorial independence
6.1. Publication decisions are taken by an independent editor; funders must not have veto rights.
6.2. If analysis/writing was performed with involvement of a sponsor/commercial contractor, the role and extent of involvement must be described explicitly.
6.3. Access to data must not be unreasonably restricted by a sponsor. Any exceptions (commercial confidentiality, trade secrets) must be documented and aligned with the Data Availability Statement.
7) Special situations
7.1. Conference proceedings (Centre SIPD): volume editors/editorial boards disclose COIs with event organizers/sponsors; reviewers are selected outside direct organizational ties.
7.2. Series / invited volumes: a “hands-off rule” applies—manuscripts authored by current/recent students or co-authors of a series editor are handled by an independent editor.
7.3. Non-financial activism/disputes: substantial public positions that may influence assessment (e.g., active advocacy of a specific theory) should be disclosed by the reviewer/editor.
8) Public statements in the publication
- Conflicts of Interest: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.” or “Author N received consulting fees from [Organization]; this did not influence the study design, data analysis, or the publication decision.”
- Funding and Role of the Funder: “This work was supported by grant [No., Organization]. The funder had no role in the study design, data analysis, manuscript preparation, or the decision to publish.” (or specify involvement).
- Editorial Independence: “Editorial decisions were made independently. Manuscripts by authors with ties to the volume editor were handled by an independent editor.”
9) Declaration templates (EN)
9.1. Authors — short form:
“In the past 36 months, the authors have/have not received funding, honoraria, consulting fees, hold/do not hold equity or other relationships that could be perceived as influencing the work. Details: …”
9.2. Reviewers (confidential to the editorial office):
“I confirm the absence/presence of a COI: [description]. If present, I decline to review / I am willing to provide a limited assessment confined to sections unaffected by the COI (subject to editorial approval).”
9.3. Editors/volume editors:
“I disclose the following relationships with the authors/organizations associated with this manuscript within the past 36 months: … The manuscript has been reassigned to an independent editor/reviewer.”
10) Timelines and documentation
- At submission/invitation acceptance: a COI form is mandatory.
- Clarifications requested by the editorial office: response within 10 business days.
- Publication of the COI section: together with chapter/book metadata (and on the publication landing page).
- Record retention: COI forms and decisions are retained by the publisher for at least 5 years.
11) Non-compliance and measures
11.1. Material undisclosed COI before publication: the process is paused pending clarification; reassignment of reviewers/editors may be required.
11.2. After publication: a correction (addendum/erratum) is issued to disclose the COI; where the influence is material and distorting, retraction may be considered (see Publication Ethics Policy).
11.3. Repeated breaches may result in refusal to consider future submissions for a defined period.
12) Relationship to other documents
This COI Policy is applied together with: Publication Ethics, Peer Review Policy, Author Rights and Licensing, Data Availability Policy, and the Corrections and Retractions Policy.
13) Contacts
Send questions and declarations to: policies@ess.press
Complaints/appeals related to COI are handled under the procedures set out in the “Complaints and Appeals” section.