The Global Journal of Dental Specialty (GJDS) is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, and integrity throughout the publication process. In accordance with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), all authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence the conduct, evaluation, or publication of scholarly work.

1. Disclosure Requirements

All participants involved in the publication process must disclose any relationships or activities that may influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their professional judgment.

Disclosures should include, where applicable:

• Financial relationships.

• Employment or consultancy.

• Research funding or grants.

• Honoraria or speaker fees.

• Stock ownership or investments.

• Patents or intellectual property interests.

• Personal or professional relationships.

• Institutional affiliations.

• Any other competing interests that could affect objectivity.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are required to:

• Declare all relevant conflicts of interest at the time of manuscript submission.

• Provide a complete and accurate Conflict of Interest Statement.

• Disclose all sources of financial support and funding.

• Update conflict disclosures if circumstances change during the editorial process.

• Confirm when no conflicts of interest exist by stating that no competing interests have been identified.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must:

• Disclose any actual or potential conflicts before accepting a review assignment.

• Decline to review manuscripts where impartial evaluation cannot be ensured.

• Maintain confidentiality throughout the peer review process.

• Avoid using unpublished information for personal or professional advantage.

4. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are expected to:

• Conduct editorial decisions impartially and independently.

• Disclose any conflicts related to submitted manuscripts.

• Recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where a conflict exists.

• Assign conflicted manuscripts to another qualified editor.

• Ensure that editorial decisions are based solely on scientific merit.

5. Editorial Assessment

The Editorial Office may:

• Request additional information regarding disclosed competing interests.

• Evaluate whether disclosed conflicts could influence editorial decisions.

• Require revisions to conflict declarations before publication.

• Publish relevant conflict disclosures alongside accepted articles when appropriate.

6. Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest

Failure to disclose relevant conflicts of interest may result in:

• Suspension of editorial processing.

• Rejection of the manuscript.

• Publication of a correction or expression of concern.

• Retraction of the published article, where appropriate.

• Notification of the authors' institution or funding agency in cases of serious ethical misconduct.

7. Funding Transparency

Authors must clearly identify:

• All funding organizations supporting the research.

• Grant numbers, where applicable.

• The role of the funding body in study design, data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation, and publication decisions.

• Whether the funding organization had any influence on the reported findings.

8. Compliance with International Standards

The journal expects all authors, reviewers, and editors to comply with:

• ICMJE Recommendations on the Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest.

• COPE Core Practices for transparency and ethical publishing.

• International best practices for editorial independence and responsible scholarly publishing.

• The journal's policies on research integrity, transparency, and publication ethics.