Conflict of Interest Policy

The Editorial Board of “Chemistry, Physics and Technology of Surface” is committed to ensuring transparency, integrity, and objectivity in scientific publishing.

All participants in the publication process – authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff – are required to disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation, evaluation, or publication of a manuscript.

The journal follows the recommendations of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics): https://publicationethics.org/

 

Definition of Conflict of Interest

A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest, such as scientific integrity, may be influenced by secondary interests, including:

  • financial relationships;
  • personal relationships;
  • academic competition;
  • institutional affiliations;
  • political or ideological considerations;
  • commercial interests.

Conflicts of interest may be actual, potential, financial, non-financial, direct, or indirect.

 

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must disclose all conflicts of interest related to the submitted manuscript.

Authors should disclose:

  • financial support or funding;
  • grants or sponsorships;
  • employment relationships;
  • consulting activities;
  • patents or patent applications;
  • stock ownership or financial investments;
  • personal or professional relationships that may influence the research.

If there is no conflict of interest, authors must state in the article:

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

All sources of funding must be clearly identified in the manuscript.

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest may result in:

  • rejection of the manuscript;
  • publication of corrections;
  • retraction of the article;
  • notification of the authors’ institutions.

 

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must decline invitations to review manuscripts if they have conflicts of interest that could affect their objectivity.

Potential reviewer conflicts may include:

  • collaboration with the authors;
  • institutional affiliation with the authors;
  • personal relationships;
  • direct academic competition;
  • financial interests related to the manuscript.

Reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained during peer review for personal or professional advantage.

 

Responsibilities of Editors

Editors and editorial staff must avoid handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

Editors must recuse themselves from editorial decisions involving:

  • colleagues from the same institution;
  • family members;
  • personal acquaintances;
  • competing research groups.

In such cases, another editor will be assigned to manage the peer-review and editorial decision-making process.

Editorial decisions must be based solely on:

  • scientific merit;
  • originality;
  • relevance to the journal’s scope;
  • methodological quality;
  • ethical compliance.

 

Disclosure and Transparency

Conflict of interest disclosures may be published together with the article when relevant to research transparency and integrity.

The Editorial Office may request additional information or clarification regarding disclosed relationships or funding sources.

 

Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

If undisclosed conflicts of interest are identified before or after publication, the journal may:

  • request additional disclosure statements;
  • publish corrections or editorial notes;
  • initiate an ethical investigation;
  • retract the article in serious cases.

The journal follows COPE recommendations when addressing ethical concerns and publication misconduct.

 

Policy Updates

The Editorial Board reserves the right to revise and update this policy in accordance with international publication ethics standards and best editorial practices.

 

Last updated: 2026