JPSDM: Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, and integrity throughout the editorial and publication processes. The journal requires all authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence the peer-review process, editorial decisions, or the reporting of community service activities and research outcomes.

Transparency in disclosing conflicts of interest is essential to maintaining academic integrity and public trust in published scholarly work.

1. Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest occurs when professional judgment concerning a primary interest, such as the validity of community service findings, objectivity of reporting, academic integrity, or public benefit, may be influenced by a secondary interest.

Such interests may include, but are not limited to:

• Financial interests, including grants, honoraria, consulting fees, and other financial benefits.

• Personal relationships, family relationships, or close professional associations.

• Institutional affiliations or organizational interests.

• Academic competition or professional rivalry.

• Commercial interests or relationships with companies involved in community service activities.

• Political, social, or other interests that may affect professional judgment.

A conflict of interest does not necessarily indicate misconduct. However, failure to disclose relevant interests may compromise the transparency and credibility of the publication process.

2. Guidelines for Authors

All authors submitting manuscripts to JPSDM must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may be relevant to their work.

Authors are required to:

• Disclosure Statement: Declare all financial and non-financial relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their work during manuscript submission.

• Funding and Financial Support: Explicitly identify all sources of funding, grants, corporate sponsorships, or institutional support received for the community service program. Authors must also explain the role of the funding source in program design, implementation, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation.

• Community and Institutional Relationships: Disclose any commercial affiliations, consulting arrangements, personal relationships, or institutional connections with partner communities, non-governmental organizations, local governments, private enterprises, or other institutions involved in the community service program.

• Academic and Professional Interests: Disclose any professional or academic relationships that may influence the interpretation or presentation of the program's results.

• No Conflict Declaration: If no conflict of interest exists, authors must include the following statement in their manuscript:

"The authors declare no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article."

All disclosures must be accurate, complete, and submitted before the manuscript enters the peer-review process.

3. Guidelines for Reviewers

Reviewers must conduct manuscript evaluations objectively, independently, and impartially. Reviewers are required to disclose any circumstances that may compromise their independence.

Reviewers must:

• Objectivity and Impartiality: Decline an invitation to review a manuscript if they have an actual or potential conflict of interest arising from financial, professional, personal, competitive, or collaborative relationships with any of the authors or institutions involved.

• Professional and Institutional Relationships: Inform the Editor or Editor-in-Chief if they have recently collaborated, co-authored publications, worked on joint projects, or share a close institutional relationship with any of the authors.

• Confidentiality: Maintain the confidentiality of all manuscript information and must not use unpublished data, ideas, or findings obtained through the peer-review process for personal, professional, or academic advantage.

• Disclosure of Conflicts: Immediately notify the editor if a potential conflict of interest becomes apparent during the review process.

The editor reserves the right to appoint an alternative reviewer whenever necessary to ensure an independent and unbiased evaluation.

4. Guidelines for Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members must maintain editorial independence and impartiality in all publication decisions.

They are required to:

• Editorial Recusal: Withdraw from handling manuscripts in which they have an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest, including manuscripts authored or co-authored by themselves, close collaborators, family members, or individuals with whom they have significant financial or professional relationships.

• Institutional Affiliation: Disclose institutional or organizational relationships with submitting authors that may compromise editorial independence.

• Independent Editorial Handling: Ensure that manuscripts submitted by editors or editorial board members are managed independently by another qualified editor who has no relevant conflict of interest.

• Confidentiality: Maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, editorial discussions, and publication decisions.

• Fair Editorial Decisions: Ensure that editorial decisions are based on academic quality, originality, relevance, and compliance with publication ethics, rather than personal, institutional, or financial interests.

An editor who submits a manuscript to JPSDM must not participate in the editorial handling or decision-making process concerning their own submission.

5. Funding Disclosure

JPSDM requires authors to disclose all sources of financial and institutional support related to the reported community service activities.

The funding statement must identify the funding institution or organization and explain whether the funder had any role in the design, implementation, evaluation, interpretation, or publication of the work.

If the funder had no involvement in these activities, this should be explicitly stated.

6. Handling Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified before or after publication, JPSDM will assess the matter in accordance with its publication ethics policies and relevant Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.

Depending on the nature and severity of the issue, the journal may take one or more of the following actions:

• Request clarification or additional disclosure from the authors, reviewers, or editors concerned.

• Suspend the editorial or peer-review process while the matter is investigated.

• Replace a reviewer or editor where necessary.

• Publish a correction or disclosure statement.

• Issue an expression of concern where the integrity of the publication remains uncertain.

• Retract the article in cases where the conflict of interest has seriously compromised the integrity or reliability of the published work.

All cases will be handled fairly, confidentially, and transparently, with appropriate consideration of the rights and responsibilities of the parties involved.

7. Contact Information

For inquiries, disclosures, or reports concerning potential conflicts of interest, authors, reviewers, and other parties may contact the Editorial Office of JPSDM: Jurnal Pengabdian kepada Masyarakat through the official contact information provided on the journal website.