Conflict of Interest

Blockchain Frontier Technology (B-FRONT) is committed to maintaining transparency, objectivity, fairness, and academic integrity throughout the scholarly publication process. A conflict of interest occurs when financial, personal, professional, institutional, commercial, or other relationships could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the preparation, evaluation, editorial handling, or publication of a manuscript.

B-FRONT recognizes that the disclosure and appropriate management of conflicts of interest are essential to safeguarding the credibility of scholarly research and ensuring independent editorial decisions. As a journal focusing on blockchain technology, Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), Web3, smart contracts, cybersecurity, privacy protection, decentralized systems, and emerging digital technologies, B-FRONT expects all parties involved in the publication process to maintain professional independence and disclose any competing interests.

1. Authors' Responsibilities

All authors are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest relevant to their submitted manuscripts. Disclosures must be provided during manuscript submission and included in the appropriate declaration section of the manuscript.

Authors must ensure that research objectives, methodologies, data analysis, findings, interpretations, and conclusions are presented objectively and are not improperly influenced by personal interests or external organizations.

Conflicts of interest may include, but are not limited to:

Financial interests, including research grants, sponsorships, consultancy fees, honoraria, investments, or other financial benefits associated with the research.
Employment and institutional relationships, including professional appointments, institutional affiliations, or contractual obligations that may influence the research or publication process.
Personal and professional relationships, including family connections, academic collaborations, professional competition, or disputes that could compromise research objectivity.
Commercial and intellectual property interests, including company ownership, business partnerships, patents, software licenses, proprietary blockchain platforms, or other technologies examined in the manuscript.
Technology-related interests, including relationships with blockchain developers, cryptocurrency or digital asset businesses, decentralized application providers, smart contract platforms, technology vendors, or cybersecurity service providers.
Third-party relationships, including affiliations with industry partners, government agencies, research institutions, investors, or organizations involved in the research.
Other competing interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing research design, data interpretation, scholarly judgment, or the presentation of conclusions.

If no conflict of interest exists, authors must explicitly include the following statement in their manuscript:

"The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article."

If a conflict exists, authors must provide a transparent explanation describing its nature, the relevant parties, and its potential influence on the research. All co-authors share responsibility for ensuring that the disclosure is accurate and complete.

2. Reviewers' Responsibilities

Reviewers must evaluate submitted manuscripts independently, objectively, and confidentially in accordance with B-FRONT's double-blind peer-review policy. They are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest to the Editorial Office before accepting a review assignment.

Reviewers should decline or withdraw from reviewing a manuscript if financial interests, institutional relationships, personal connections, recent academic collaborations, professional competition, or previous involvement in the research could compromise their impartiality.

Reviewers must not use unpublished research findings, confidential manuscripts, proprietary blockchain implementations, source code, security vulnerabilities, smart contract designs, private datasets, or other materials obtained during peer review for personal advantage, commercial benefit, or professional gain.

All review materials must remain confidential and must not be shared with unauthorized individuals or organizations. If a potential conflict of interest becomes apparent during the review process, the reviewer must promptly notify the handling editor and follow the journal's instructions.

3. Editors' Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for ensuring that editorial decisions are based exclusively on academic merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to B-FRONT's focus and scope. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by financial interests, personal relationships, institutional affiliations, commercial partnerships, professional competition, or other competing interests.

Editors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could affect their ability to evaluate manuscripts independently. When a conflict is identified, the editor must recuse themselves from handling the manuscript, and responsibility for the editorial evaluation and decision-making process must be transferred to an independent editor.

Editors must ensure that reviewer selection and manuscript evaluation procedures support fairness, confidentiality, and impartiality within B-FRONT's double-blind peer-review system.

Manuscripts submitted by members of the Editorial Board or individuals affiliated with the journal's publisher must undergo an independent editorial evaluation to avoid preferential treatment or institutional bias. The submitting editor or affiliated individual must not participate in decisions concerning their own manuscript.

4. Disclosure of Funding and Third-Party Interests

Authors must disclose all relevant sources of financial and non-financial support contributing to the research, manuscript preparation, or publication. Such support may include funding from universities, government agencies, research institutions, private companies, blockchain technology providers, digital asset organizations, cybersecurity firms, or other sponsoring entities.

Authors should explain the role of funders or supporting organizations, where applicable, in research design, data collection, software development, smart contract implementation, system testing, data analysis, interpretation of findings, manuscript preparation, and decisions concerning publication.

Research involving commercial blockchain platforms, decentralized applications, digital asset services, artificial intelligence systems, cybersecurity products, or technology-driven solutions should clearly identify relationships that could influence the independence of the research.

Authors should also disclose relevant interests in patents, proprietary software, commercial protocols, digital assets, or intellectual property directly related to the research, where applicable.

The receipt of funding or institutional support does not automatically constitute a conflict of interest. However, any financial, contractual, or organizational relationship that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, the research must be transparently disclosed.

5. Management of Conflicts of Interest

B-FRONT will assess disclosed conflicts of interest and implement appropriate measures to safeguard the independence and integrity of the editorial and publication processes.

Depending on the circumstances, these measures may include requesting additional disclosures, seeking clarification from the authors, assigning independent reviewers or editors, requiring revisions to disclosure statements, or taking other appropriate editorial actions.

The existence of a disclosed conflict of interest does not automatically disqualify a manuscript from publication. Editorial decisions will consider whether the conflict has been adequately disclosed and whether appropriate measures can protect the reliability and impartiality of the evaluation process.

Failure to disclose a relevant conflict of interest may result in suspension of the editorial process, rejection of the manuscript, correction of a published article, or other proportionate editorial action consistent with B-FRONT's Publication Ethics policy.

If an undisclosed conflict of interest is identified after publication, the Editorial Board will assess its potential effect on the credibility and integrity of the published research.

Depending on the findings and available evidence, the journal may issue a correction, an Expression of Concern, or a retraction when warranted. Any action will be taken in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures and applicable scholarly publishing standards.

6. Commitment to Publication Ethics

B-FRONT expects authors, reviewers, editors, and all individuals involved in scholarly publishing to uphold the principles of honesty, neutrality, fairness, transparency, accountability, and professional integrity.

The disclosure of conflicts of interest is intended to support informed editorial decisions, prevent inappropriate influence, and maintain confidence in the scientific publication process.

Through this policy, B-FRONT seeks to ensure that research concerning blockchain technology, distributed ledgers, Web3, smart contracts, cybersecurity, privacy protection, decentralized data management, blockchain-enabled applications, and decentralized artificial intelligence is evaluated and published through a transparent, independent, and ethically responsible process.

The journal also recognizes the importance of responsible research practices in supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure) and SDG 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions), where relevant to the research.

All parties are expected to comply with B-FRONT's Publication Ethics policy, editorial guidelines, and applicable scholarly publishing standards to protect the credibility, independence, and long-term integrity of the scientific record.