CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

The International Journal of Counseling and Psychotherapy (IJCP) requires authors, reviewers, editors, and all other individuals involved in the editorial and publication process to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest (competing interest) that could reasonably influence, or be perceived as influencing, the research, clinical evaluation, peer-review process, or editorial decision.
Having a conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate unethical conduct or preclude publication. However, full transparency in identifying, disclosing, and managing potential conflicts is essential to maintaining the fairness, objectivity, credibility, and independence of IJCP’s editorial and peer-review processes.

1. Authors
Authors must disclose any financial, professional, personal, institutional, clinical, or ideological interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research design, data collection, clinical interpretation, or presentation of findings.
Potential conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Financial support: Research grants, sponsorships, honoraria, speaker fees, or financial backing from organizations, pharmaceutical companies, or commercial entities with an interest in the subject matter;
• Employment and affiliations: Current or recent employment, board memberships, or institutional responsibilities related to the study context;
• Clinical and proprietary interests: Financial or professional stakes in specific psychotherapeutic modalities, counseling training programs, psychological assessment tools, scales, or digital mental health applications evaluated in the manuscript;
• Personal relationships: Close personal, familial, or supervisory relationships with individuals or organizations involved in the research or editorial board;
• Consultancy and advisory roles: Paid or unpaid advisory positions, expert witness roles, or consulting agreements;
• Intellectual property: Patents, copyrights, or royalties connected to interventions, instruments, or materials discussed in the paper; and
• Academic or professional competition: Rivalry or direct competition with other researchers, clinicians, or institutions.

Mandatory Disclosure Statement:
All submitted manuscripts must include a dedicated Conflict of Interest Statement prior to the references section. If no competing interests exist, authors must explicitly declare this.

• Example (No Conflict): "The authors declare that there are no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article."
• Example (With Conflict): "Author [Initials] has received research grants from [Organization Name] and serves as a clinical consultant for [Entity Name]. The remaining authors declare no competing interests."

2. Peer Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest to the Handling Editor before accepting a review invitation.
Reviewers must decline to evaluate a manuscript if:

• They have collaborated, co-authored, or published with any of the authors within the past three years;
• They share the same primary institutional affiliation or department as any of the authors;
• They have a close personal, familial, mentoring, or supervisory relationship with the authors;
• They hold direct financial, clinical, or academic competition with the authors or the therapeutic intervention under review; or
• Any other circumstance exists that could compromise the objectivity, impartiality, or confidentiality of their assessment.

Reviewers are strictly prohibited from using unpublished data, clinical case details, or conceptual ideas obtained during the peer-review process for personal, clinical, professional, or competitive advantage.

3. Editors and Editorial Board Members
Editors must disclose and appropriately recuse themselves from handling any manuscript in which they have a personal, professional, institutional, or financial conflict of interest.

• Editorial Recusal: When an Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editor, or Guest Editor submits a manuscript to IJCP, or has a conflict of interest with a submitted paper, they must step aside completely from the editorial workflow. The manuscript will be assigned to an independent Handling Editor who has no connection to the authors or research.
• Confidentiality: Editors must never use privileged information, clinical data, or unpublished insights gained through editorial duties for personal, academic, or commercial gain.

4. Publisher and Journal-Level Conflicts
The publisher (Academia Edu Cendekia Indonesia / AEDUCIA) and the journal management commit to maintaining strict editorial independence.

• Institutional, commercial, sponsorship, or advertising relationships must never influence editorial decisions regarding the acceptance, revision, or rejection of manuscripts.
• Any potential organizational or journal-level conflicts of interest are transparently disclosed and managed in accordance with international open-access publishing standards.

5. Management and Resolution of Disclosed Conflicts
Disclosing a conflict of interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from consideration or bar an individual from participating in the academic process. Upon receiving a disclosure, the Editor-in-Chief or an independent Ethics Committee will evaluate the nature and significance of the conflict and implement appropriate safeguards, which may include:

• Reassigning the manuscript to an independent Handling Editor;
• Appointing alternative, impartial peer reviewers;
• Requesting further clarification or documentation from the authors;
• Publishing a comprehensive Conflict of Interest Statement alongside the final article so readers can evaluate the work in context; or
• Declining the submission if the conflict is deemed unmanageable and compromises scientific or clinical integrity.

6. Post-Publication Conflicts of Interest
If an undisclosed conflict of interest is discovered or reported after an article has been published, IJCP will investigate the matter promptly in accordance with established publication ethics procedures.

• Depending on the severity and impact of the undisclosed conflict on the validity or objectivity of the findings, IJCP may issue a Correction (Erratum/Corrigendum), publish an Editorial Expression of Concern, update the published Conflict of Interest Statement, or, in severe cases involving compromised data integrity, retract the article.