Conflict of Interest Policy

Theological Journal KERUGMA is committed to transparency, impartiality, and integrity throughout the scholarly publishing process. All authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that may influence, or appear to influence, the preparation, evaluation, editorial handling, or publication of a manuscript.

Conflicts of interest may arise from financial, personal, professional, institutional, academic, or other relationships and interests. These may include employment, research funding, consultancy, personal relationships, institutional affiliations, academic competition, intellectual commitments, or other circumstances that could affect scholarly judgment or the impartiality of the publication process.

Authors' Responsibilities

Authors must disclose any relevant conflicts of interest when submitting a manuscript. They must also disclose funding sources and, where applicable, explain the role of funders in the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the work for publication.

If no conflicts of interest exist, authors must provide a statement declaring that no competing interests are present. The editorial team may request additional information or clarification when necessary.

Reviewers' Responsibilities

Reviewers must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest when invited to review a manuscript. A reviewer who has a relationship or interest that could compromise, or reasonably be perceived to compromise, the impartiality of the review must inform the editor and decline the assignment or withdraw from the review process where appropriate.

Reviewers must maintain confidentiality and must not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal, professional, or academic advantage.

Editors' Responsibilities

Editors and editorial board members must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and refrain from making editorial decisions on manuscripts where their impartiality may reasonably be questioned. Such manuscripts must be assigned to an independent editor or another qualified person without a relevant conflict of interest.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly quality, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal's focus and scope, and the results of peer review, rather than personal relationships, institutional affiliations, or other competing interests.

Management of Conflicts of Interest

The editorial team is responsible for assessing disclosed conflicts of interest and taking appropriate measures to safeguard an impartial publication process. Depending on the circumstances, these measures may include requesting further disclosure, assigning an independent reviewer or editor, or taking other appropriate editorial action.

Relevant conflict-of-interest and funding disclosures may be published alongside the article to ensure transparency for readers. Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may result in further editorial review and appropriate action in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies.

KERUGMA is committed to ensuring that conflicts of interest are handled fairly, transparently, and consistently to protect academic integrity and public trust in its publications.