Conflict of Interest Policy

The International Journal of Informational Integrative Medicine (IJIIM) adheres to a strict conflict-of-interest policy, in accordance with the international guidelines recommended by the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), the Council of Science Editors (CSE), and the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when an author, reviewer, or editor has personal, professional, or financial interests that could influence or appear to influence the review process, evaluation, or publication of a manuscript.

Conflicts of interest may be of the following nature:

Type Description

Financial Consulting relationships, stock ownership, patents, research grants, sponsorships, etc.

Personal Personal relationships (friendship, enmity, family ties) that could influence judgment.

Professional Academic competition, past collaborations, institutional affiliations.

Academic Publication of articles in the same journal, shared editorial roles, etc.

2. Authors’ Obligations

Authors are required to:

1. Explicitly declare at the end of the manuscript any potential conflict of interest, even if there is no conflict.
2. Include a dedicated section titled “Conflict of Interest Statement” with a clear and transparent statement.
3. Disclose the source of any funding received for the research.

Example of a statement in the absence of conflicts:

“The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

Example of a statement with conflicts to be disclosed:

“Author A has received research grants from Company X. Author B is a consultant for Company Y. The other authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

3. Conflict Management for Reviewers and Editors

Reviewers and editors are required to:

1. Disclose promptly any potential conflict of interest upon assignment of the manuscript.
2. Decline the review or editorial assignment if they believe they cannot provide an objective and impartial judgment.
3. Report to the editorial board any situation that could compromise the integrity of the review process.

3.1 Handling of Articles by Editorial Board Members

Members of the editorial board are permitted to submit their own articles to the journal. To ensure maximum transparency and impartiality:

• When an author is a member of the editorial board, they are completely recused from all editorial duties related to that article.
• Responsibility for overseeing the peer review process is entrusted to a different member of the editorial board who has no professional or personal relationship with the author.
• Any conflicts of interest are disclosed at the time of submission and, where applicable, indicated in the resulting publication.

3.2 Handling of Articles by the Publisher and Owners

The IJIIM is published by The Bioenergy Institute. To ensure maximum transparency and impartiality, the following rules apply:

• Articles submitted by members of the ownership group, the publisher, or anyone with a direct interest in the journal’s success are subject to the same rigorous double-blind peer review process applied to all other manuscripts.
• In such cases, the author is completely exempted from any editorial or decision-making role regarding their own article.
• Oversight of the review process and the final decision are entrusted to a member of the editorial board who has no professional or personal relationship with the author.
• Any conflicts of interest are disclosed at the time of submission and, where appropriate, indicated in the resulting publication.

4. Confidentiality

All reviewers and editors are required to maintain strict confidentiality regarding the manuscripts assigned to them.

The contents must not be discussed with third parties or used for personal purposes.Reporting ViolationsAny violation of this policy must be reported to the Editor-in-Chief, who will evaluate the case and take appropriate action, which may include rejection of the manuscript or publication of a correction.Last updated: [insert date]