Poslovna izvrsnost – Business Excellence is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in academic publishing. A central component of that commitment is the clear identification and appropriate management of conflicts of interest (COIs), also referred to as competing interests.
A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain, personal relationship, or institutional affiliation). This can occur at any stage of the publication process and must be disclosed promptly and transparently.
Examples include:
Financial interests (e.g., funding, employment, stock ownership, paid consultancy)
Institutional or organizational affiliations
Personal or family relationships
Academic or ideological rivalry
Political or religious interests
All authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest in the Title Page within a dedicated “Conflict of Interest” section.
Authors must also declare all sources of funding and clearly describe the role of the funder, if any, in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and publication.
If no conflicts exist, authors must state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”
Reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest that could compromise their impartiality before accepting an invitation to review.
If a conflict becomes apparent during the review process, the reviewer must inform the Editor immediately and decline the assignment.
Reviewers must not use unpublished material for personal benefit and are required to treat all manuscripts as confidential.
Editors and editorial team members must recuse themselves from decision-making on manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist.
These include personal, academic, or professional relationships with any of the authors or institutions involved.
Decisions must be based solely on academic merit, free from any commercial, personal, or political influence.
Publisher and Journal Ownership
Any actual or potential conflicts of interest related to the journal’s ownership, commercial activities, or publishing partners will be disclosed on the journal website.
Editorial decisions are made independently from publisher or sponsor influence.
Conflict of interest disclosures are collected at the time of submission through structured forms or statements within the manuscript.
The editorial office evaluates disclosures and takes appropriate action, such as reassigning editors or reviewers.
Disclosed conflicts are published with the article, unless otherwise decided by the editorial board based on relevance.
Undisclosed Conflicts and Misconduct
Failure to disclose relevant conflicts may result in:
Rejection of the manuscript (if under review)
Retraction of the published article (if post-publication)
Notification to the author's institution in severe cases of misconduct
If you have questions or concerns regarding this policy or wish to report a potential conflict of interest, please contact:
Mate Damić, Associate Editor
✉ mdamic@net.efzg.hr
Subject: COI Disclosure – [Manuscript Title or Concern]