Conflict of Interest Prevention Policy

The Editorial Board of «Almanac of  Law» adheres to the principles of academic integrity and follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding the implementation of clear procedures for identifying and managing conflicts of interest in order to ensure the objectivity and transparency of the peer-review process.

A Conflict of Interest is any circumstance that may influence, or appear to influence, the objectivity, impartiality, or independence of the editorial assessment, peer review, or publication of a manuscript.

1. Submission of Manuscripts by Members of the Editorial Board or the Management of the Institute as the Journal’s Founder

Editors (including the Editor-in-Chief, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, and members of the Editorial Board), as well as the management of the Institute that founded the journal, are entitled to submit their own scholarly works for publication. However, such submissions are subject to special review procedures:

• Recusal from Editorial Handling: The individuals concerned must be completely excluded from any participation in the editorial process relating to their manuscript and must submit a declaration of conflict of interest.
• Independent Editorial Oversight: If the author is a member of the Editorial Board, the manuscript is handled by the Editor-in-Chief. If the author is the Editor-in-Chief, editorial management, reviewer selection, and publication decisions are carried out by the Deputy Editor-in-Chief or another authorized member of the Editorial Board.

2. Peer Review and Decision-Making Procedure

• Prohibition of Undue Influence: Any attempt by an author to influence publication decisions through their position on the Editorial Board constitutes a violation of publication ethics.
• Final Decision: The decision to accept a manuscript for publication shall be made by a person who has no actual or potential conflict of interest with the author.

3. Transparency and Retraction

• Disclosure: For every published article authored by a member of the Editorial Board, the journal shall disclose who was responsible for handling the manuscript and how the conflict of interest was managed.
  The following statement shall be included in the publication: “This manuscript was submitted by a member of the Editorial Board. To avoid a conflict of interest, the editorial process was handled by [name of editor].”
• Retraction: If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified that may have affected the objectivity of the review process or the published results, the article shall be subject to formal retraction. The decision on retraction shall be made by the Editorial Board and recorded in the journal’s archive.

4. Declaration and Management of Conflicts of Interest

• All individuals involved in the preparation, evaluation, or review of a manuscript (authors, editors, and reviewers) must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest.
• Authors must indicate whether they are members of the journal’s Editorial Board when submitting a manuscript.
• Where circumstances exist that may reasonably call a reviewer’s impartiality into question, the Editorial Board shall not invite that reviewer to evaluate the manuscript concerned.
• The Editorial Board reserves the right not to publish a manuscript if a declared conflict of interest compromises the objectivity or reliability of the evaluation of the research.
• If the Editorial Board identifies an undisclosed conflict of interest during the editorial process, the manuscript may be rejected.
• If an undisclosed conflict of interest is discovered after publication, appropriate editorial actions may be taken, including the publication of a correction, an editorial notice, or the retraction of the article.