Introduction 

Virtus International Journal of Research (VIJR) requires transparency about relationships and interests that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, research reporting, peer review, or editorial decisions. This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff involved in submissions across the journal’s multidisciplinary scope, including Engineering, Technology, and Applied Sciences.

A conflict of interest, also called a competing interest, may arise from financial, professional, personal, institutional, or other relationships. Disclosure does not, by itself, establish bias or misconduct. It enables appropriate assessment and management of circumstances that could affect confidence in the work or its evaluation.

1. Interests Requiring Disclosure

Relevant interests include relationships or activities connected to the research, its applications, or its publication that could reasonably affect independent judgment.

Financial Interests

Examples include:

• Employment, consultancy, or paid advisory roles with an interested organization.
• Research grants, commercial sponsorship, or other financial support.
• Honoraria, speaking fees, travel support, or payments for expert testimony.
• Shareholdings or other investments in organizations affected by the findings.
• Patents, patent applications, licensing arrangements, or royalties.
• Financial interests in products, software, equipment, or technologies evaluated in the research.

Non-Financial Interests

Examples include:

• Close personal relationships or significant professional disputes.
• Current or relevant previous research collaborations.
• Institutional relationships connected to the work.
• Direct academic or commercial competition.
• Leadership, advisory, or advocacy roles relevant to the findings.
• Strong commitments that could reasonably compromise impartial assessment.

Ordinary subject expertise, scholarly disagreement, or membership of a professional society does not automatically constitute a conflict. The relevance and nature of the relationship must be considered.

2. Author Responsibilities

Authors must disclose relevant financial, professional, and personal relationships at submission. Disclosure must cover all authors and identify the author associated with each interest.

The corresponding author should coordinate a complete declaration, but each author remains responsible for the accuracy of their own disclosures.

Authors must:

• Describe relevant interests clearly enough for informed editorial assessment.
• Disclose interests connected to the research methods, findings, interpretation, or potential applications.
• Update the declaration if circumstances change during consideration of the manuscript.
• Notify the journal if a relevant omission is discovered after publication.

Where no relevant interests exist, authors should provide a clear declaration, such as:

The authors declare that they have no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests related to this work.

A disclosed interest does not automatically make a manuscript unsuitable for publication. Its significance must be assessed in context.

3. Funding and Sponsor Involvement

Authors must identify financial and material support relevant to the research, including sponsoring organizations and grant identifiers where applicable.

The manuscript should explain the funder’s or sponsor’s involvement in:

• Study design.
• Data collection and access.
• Analysis and interpretation.
• Manuscript preparation.
• The decision to submit the work for publication.

Where the sponsor had no involvement in these activities, this should be stated accurately.

Authors should disclose relevant restrictions on access to data, independent analysis, or publication. Funding acknowledgement does not replace a competing-interest declaration where an additional relationship requires disclosure.

4. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers must disclose relevant interests before accepting an invitation. They must decline or withdraw where a conflict exists that could compromise an impartial assessment.

Potential conflicts include:

• Current or relevant recent collaboration with an author.
• Employment at the same institution as an author.
• Close personal relationships or significant disputes with an author.
• Financial interests connected to the manuscript or its applications.
• Direct competition that could undermine objective evaluation.
• Other relationships creating a reasonable concern about impartiality.

If a conflict becomes apparent after review has begun, the reviewer must inform the editor and stop further assessment pending reassignment.

Where author identities are not disclosed, reviewers must report relevant conflicts if they recognize or reasonably infer an author’s identity. They should not attempt to identify authors solely to circumvent the review arrangements.

Reviewers must not use confidential information for personal, academic, professional, or financial advantage.

5. Editor and Editorial Staff Responsibilities

Editors must declare relevant conflicts and decline responsibility for affected manuscripts.

Editors must not handle submissions:

• Authored or co-authored by themselves.
• From their own institution.
• From their collaborators.
• Involving close personal relationships, significant disputes, financial interests, or other circumstances that compromise independent judgment.

A conflicted editor must not select reviewers, direct the assessment, access confidential deliberations unnecessarily, or make the publication decision. The submission requires handling by another appropriately qualified editor without the relevant conflict.

Editorial staff must disclose interests affecting their assigned duties and avoid involvement where impartiality or confidentiality could be compromised.

No editor or staff member may use unpublished material obtained through journal work for an unrelated purpose or personal advantage.

6. Assessment and Management of Disclosures

Disclosures should be assessed by an editor who has no relevant conflict. Where necessary, further details may be requested to understand the relationship and determine appropriate safeguards.

Management measures may include:

• Clarifying an author’s declaration.
• Selecting different reviewers.
• Reassigning editorial responsibility.
• Obtaining additional independent assessment.
• Publishing relevant author disclosures with the article.

Relevant author declarations should accompany the published work so that readers can assess potential influences. Reviewer and editor disclosures should be managed without unnecessarily revealing confidential review information or personal details.

Disclosure does not remove the requirement for reviewer withdrawal or editorial recusal where this policy requires it.

7. Undisclosed or Incomplete Interests

A suspected omission must be assessed fairly. Authors, reviewers, or editors concerned should have an opportunity to explain the circumstances and provide relevant information.

The response should reflect the nature of the interest, the significance of the omission, and its effect on the research or evaluation process.

Before publication, action may include:

• Requesting a complete or corrected declaration.
• Replacing a reviewer or reassigning the manuscript.
• Repeating an affected assessment.
• Rejecting a manuscript where a serious breach compromises its integrity.

After publication, action may include a corrected disclosure statement, a correction, or an expression of concern where a substantial issue remains unresolved.

Retraction may be appropriate where an undisclosed conflict seriously compromises the reliability or integrity of the publication. An omitted declaration alone does not automatically justify retraction.

8. Reporting Concerns

Concerns about undisclosed interests or conflicted handling should be raised through the official communication channel available on the VIJR website.

Reports should identify the manuscript or article, describe the relationship of concern, and provide supporting information where available.

Assessment should distinguish allegations from established findings and protect confidential information. A person whose interests are under examination must not determine the outcome of that examination.