Conflict of Interest

Purpose

Advances in Tropical Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (ATBES) requires transparency regarding any financial, professional, or personal relationship that may influence the work submitted or published. Declaring conflicts of interest ensures objectivity, credibility, and trust in the research and review process. The existence of a conflict does not automatically disqualify submission or publication; however, failure to disclose may result in rejection, retraction, or other corrective action.

What Constitutes a Conflict of Interest?

A conflict of interest exists when an individual has financial, professional, or personal interests that could affect, or reasonably appear to affect, their judgment, decisions, or actions. This applies to authors, reviewers, and editors.

Category Examples
Financial Interests Employment, grants, consultancy, stock ownership, patents, royalties, fees, or financial support from organisations that may gain or lose financially through publication of the work.
Research Funding Funding bodies, sponsors, or donors that have a direct stake in the results or conclusions of the study. The source of funding must be explicitly named.
Professional & Institutional Competing institutional affiliations, professional rivalry, or association with organisations whose interests may be at odds with the findings.
Personal & Family Close family relationships, partnerships, or personal connections with other authors, reviewers, or editors involved in the evaluation of the manuscript.
Intellectual & Academic Strong commitment to a competing theory, school of thought, or long-standing academic position that may bias interpretation or judgment.

For Authors

  • All authors must disclose any conflict of interest at the time of submission using the journal’s declaration form or statement in the manuscript.
  • If no conflict exists, authors must state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”
  • All funding sources received during the research work must be acknowledged, including grant numbers and funding bodies.
  • If an author has a relevant financial or institutional affiliation, the nature of the interest must be described clearly and included in the published article.
  • Corresponding authors are responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and agreed on the content of the declaration.

For Reviewers

  • Reviewers must decline the invitation to review if they:
    • Are from the same institution as the authors or directly collaborate with them;
    • Have published or submitted papers together within the past 36 months;
    • Hold grants or share research funding with the authors;
    • Have a personal, family, or professional relationship that could influence objectivity;
    • Have direct competing interests in the results.
  • If unsure whether a conflict exists, reviewers should notify the Editor-in-Chief for guidance.

For Editors and Editorial Board

  • Editors handling a manuscript must recuse themselves if any conflict of interest exists.
  • Recusal applies when the editor is an author, co-author, or has direct collaborative, financial, or personal ties with the authors.
  • A conflicted editor will not participate in decisions, discussion, or access to confidential information regarding the manuscript. Another editor will be assigned instead.

When and How to Declare

Declarations should be provided during the submission process. For accepted articles, the statement will be published as a separate section immediately after the main text or in the acknowledgements section.

Sample statements:

No conflict:
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
With conflict:
Author X has received research grants from [Funding Body A]. Author Y is employed by [Organisation B], which has interests relevant to this study. The funders had no role in the design, data collection, analysis, or writing of the manuscript.
Funding only:
This research was supported by [Grant Number, Funding Agency]. The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Failure to Disclose

If an undisclosed conflict is discovered at any stage — before or after publication — the journal will investigate and may take action including:

  • Requesting correction or additional disclosure;
  • Rejecting or withdrawing the manuscript;
  • Publishing a correction, expression of concern, or retraction;
  • Temporary or permanent restriction from submitting or reviewing for the journal.

Contact

For questions regarding conflict of interest, please contact:
atbes@unud.ac.id

Advances in Tropical Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (ATBES)
E-ISSN: 2622-0628  |  P-ISSN: 2549-6980  |  SINTA 3 Accredited
Last updated: October 21, 2026