The journal Education in the 21st Century mandates the exhaustive and transparent disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest, operating in strict compliance with the COPE Guidelines on Competing Interests. A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning the validity or objectivity of research is potentially influenced by a secondary interest, such as financial gain, institutional affiliation, or personal rivalry.

1. Authorial Disclosures

Authors are legally and ethically obligated to declare all competing interests—both financial (e.g., funding grants, employment, consultancies, patent ownership) and non-financial (e.g., personal relationships, academic rivalries, advisory board memberships)—that could be construed as inappropriately influencing their research. A mandatory "Declaration of Competing Interests" statement must be explicitly integrated into the submitted manuscript. If no conflicts exist, the authors must formally state: "The authors declare no competing financial or non-financial interests."

2. Reviewer Recusal Protocols

Peer reviewers must proactively decline review invitations if they possess any competing interests. This structurally includes recent collaborative publications with the authors, shared institutional affiliations, direct competitive relationships, or financial associations. Reviewers must immediately notify the Editor-in-Chief and recuse themselves from the evaluation process upon the discovery of any latent conflicts.

3. Editorial Fiduciary Duties

The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board are strictly prohibited from adjudicating manuscripts authored by themselves, their immediate colleagues, or their direct academic collaborators. In such instances, the adjudicative mandate is entirely delegated to an independent, non-affiliated editorial board member to ensure absolute procedural impartiality and to preclude any structural bias.