Conflict of Interest Policy

The LOUJMSS is committed to ensuring that the peer review and publication process is fair and unbiased. A conflict of interest arises when personal, financial, or professional relationships could be perceived to influence an individual's judgment. All authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any potential conflicts.

• For Authors: Authors must declare any financial or personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence their work. If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should explicitly state this in their manuscript.

• For Reviewers: Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if they have a conflict of interest that could compromise the integrity of the review process. This includes being a close collaborator with an author, having a direct financial interest in the work, or being in direct competition with the authors.

• For Editors: Editors are required to recuse themselves from the handling of any manuscript where they have a conflict of interest. The manuscript would then be assigned to an alternate editor to ensure an impartial decision.

The journal would treat undisclosed conflicts of interest as a form of academic misconduct.