Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Malpractice and Ethical statement

The norms and guidelines created by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) serve as a major foundation for the Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement of the IJCPC. Below are the pertinent responsibilities and standards that apply to authors, reviewers, and journal editors. 

Responsibilities of Editor-in- chief

Inform the relevant institution of the misconduct and provide supporting evidence. Cooperate with the investigation and address the questions regarding the misconduct. Retract articles or issue corrections in accordance with COPE's guidelines when an allegation is proven. Respond to institutions and other organizations investigating cases of research misconduct.

Responsibilities of the Institution

Notify journals of proven cases of misconduct. Provide prompt and honest responses to research inquiries. Initiate investigations into allegations of research misconduct or unacceptable publication practices raised by journals. Implement a policy supporting responsible research and establish systems for investigating suspected misconduct.

Editors Responsibilities

The IJCPC Journal Editor has the final say over whether or not to publish a manuscript that is submitted to IJCPC. In doing so, the editor is guided by the journal's policies, which are decided by the editorial board of the journal, and is limited by any applicable laws pertaining to plagiarism, libel, and copyright infringement. When deciding which publications to publish, the editor may confer with the Associate Editor, other editorial team members, and reviewers.

The editors shall assess papers based only on their intellectual merit, disregarding the author(s)' race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, political ideology, ethnic origin, or place of citizenship. They will not share any information about a submission they are considering with anybody outside of the author(s), reviewers and possible reviewers, and, where appropriate, the editorial board members of IJCPC.  Furthermore, in order to maintain the integrity of the blind review process, the editors will do all in their power to prevent the reviewers from learning the identity of a manuscript's author(s) or vice versa.

The editors will look for proof that ethical harms in the reported research have been minimised when assessing a manuscript for publication, in addition to standard criteria related to the rigour of the manuscript, the quality of its presentation, and its contribution to humanity's stock of knowledge. They will inquire as to whether, in the specific study's instance, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Although IJCPC accepts submissions from authors in any nation, it is important to be aware that different countries have different rules and regulations pertaining to ethical approval and research ethics. Because of this, the editors might need to ask the author(s) for clarity on this matter and ask them to provide a letter from the appropriate institutional ethics committee.

When considering withdrawing, expressing concern about, or making modifications to papers published in IJCPC, the editors will refer to CORE's Guidelines for withdrawing papers. They pledge to collaborate closely with research institutions and organisations in accordance with CORE's recommendations for collaboration between research institutions and journals on cases involving research integrity.

Authors Responsibilities

The author(s) of a paper agree that, upon submission to IJCPC Journal, the work is entirely original, has not been published before, and is not presently under consideration for publication elsewhere. They also guarantee that any ideas and/or words in the text that do not originate from them have been appropriately cited and/or quoted.

Generally speaking, an author shouldn't submit articles that essentially describe the same research to several journals or publishing sites. Such redundant publication is typically seen as unethical publishing behaviour, and if found, it may lead to the rejection of an under consideration manuscript or the retraction of an article that has already been published.

When writing manuscripts that detail unique research, authors should include a factual description of the work done together with an unbiased assessment of its importance. The manuscript should accurately present the underlying data. The manuscript should include enough information and citations so that the work may be independently verified. A manuscript or published article may be rejected or retracted if data are falsified or deliberately false representations are made. Such unethical behaviour is against the law.

In cases where the paper discusses hardware, software, or other commercial products, authors are required to declare at the outset of the publication that there is no conflict of interest or that any potential conflict of interest is explained.  The author(s) of a paper agree that the published work will be protected by copyright under a Creative Commons "Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike" licence if the manuscript is approved for publication in IJCPC Journal. Under certain stated restrictions, this licence permits others to freely copy, distribute, and display the copyrighted work as well as derivative works based upon it, while preserving the copyright held by the authors.

In order to use any photos or works of art in their articles for which they do not have copyright, or to modify any such photographs or works of art for use in their articles, authors must first seek express permission. The image(s) or artwork will be made publicly available online as part of the article under a Creative Commons "Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike" licence; this must be explicitly disclosed to the copyright holder.

Each author is accountable for their own work, and their names ought to be on the article according to the order in which they contributed to it. Only those who have significantly contributed should be listed as authors; those whose contributions are more incidental or indirect (e.g., heads of research institutes, centres, or labs, colleagues or supervisors who have reviewed drafts of the work or offered proofreading assistance) should be acknowledged in a "Acknowledgments" section at the end of the article, which comes right before the Reference List. The corresponding author is responsible for making sure that all listed co-authors have viewed the final draft of the paper, authorised it, and consented to its publication. They also need to make sure that no inappropriate co-authors are placed on the article.

If an author finds a substantial error or inaccuracy in one of their published articles in the IJCPC Journal, they have an obligation to contact the editors right once and work with them to either retract the paper or rectify it as needed.

Reviewers Responsibilities

Reviewers for the IJCPC Journal  voluntarily join for the publication. The majority of these people work full-time jobs, so it is inevitable that their reviewing for the IJCPC Journal is not their primary priority. Reviewers may refuse invitations to examine specific manuscripts at any time if, for example, their present workload at work and/or other obligations prevent them from finishing a review in a timely manner and doing the assignment justice in the time allotted. Additionally, they shouldn't take on manuscript review projects for which they don't feel competent.

It is customary for reviewers who accept manuscript assignments to turn in their reviews in three weeks or less. If, at any point, it becomes clear to them that they lack the necessary experience to complete the review or that they might have a conflict of interest in doing so (due to competitive, cooperative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, institutions, or companies associated with the manuscript), they should withdraw from the assignment.

Reviewers who get ideas or privileged information through peer review must maintain confidentiality and refrain from using it for their own gain. Manuscripts submitted for review should be handled with confidentiality; they should not be shared or discussed with anyone else unless approved by the editor of the IJCPC Journal.

Reviewers are requested to conduct their reviews with the utmost objectivity and to avoid criticizing the author(s) personally. They are urged to articulate their opinions clearly, providing justification for each suggestion presented. Even if they feel that the manuscript is not publishable, they should always make an effort to offer the author(s) thorough and constructive input so they can help them improve their work.

Reviewers should point out in their reviews any pertinent published material that hasn't been mentioned by the author or authors, as well as any occasions when sources haven't been properly attributed. Any significant similarities between a manuscript under consideration and other published articles or papers that they are aware of, as well as any reservations they may have about the ethical acceptability of the research reported in the manuscript, should be brought to the responsible editor's attention.