Conflict of Interest Policy

The Jurnal Kegawatdaruratan Medis Indonesia (JKMI) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and objectivity in the publication of emergency, critical care, and disaster medicine research. To ensure unbiased evaluation and reporting, all participants in the publication process—authors, peer reviewers, and editors—must disclose any potential conflicts of interest (COI).

1. Authors
All potential conflicts of interest (competing interests) that could have a direct or indirect influence on the research or its interpretation must be fully disclosed by the authors. Even in the absence of a conflict, disclosing relevant affiliations and interests promotes a comprehensive and open approach, leading to a more accurate evaluation of the work. Readers are entitled to know about any potential conflicts, whether genuine or perceived.

A conflict of interest statement must be included in the manuscript text (prior to the reference list), and a signed conflict disclosure form must be submitted during the manuscript submission process. A financial relationship with a funding body or institutional support is not inherently inappropriate; however, it must be transparently declared. If there are no conflicts, authors must include the following confirmation statement in their manuscript:
“The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript.”
Financial Competing Interests
Financial competing interests include, but are not limited to:
Type of support, grant numbers, and funding sources.
Institutional conflicts of interest.
Funds received by the author(s) or their institution.
Travel allowances, honoraria, or paid lectures related to the research.
Funds received for article preparation, writing assistance, or review activities.
Support provided for drugs, equipment, or materials used in the study.
Pending funds, grants, patents, or stocks.
Financial conflicts can be personal or institutional. A personal conflict occurs when an author receives or expects to receive financial benefits (including patents, stocks, gifts, or services) that may impact the work. An institutional conflict arises when the financial interests of the author’s institution (e.g., university investments, licensing payments, or royalties) have the potential to unduly influence the research or pose an unacceptable risk to human subjects.
Non-Financial Competing Interests
Non-financial interests that are relevant to the research must also be declared. These include personal relationships, professional affiliations, or personal opinions that could directly or indirectly impact the research.
Intellectual Property
Authors must disclose any intellectual property rights resulting from creativity, such as copyrights, trademarks, or patents. This includes:
Patents (licensed, issued, or pending).
Royalties or licensee agreements.
Any payments received for intellectual property related to the manuscript.

2. Disclosure Statement
All conflict of interest disclosure forms are collected by the corresponding author. In collaborative authorships, the corresponding author may sign the disclosure form on behalf of all authors, provided legal agreements for representation allow it.

Before the reference list, the corresponding author must include a summary statement in the text of the article that accurately reflects the information reported in the disclosure form(s). Authors may also suggest the names of reviewers who might have a potential conflict of interest so that the Editorial Office can avoid inviting them, ensuring an unbiased review process.

3. Undisclosed Conflict of Interest (Authors)
Cases of undisclosed conflicts of interest, whether identified before or after the publication of an article, will be handled strictly in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Undisclosed conflict of interest in a submitted article: The manuscript will be rejected, and the authors may be subject to institutional sanctions.
Undisclosed conflict of interest in a published article: JKMI will issue an Expression of Concern, Correction, or Retraction in accordance with COPE guidelines.
For more information on COIs, authors are advised to consult the guidance from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

4. Peer Reviewers
JKMI strives to conduct a transparent and rigorous peer-review process utilizing reviewers who have no conflict of interest with the authors. To maintain objectivity, reviewers who belong to the same institution or country as the authors, or who have recently collaborated with them, are generally not invited to review manuscripts.

Because the Editorial Office cannot be aware of all potential competing interests, authors are expected to submit a list of reviewers they believe might have a conflict of interest to ensure a transparent review process.

Reviewer Responsibilities:
Reviewers must not accept manuscript review requests if they have any potential conflict of interest and must inform the Editorial Office accordingly.
Reviewers must decline requests if they have recently published or submitted an article with any of the listed authors.
Reviewers must inform the Editorial Office if they have a personal relationship with the authors or work in the same institution, which could affect review transparency.
Reviewers must abstain from reviewing and immediately inform the Editor-in-Chief/Handling Editor about any suspected scientific misconduct, fraud, plagiarism, or undisclosed conflicts of interest.
During the submission of review comments, reviewers are required to reconfirm their status by checking the following statement:
“I hereby confirm that I have no conflict of interest related to this manuscript.”
If any remaining interests exist, reviewers must explicitly mention them in the ‘Confidential Comments to the Editor’ section of the review form. Reviewers are strictly prohibited from contacting authors directly regarding any conflicts of interest.
Note: If reviewers intentionally fail to disclose a conflict of interest, they will be blacklisted from any future peer-reviewing activities for JKMI.

5. Editors
Editors must not handle, review, or make decisions on submitted manuscripts if they have any personal, professional, or financial involvement/conflict of interest with the authors. Every participant in the peer-review process, including Editorial Board members, Handling Editors, and the Editor-in-Chief, must declare any potential conflicts to ensure a transparent and unbiased evaluation.

Recusal and Decision-Making:
Editors-in-Chief or Handling Editors must recuse themselves from reviewing or making decisions on any manuscript authored by individuals affiliated with their own institution.
Editors must also recuse themselves if the authors are family members, direct competitors, close collaborators, or if they have co-authored a manuscript with the authors within the last three (3) years. In such cases, they must nominate another neutral Editorial Board member to handle the manuscript.
The Editorial Office recommends that editors follow COPE and WAME (World Association of Medical Editors) guidelines when processing manuscripts involving personal relationships.

Manuscript Submissions by an Editor/Editor-in-Chief:
If an Editor or Editor-in-Chief submits a manuscript to JKMI, the initial screening and final editorial decision will be made by another member of the Editorial Board. The Editorial Office will identify and assign a Handling Editor who has no potential conflict of interest with the submitting Editor to ensure complete neutrality.