Competing Interests

International Journal of Research in Vocational Studies (IJRVOCAS) is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, and integrity in scholarly publishing. All authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any potential competing interests or conflicts of interest that may influence, or be perceived to influence, the submission, review, editorial decision, or publication of a manuscript.

A competing interest may be financial, professional, institutional, personal, academic, or other relationship that could affect the objectivity or credibility of the research or editorial process. Examples include research funding, employment, consultancy, honoraria, paid expert testimony, institutional affiliation, personal relationships, academic competition, intellectual beliefs, or other relevant connections.

Authors must disclose all potential competing interests during manuscript submission. If there are no competing interests, authors should state: “The authors declare that they have no competing interests.”

Reviewers must decline a review invitation if they have a conflict of interest with the authors, institutions, research topic, funding source, or any other aspect of the manuscript. Reviewers must provide objective and confidential evaluations and must not use unpublished information from the manuscript for personal or professional advantage.

Editors must avoid handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest. When an editor has a competing interest, the manuscript must be assigned to another editor or editorial board member who can manage the review and decision-making process independently.

Failure to disclose competing interests may result in editorial action, including request for clarification, manuscript rejection, correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the nature and severity of the case.

IJRVOCAS is committed to ensuring that competing interests are handled transparently and responsibly to protect the fairness, credibility, and integrity of the publication process.