As a peer-reviewed journal, our particular emphasis is on the development of an authentic and verifiable body of knowledge. Therefore, we have formulated a comprehensive ethical guidelines policy for our editors, publishers, authors and reviewers in order to ensure that the highest ethical standards are maintained.

Publisher’s Responsibilities and Ethical Requirements:

As with all international journals, we  adhere to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)’s Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers ( https://publicationethics.org/core-practices, http://web.ccsenet.org/images/stories/myfiles/Code_of_conduct_for_publishers_FINAL_1_0_0.pdf).

The task of the publisher is to ensure  harmonious interaction among editors, reviewers and the contributing authors. The publisher must ensure a smooth workflow system to facilitate a timely and transparent publication, and that the editors, authors, and reviewers perform their duties while adhering to  carefully defined ethical paradigms.

Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers:

As with all journals, we  adhere to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct for Reviewers ( https://publicationethics.org/files/Ethical_Guidelines_For_Peer_Reviewers_2.pdf, https://publicationethics.org/files/Ethical_guidelines_for_peer_reviewers_0.pdf ).

Our review process is confidential and the identities of reviewers and authors are concealed from each other to maintain strict impartiality in the review process.

Our journal has some additional requirements from our reviewers, which are enlisted below:

1. The reviewer must be unbiased in their evaluation of the manuscript that has been submitted.
2. The peer-review report must be clear and comprehensive, supported by appropriate evidence from the paper. It must make clearly defined suggestions for improvement.
3. If the reviewer feels unqualified to review a manuscript, the reviewer must inform the editor in a timely manner so that the processing of the paper is not unduly delayed.
4. If the reviewer feels that they cannot meet a certain deadline, they must write to the editor requesting for more time or promptly recuse himself or herself from reviewing the document.
5. In case of any conflict of interest, the reviewer must inform the editor immediately.
6. The reviewer needs to ensure that the language of their review is objective and academic. Emotionally charged language must be toned down. Neutral and supportive language is expected from the reviewer.
7. In case the reviewer knows whom the author is, despite receiving a blind copy, and is conscious that this knowledge might generate a certain degree of bias, the reviewer must either inform the editor or recuse himself or herself from reviewing the document without delay.
8. Details of the papers being reviewed must remain confidential.
9. The reviewer must not utilize or recycle any data included in the paper being reviewed in their own unpublished work. This would be counted as a violation of intellectual property rights and the Journal reserves the right to take appropriate action in such a case.
10. In case the reviewer identifies any similarities of ideas or content even with papers as yet unpublished or those that have been reviewed by the reviewer for some other journal, the reviewer must raise these concerns with the editor in writing and confirm that the work is not stolen or plagiarised.
11. The reviewer must inform the journal if there is any plagiarism or falsification of data.
12. The reviewer must also be sensitive to cultural differences.
13. Likewise, the reviewer must avoid passing judgements that tarnish someone’s reputation.

Ethical Guidelines for Authors:

1. Only one submission at a time:

Authors must ensure that they have submitted their manuscript for review to only one journal at a time,  not to multiple journals. Similarly, an already published paper must not be submitted for consideration.

2. Submit a cover letter:

Authors must submit a covering letter that offers clarity regarding the significant contribution of the research in an impartial manner and clearly state if there is any conflict of interest.

3. Declaration of a funding agency:

Additionally,  authors must mention if their paper has been supported by any funding agency in the covering letter.

4. Provision of raw data:

In the case of quantitative research, authors must offer an honest interpretation of their data. The editors, publishers and reviewers can request for the raw data for verification and retain it for future reference. Additionally, we also encourage that, in the case of quantitative data such as questionnaires, authors place metadata in an open access public domain, such as Google Drive or cloud, for ready access by  editors, publishers, reviewers and the public at large.

5. No plagiarism:

Plagiarism is an unethical act and the Journal will not entertain authors or publications culpable of this practice. Therefore, authors should guarantee that the articles submitted do not contain plagiarised content and are original. Should plagiarism be identified at any stage, the paper will not be processed further. If data or words of others have been incorporated, appropriate citations need to be provided. Citations must be provided for paraphrased information as well. For this purpose, the Journal’s formatting and referencing requirements must be consulted. We adhere to the MLA citation style and format. ( Click here ) Authors must strictly avoid engaging in self-plagiarism. When citing the work of other people (or even their own), authors must ensure that the text quoted verbatim from another source has been placed in quotation marks. Appropriate in-text citations must fully align with the Reference list.

We use Turnitin services to verify the degree of similarity in any paper. If a paper is in violation of any of these requirements, the editor reserves the right to prohibit publication of the paper at any stage of the review process.

6. Permissions for using third-party materials:

Authors must ensure that proper permissions have been obtained for the publication of any third-party material.

7. Fee for high-definition images

In the case of high-definition images, authors will have to pay a specified fee to the journal.

8. Mention co-authors

Authors must clearly mention their co-authors if any. They must ensure that all co-authors have agreed to the final draft of the paper and its publication. While the journal will not be responsible for thewilful exclusion of any co-author, however, it does reserve the right to retract such a paper. Additionally, the Journal will cc the co-authors in all correspondences with the corresponding author.

9. Identifying errors:

In case authors or any other party identifies any inadvertent but obvious error in their work, they must inform the editorial panel promptly so that a corrigendum may be issued, or else the journal may retract the paper. 

10. Disclaimers and acknowledgements:

Author(s) need to issue disclaimers where necessary.

Authors must include due acknowledgements (if any) in an unblinded copy after a paper has been accepted.

11. Prohibition of ghost writing and gift authorship:

The journal has a strict policy prohibiting ghost writing and gift authorship, i.e., including the name of any individual who has not been involved in the writing and development of a paper.

12. Prohibition against withdrawing the paper after reviews:

After acceptance of a paper,  authors will not have a right to withdraw it.