JII

Ethics Policy

The Journal is committed to upholding the highest standards of research, publication, and editorial ethics. This Ethics Policy follows the principles outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the ICMJE Recommendations, and international best practices for scholarly publishing.

 

Ethical Standards for Authors

Authors must:

  • Ensure that all work submitted is original, accurate, and derived from ethical research practices.
  • Provide proper citations and credit to all sources, ideas, and previous publications.
  • Disclose funding sources, institutional affiliations, and any potential conflicts of interest.
  • Confirm that all listed authors contributed significantly and that no eligible contributor is omitted.
  • Obtain ethical approval for studies involving humans, animals, or sensitive data.
  • Not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at a time (no duplicate submission).

Fabrication, falsification of data, or manipulation of results is strictly prohibited.

 

Ethical Standards for Editors

Editors must:

  • Make decisions based solely on the scientific merit, originality, and relevance of the manuscript.
  • Maintain confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and author identities.
  • Avoid conflicts of interest in editorial decisions.
  • Ensure fair and timely peer review processes.
  • Act on ethical concerns reported by reviewers, authors, or readers.
  • Follow COPE’s flowcharts when handling suspected misconduct, plagiarism, authorship disputes, or data manipulation.

 

Ethical Standards for Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

  • Provide objective, constructive, and unbiased evaluations.
  • Maintain confidentiality and avoid sharing manuscript content.
  • Decline review invitations where a conflict of interest exists.
  • Report any suspected ethical issues (e.g., plagiarism, duplicate publication).
  • Submit reviews within the agreed timeframe.

 

Ethical Standards for the Publisher

The Journal’s publisher is responsible for:

  • Supporting the integrity of editorial decisions.
  • Ensuring that the Journal is managed according to ethical standards.
  • Maintaining systems for archiving, digital preservation, DOI assignment, and long-term accessibility.
  • Publishing corrections, retractions, and clarifications when necessary.

 

Handling of Ethical Misconduct

The Journal follows COPE Core Practices and uses established COPE flowcharts for investigating:

  • Plagiarism
  • Data fabrication or falsification
  • Unethical research practices
  • Authorship conflicts
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest
  • Peer review manipulation
  • Citation manipulation
  • Duplicate or redundant publication

Outcomes may include rejection, correction, retraction, notification to institutions, or banning authors from future submissions.