Policy on Research Ethics, Scientific Integrity, and Procedures for Handling Violations

Introduction

The Journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of research ethics and scientific integrity. This policy defines ethical principles, good research practices, and standardized procedures for dealing with violations. It aligns with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and the requirements of major international indexing databases, including Scopus.

  1. General Principles
  • Honesty and Integrity: Research must be conducted and reported honestly, without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.
  • Transparency: Full disclosure of all author contributions, funding sources, and conflicts of interest is required.
  • Fairness and Objectivity: Peer review and editorial decisions must be impartial and based solely on scholarly merit.
  • Accountability: Authors, reviewers, and editors are each responsible for fulfilling their ethical roles.
  • Confidentiality: Manuscripts under review are treated as confidential documents.
  • Privacy: Personal data must be protected, and informed consent obtained where required.
  • Compliance: All submissions are screened for plagiarism using tools  Turnitin and iThenticate, maintaining a similarity index below 20%.
  1. Ethical Conduct Guidelines

For Authors

  • Authorship must reflect actual contributions.
  • Plagiarism, data fabrication, or double submission is strictly prohibited.
  • Conflicts of interest must be declared.
  • All data presented must be accurate and verifiable.

For Reviewers

  • Maintain confidentiality and objectivity in reviews.
  • Decline any review request when a conflict of interest exists.

For Editors

  • Make unbiased editorial decisions.
  • Investigate ethical issues transparently and independently.
  • Refrain from using their position for personal advantage.
  1. Definitions of Misconduct
  • Plagiarism: Use of others' work without proper attribution.
  • Double Submission: Concurrent submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal.
  • Data Fabrication: Falsifying or inventing data.
  • Editorial or Reviewer Bias: Any unethical manipulation of the peer review process.
  1. Investigation and Handling of Violations

4.1 Reporting and Investigation

  • Any individual (author, editor, reviewer, reader) may report suspected misconduct.
  • A formal committee is formed to investigate, following COPE guidelines.

4.2 Committee Formation

  • If the accused is an author or reviewer: Formed by the Editor-in-Chief.
  • If the accused is an editor: Formed by the Vice President for Academic Affairs.

4.3 Committee Responsibilities

  • Gather evidence and interview involved parties.
  • Review reports from plagiarism detection tools.
  • Ensure confidentiality and impartiality.

4.4 Procedures and Follow-up

  • A report is prepared and submitted to the appropriate authority.
  • Recommendations include possible sanctions.

4.5 Sanctions

For Authors:

  • Rejection of the manuscript and temporary ban from submission.
  • Notification of the author's institution in serious cases.

For Reviewers:

  • Permanent removal from reviewer database for breach of confidentiality.
  • Disqualification for unethical behavior.

For Editors:

  • Formal warnings, removal from position if misconduct is proven.

For Published Articles:

  • Retraction and public statement.
  • Notification of indexing bodies and affiliated institutions.
  1. Appeals and Review Mechanism
  • Appeals must be submitted within 30 days of notification.
  • Requests should be sent via the journal’s official email with supporting documents.
  • An independent appeal committee will reassess and provide a final, binding decision.
  1. Transparency and Communication
  • All policies and sanctions are clearly available on the journal website.
  • Public retraction notices explain the reasons and the processes followed.
  1. Education and Prevention
  • The university conducts training on ethics and scientific integrity for authors, editors, and reviewers.
  • Guidelines are available on the journal’s website for consultation.
  1. Implementation and Review
  • This policy becomes effective upon publication on the journal’s website.
  • Submission of a manuscript indicates agreement to these rules.
  • The policy is subject to regular review to remain in line with international standards and legal updates.