Conflicts of Interest

1. Purpose and principle

The Editorial Board of the Bulletin of the Lviv State University of Life Safety is committed to ensuring objectivity and transparency in the editorial process. All parties involved in publishing (authors, reviewers, and editors) must disclose any potential conflicts of interest to prevent undue influence on research outcomes and publication decisions.

2. What constitutes a conflict of interest

A conflict of interest exists when financial or non-financial circumstances could influence, or be reasonably perceived to influence:

  • the design, conduct, or interpretation of the research;

  • manuscript preparation;

  • editorial decision-making.

Potential conflicts include, but are not limited to:

  • financial: employment, grants, honoraria/fees, consulting, equity/ownership interests, corporate ties, patents/patent applications, paid travel, etc.;

  • non-financial: personal or family relationships, academic disputes, direct competition, organizational affiliations, ideological or religious views that may affect impartiality.

3. Authors’ disclosure: how and when

Authors must:

  • disclose potential conflicts of interest at the time of submission (the COI and funding disclosure should be provided during submission in the metadata/comments to the editor or as a separate file (if required));

  • disclose funding sources (where applicable) and the role of the funder in the study;

  • provide a statement to be published in the article.

A “Conflict of Interest” statement is published at the end of each article.

4. Reviewers’ conflicts of interest

Reviewers must promptly inform the Editorial Board and decline review if:

  • they have financial or personal ties with the authors or organizations involved in the research;

  • there is direct competition between their own research and the submitted manuscript;

  • they have personal motives or bias (friendship, family relationships, rivalry, etc.) that may affect objectivity.

5. Editors’ conflicts of interest

Editors and Editorial Board members must:

  • disclose conflicts of interest related to a manuscript;

  • recuse themselves from handling the manuscript and transfer it to another editor when impartiality may be compromised.

6. Management and consequences of non-disclosure

The journal evaluates disclosed circumstances and applies measures to ensure impartiality (e.g., replacing a reviewer/editor, requesting clarifications, additional review, etc.).

If a conflict of interest is not disclosed and is later identified:

  • before publication — the journal may pause the evaluation until clarification or reject the manuscript;

  • after publication — the journal may publish a clarification/correction, an expression of concern, or take other post-publication actions in accordance with the “Post-publication Corrections and Retractions Policy”.

7. Sample statements for articles

No conflict:

Conflict of Interest: The author(s) declare no conflict of interest.

With conflict (example):

Conflict of Interest: The author(s) disclose that [briefly describe the relationship/circumstance]. Role of the funder (if any): [describe / state no role].