PJOES Conflict of Interest Policy

The Polish Journal of Environmental Studies (PJOES) requires all participants in the publication process—authors, reviewers, and editors—to disclose any actual or potential Conflict of Interest (COI) that could compromise the objectivity or credibility of the research, peer review, or editorial decision-making.
A COI exists when professional judgment concerning the primary interest in the manuscript (e.g., validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (e.g., financial gain or professional rivalry).

1. Author Responsibilities (Mandatory Disclosure)
Authors must disclose all relationships that could be viewed as creating a potential COI. This mandatory disclosure covers the time the research was conducted and the time the manuscript is submitted.

1.1 Financial Conflicts
These include, but are not limited to:
• Employment, Consultancies, or Patents related to the subject matter of the manuscript.
• Stock Ownership or Equity Interests in a company whose products or services are discussed.
• Grants, Fees, or other Funding received from any organization that may gain or lose financially from the publication of the manuscript. All sources of funding must be explicitly stated in the Acknowledgements section.

1.2 Non-Financial Conflicts
These include, but are not limited to:
• Personal Relationships with any individuals or organizations related to the research (e.g., rivals, close collaborators).
• Academic Competition or intellectual property disputes.
• Institutional Affiliations that could directly benefit from the outcomes of the research.

1.3 Disclosure Statement
• Authors MUST provide a clear COI statement at the end of the manuscript, before the References section.
• If no conflict exists, the mandatory statement is: "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper."

2. Reviewer Responsibilities
Reviewers are crucial to the integrity of the process and must maintain objectivity.
• Mandatory Recusal: Reviewers must decline the invitation if they have a relationship with the authors or the institution that might bias their review (e.g., having collaborated with the author in the last three years, or being in direct competition).
• Confidentiality: Reviewers must not use any unpublished information from the manuscript to benefit their own research or that of their institution.

3. Editor Responsibilities
Editors (Editor-in-Chief and Executive Editors) must not handle manuscripts where they have a COI.
• Impartiality: Editors will recuse themselves from manuscripts authored by colleagues from their own department, former students, or close collaborators.
• Management: Any manuscript submitted by an editor will be handled by an independent editor outside of the PJOES editorial board to ensure a fully blind and impartial review process.
Failure to disclose conflicts of interest may lead to the rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published article.