Conflict of Interest Policy
Transparency & Editorial Integrity
Conflict of Interest Policy
Communica: Journal of Communication requires full disclosure of any interests that may affect research, peer review, or editorial decisions.
The journal follows the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the DOAJ Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Authors, reviewers, editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose any actual or potential financial or non-financial conflict of interest that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, communication research, peer review, or editorial decision-making.
1. What Constitutes a Conflict of Interest?
A conflict of interest is any relationship or interest that could reasonably be perceived as affecting the impartiality, objectivity, independence, or integrity of research, review, or editorial decisions.
| Financial: research funding, sponsorship, honoraria, consultancy, employment, paid media activity, commercial partnerships, stock ownership, or paid expert activity. | Non-Financial: personal relationships, institutional affiliations, academic rivalry, ideological interests, advocacy roles, political or professional interests, media relationships, or editorial responsibilities. |
Important: The existence of a conflict does not automatically imply misconduct, bias, or invalid research, but it must be disclosed transparently so that readers, reviewers, and editors can assess its relevance.
2. Responsibilities
Authors
- Disclose all relevant financial and non-financial interests.
- Include a Conflict of Interest Statement in the manuscript.
- Disclose relationships with funders, media organizations, communication agencies, technology platforms, government bodies, advocacy organizations, commercial entities, or other parties relevant to the research.
- Disclose whether a funder, sponsor, client, organization, or third party influenced study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or publication decisions.
- After acceptance, upload the signed disclosure form through Production → Discussion.
If no conflict exists: “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”
Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose conflicts before accepting an invitation and must decline reviews where personal, professional, institutional, financial, competitive, ideological, or collaborative interests could reasonably affect impartiality. This includes recent collaboration with the authors, direct academic competition, involvement with the organizations or communication campaigns being studied, or financial interests connected to the manuscript topic.
Editors & Editorial Board
Editors must disclose conflicts and recuse themselves from handling affected manuscripts. The manuscript will be reassigned to another qualified editor where necessary. Editors must not handle submissions where personal relationships, institutional connections, recent collaborations, professional disputes, financial interests, advocacy roles, or other circumstances may compromise or appear to compromise editorial independence.
3. Evaluation & Management
Disclosed conflicts are reviewed confidentially by the Editorial Office. The existence of a conflict does not automatically prevent publication or participation in the editorial process. Appropriate management depends on the nature, relevance, and seriousness of the interest.
| ✓ Reassigning editors or reviewers | ✓ Requesting clarification or additional disclosure | ✓ Publishing a disclosure note |
| ✓ Restricting involvement in specific decisions | ✓ Independent editorial assessment | ✓ Additional ethical review where necessary |
If an undisclosed conflict is discovered after publication, corrective action may include a correction, updated disclosure, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on whether the undisclosed interest materially affected the integrity, interpretation, or reliability of the published work.
4. Transparency & Editorial Independence
Conflict of Interest Statements are published with the article. When no conflict is declared, the published article may state: “No conflicts of interest were declared.”
Authors must also disclose relevant relationships involving communication agencies, media companies, social-media platforms, public-relations firms, advertising organizations, political communication entities, telecommunications companies, technology providers, or other organizations where those relationships may reasonably influence the research.
The Editorial Board and Indonesian Scientific Publication (IDSCIPUB) maintain editorial independence. Advertising, sponsorship, funding, institutional partnerships, commercial arrangements, media relationships, or other external interests do not influence editorial decisions or determine article content.
Ethical Guidance & Disclosure Form
This policy is aligned with international principles of transparency and ethical publishing, including guidance from COPE and the DOAJ Principles of Transparency.
↓ Download Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form
