Conflict of Interest Policy

Wiraraja Medika is dedicated to maintaining public trust in the integrity of peer-reviewed research. A conflict of interest, also known as a competing interest, arises when financial, personal, professional, or academic relationships could bias, or be perceived to bias, the objectivity of research, peer review, or editorial decisions. In accordance with Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, Wiraraja Medika requires full transparency from all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, and editors.

Author Obligations

All authors must disclose potential conflicts of interest that could influence the findings or interpretation of a manuscript.

• Financial Conflicts: Authors must declare all financial support, including research grants, funding agencies, corporate sponsorships, employment, consultancy, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, or paid expert testimony.
• Non-Financial Conflicts: Authors must declare personal, ideological, political, religious, or professional relationships with individuals or organizations that could create bias.
• Declaration Statement: Every manuscript must include a “Conflict of Interest Statement” before the reference section. If no conflict exists, the statement must read: “The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest related to this work.”
• Funding Acknowledgments: Authors must list all funding sources and briefly state the role of funders in the study design, data collection, analysis, or decision to submit the paper.

Reviewer Obligations

Peer reviewers must act with complete objectivity and declare any competing interests before agreeing to evaluate a manuscript. In a double-blind review process, reviewers may occasionally deduce author identities through writing style, self-citations, or unique datasets.

• If a reviewer recognizes an author and identifies a conflict of interest, such as a close collaboration, recent co-authorship, or institutional affiliation, they must immediately notify the editor and recuse themselves. Reviewers must decline an invitation if they are direct competitors in the same research area or have a financial interest in the outcome of the paper.
• If a reviewer identifies a potential conflict of interest during the review process, they must immediately notify the Editorial Office.

Editorial Board Obligations

Editors hold ultimate responsibility for ensuring a fair review process and must manage conflicts of interest rigorously.

• Recusal: Editors must recuse themselves from handling a manuscript when they have a conflict of interest involving the authors, institutions, or corporate sponsors. The manuscript will be reassigned to an unbiased member of the editorial board.
• Editorial Submissions: When an editor or editorial board member submits a manuscript to Wiraraja Medika, the process must be handled independently. The submitting editor will be prevented from accessing the tracking system for that manuscript, and peer review will be managed anonymously by an external editor to ensure fairness.

Resolution Mechanism for Undisclosed Conflicts

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified during peer review or after publication, Wiraraja Medika will follow the relevant COPE flowchart.

• During Review: The evaluation process will be paused, and the author will be asked to provide a formal explanation. Failure to disclose conflicts transparently may result in immediate manuscript rejection.
• Post-Publication: The editors will investigate the matter. If a significant undisclosed conflict is confirmed, the journal will publish a Correction to update the transparency record or, in cases of severe bias affecting the validity of the data, an Expression of Concern or Retraction.