Believers Journal of Health Sciences (BJHS) is committed to transparent and impartial scholarly publishing. Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial-board members are expected to disclose interests that could influence, or could reasonably be perceived as influencing, research, peer review, or editorial decision-making. The existence of a competing interest does not necessarily imply misconduct or prevent publication; however, relevant interests should be disclosed and managed transparently to support confidence in the integrity of the scholarly record.
Authors should disclose financial and non-financial relationships or interests that are relevant to the submitted work and could reasonably be perceived as affecting its interpretation. Relevant interests may include:
Manuscripts should include a clear Conflict of Interest or Competing Interests Statement. Authors may adapt one of the following examples according to the circumstances of their manuscript:
Funding Transparency: Where a funder or sponsor had a role in study design, data collection, data analysis or interpretation, preparation of the manuscript, or the decision to submit the work for publication, that involvement should be disclosed clearly in the manuscript.
Reviewers should consider whether any financial, professional, academic, institutional, or personal interest could affect, or reasonably be perceived as affecting, their impartial evaluation of a manuscript. A reviewer should disclose a relevant competing interest to the editorial office and decline the assignment when the conflict is significant enough to prevent an independent and objective review.
Relevant circumstances may include a recent supervisory or close collaborative relationship with an author, a significant institutional or employment relationship, a direct financial interest related to the subject of the manuscript, or involvement in closely related work that creates a material conflict. Information obtained through peer review must remain confidential and must not be used for personal, professional, academic, or commercial advantage.
Editors and editorial-board members should disclose relevant competing interests and should not make editorial decisions on manuscripts where a significant conflict could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, impartiality. Such conflicts may arise from recent collaboration with an author, close personal or professional relationships, direct institutional involvement, or financial or commercial interests related to the submitted work.
Where an editor has a relevant conflict, responsibility for the manuscript should be reassigned to another appropriately qualified editor who does not have the same conflict. Editors and editorial-board members must maintain the confidentiality of unpublished manuscripts and associated editorial information.
The disclosure of a competing interest does not automatically prevent a manuscript from being considered or published. The editorial significance of a disclosed interest depends on its nature, relevance, and relationship to the submitted work. However, a material failure to disclose a relevant competing interest may require editorial review and corrective action.
Before publication, the journal may request clarification, additional disclosure, correction of the manuscript, or other appropriate action. If a relevant undisclosed interest is identified after publication, BJHS will assess its significance and may issue an appropriate post-publication notice or take other editorial action in accordance with the journal's applicable policies.
Information concerning potential competing interests will be handled with appropriate confidentiality during editorial assessment and shared only with individuals who require the information for legitimate editorial, ethical, or administrative purposes, subject to applicable journal procedures and legal requirements.
Relevant author declarations are published with the article where appropriate so that readers can consider disclosed interests when interpreting the research. The purpose of disclosure is transparency; publication of a declaration does not itself imply that the research is biased or invalid.