Conflict of interest policy

Conflict of Interest Policy

The Portal de la Ciencia journal adopts and promotes the highest international standards of editorial ethics, in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the quality criteria required by high-impact databases such as Scopus. Within this framework, this conflict of interest policy is established as an essential mechanism to guarantee the transparency, integrity, and credibility of scientific output.

A conflict of interest is defined as any situation in which secondary interests (personal, financial, institutional, professional, or academic) may compromise—or be perceived as compromising—objectivity, impartiality, or integrity in the research, evaluation, or editorial decision-making process.

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest

Authors:

Authors must explicitly declare any conflict of interest upon submission of their manuscript. This declaration must include financial relationships (funding, grants, consultancies, equity participation), relevant institutional affiliations, personal or academic relationships, as well as any other circumstance that could influence the interpretation of the results. In the absence of conflicts of interest, the following statement must be expressly indicated: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.” The source of funding for the research must also be clearly specified.

Reviewers:

Reviewers must immediately inform the editor of any potential or actual conflicts of interest that could affect the objectivity of their evaluation. In such cases, they must refrain from participating in the review process. The journal guarantees a confidential, objective peer-review process based on strictly academic criteria.

Editors:

Members of the editorial team will avoid participating in the management of manuscripts in which a conflict of interest exists. When such a situation is identified, editorial responsibility will be assigned to another independent editor, ensuring impartiality in decision-making.

Transparency and Corrective Measures

The journal reserves the right to request additional information about potential conflicts of interest at any stage of the editorial process. The omission, concealment, or inaccurate declaration of conflicts of interest constitutes a serious ethical breach and may result in the rejection of the manuscript, the retraction of the published article, notification to affiliated institutions, and the application of measures in accordance with international best practices in scientific publication ethics.

The journal Portal de la Ciencia, in case of conflicts of interest that cannot be corrected under the procedures provided by the publisher, will resort to the rules established by COPE if necessary: Committee on Publication Ethics.