Policies and Guidelines

Publication Ethics

Author Responsibilities

1. Reporting Standards: Authors must present an accurate account of the research performed and an objective discussion of its significance. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to allow others to replicate the work. Fabricated, falsified, or knowingly inaccurate statements are unethical and unacceptable.

2. Data Access and Retention: Authors may be asked to provide raw data related to the manuscript for editorial review and should be willing to provide public access to such data when feasible. Authors must retain research data for a reasonable period after publication.

3. Originality and Plagiarism: Manuscripts must be entirely original. If authors use the work or words of others, appropriate citation and quotation are mandatory. All forms of plagiarism—including copying, paraphrasing without attribution, and claiming another’s research findings—are unethical and strictly prohibited.

4. Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously. Publishing substantially similar research in more than one journal without proper justification is unethical. Previously published work should not be submitted for consideration elsewhere.

5. Acknowledgment of Sources: Authors must give proper credit to the work of others. All publications influential in shaping the research should be appropriately cited. Information obtained through personal communication, peer review, or confidential processes must not be used without explicit written permission from the source.

6. Authorship Criteria: Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study.

• All significant contributors must be listed as co-authors.
• Others who contributed to specific aspects of the research should be acknowledged appropriately.
• The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have approved the final manuscript and agreed to its submission.

7. Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects: If the research involves hazardous materials, procedures, or equipment, authors must clearly identify these risks in the manuscript.
For studies involving human or animal subjects, authors must:

• Confirm compliance with institutional and national ethical guidelines.
• Provide approval from an appropriate ethics committee.
• Include a statement confirming informed consent for human participants.

8. Ethics Statement: All manuscripts involving human participants, animals, or sensitive data must include a separate Ethics Statement within the manuscript. The statement should clearly mention approval from an appropriate Institutional Ethics Committee or Review Board, along with confirmation of informed consent where applicable. For studies not requiring ethical approval, authors must explicitly state the reason.

9. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose all financial or personal relationships that could influence (or appear to influence) the work. All sources of financial support must be fully acknowledged.

10. Fundamental Errors in Published Works: If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in a published article, they are obligated to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate in withdrawing or correcting the paper. If the editor learns of such an error from a third party, authors must provide evidence of correction or agree to retraction as appropriate.

Editorial Board Responsibilities

1. Publication Decisions: The Editor-in-Chief, supported by the Editorial Board, is responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts will be accepted, revised, or rejected. Decisions must be based on the manuscript’s academic merit, originality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Legal requirements regarding plagiarism, copyright, and research ethics must also be considered.

2. Fair and Impartial Evaluation: Editors must evaluate all manuscripts solely based on their scholarly content. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by an author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, citizenship, ethnic background, political views, or institutional affiliation.

3. Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff must treat all submitted manuscripts as strictly confidential.
Manuscript details should not be shared with anyone except:

• The corresponding author,
• Assigned reviewers,
• Potential reviewers,
• Other editorial advisors,
• And the publisher (when necessary).
  Unpublished material in a manuscript must never be used for personal advantage.

4. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Editors must avoid handling manuscripts in which they have any conflict of interest, including:

• Personal relationships with the authors,
• Professional collaborations (past or present),
• Financial interests,
• Or competing research.

In such cases, the manuscript should be assigned to an alternative editor or associate editor. Any privileged information obtained during the editorial or peer-review process must remain confidential and must not be used in the editor’s own research without written permission from the authors.

5. Ensuring Integrity of the Review Process: Editors must ensure that each manuscript undergoes a fair, unbiased, and timely peer-review process. They are responsible for selecting qualified, independent reviewers with expertise relevant to the manuscript. Editors should prevent any form of manipulation or misconduct during peer review.

6. Ethical Oversight: Editors must ensure that manuscripts involving human or animal subjects comply with ethical guidelines, including approval from relevant ethics committees and informed consent where applicable. Any ethical concerns raised by reviewers, readers, or editorial staff must be investigated promptly and transparently.

7. Handling Misconduct: If concerns arise regarding research integrity, plagiarism, data fabrication, or unethical practices, editors must investigate the matter objectively. When necessary, editors may seek clarifications from authors, consult reviewers, or coordinate with the publisher. If misconduct is confirmed, appropriate action such as rejection, retraction, or correction will be taken.

8. Transparency and Corrections: Editors must ensure that errors identified in published articles are corrected promptly through errata, corrigenda, or retractions when required. Transparency in editorial decisions is essential to maintain trust in the publication process.

Retraction of articles:

The Journal follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding the retraction of published articles. Retractions are issued to correct the scholarly record and to alert readers to articles that contain significant errors or ethical violations, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, duplicate publication, or serious methodological flaws.

The responsibility for initiating and managing retractions lies with the Editorial Board, which conducts a fair, transparent, and timely investigation in accordance with COPE principles. Retraction notices are published promptly, clearly linked to the retracted article, and remain freely accessible to readers.

The COPE retraction guidelines can be accessed at the following link:

Retraction guidelines | COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to all of its published content, based on the principle that free availability of research fosters a broader global exchange of knowledge. Open access publication enhances the visibility, accessibility, and impact of scholarly work, thereby contributing to a wider readership and increased citation of authors’ research.

The journal supports the objectives of the Public Knowledge Project (PKP), which develops open-source publishing platforms designed to improve the quality, reach, and dissemination of scientific and social science research. Through the use of PKP systems and related software, the journal promotes sustainable and transparent scholarly communication in an open access environment.

All research articles published in this journal are freely available on the public Internet. Users are permitted to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, as well as to crawl them for indexing purposes or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers beyond those inherent to Internet access itself.

Cancellation and Refund Policy

Authors may request withdrawal of a manuscript after submission. Manuscripts may be withdrawn without any charges within three (3) days of the original submission date, provided that the manuscript has not entered the peer-review or verification process.

Once the manuscript proceeds to editorial screening, peer review, or production stages, the journal incurs administrative and review-related costs. Therefore, refunds may not be applicable beyond this stage.

A full refund will be issued if the manuscript does not proceed beyond the initial verification stage. No refunds will be granted once an article has been formally published.

Refunds will also not be provided if an article is withdrawn or removed due to copyright infringement, ethical violations, or misconduct identified after submission.

After publication or issue/indexing release, articles cannot be modified without incurring additional charges. Any post-publication corrections requested by the author will be subject to applicable fees, depending on the nature and extent of the changes.

Approved refunds will be processed through online payment modes within 10–15 working days. Any excess or incorrect payments will be refunded within three (3) weeks, provided the author notifies the journal within two (2) days of the payment date.

Withdrawal requests submitted after peer review has commenced, or failure to respond to revision requests within the specified timeframe, may result in forfeiture of applicable fees.