Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

The following are the standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in publishing International Journal of Innovative Research and Sustainable Technologies (IJIRST) including the editors, authors, and related parties. These guides are based on existing  COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines ) and Elsevier policies (https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies)  

Responsibilities of Editors

Publication Decisions: The editor ofmLAC Journal for Arts, Commerce and Sciences (m-JACS)  is responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal to publish. The editor considers recommendations of corresponding editors, as well as legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor may consult with the editorial board or reviewers in making decisions.

Fair Play: An editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or the political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a manuscript under review to anyone other than the author, reviewers (or potential reviewers), editorial advisers, or the publisher when appropriate.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions, and through editorial communications with the author, reviewers may also assist the author in improving the manuscript.

Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript, or who knows that its prompt review will be impossible, should excuse themselves from the review process by notifying the editor.

Confidentiality: A reviewer receiving a manuscript must treat it as a confidential document and not show it to others or discuss it with them.

Standards of Objectivity: Reviewers should submit objective comments that do not include personal criticism of the author, and they should express views clearly with supporting arguments.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest resulting in undue influence over their ability to evaluate the manuscript in a professional manner. Directly competitive or collaborative relationships between the reviewer and the author seeking publication in mLAC Journal for Arts, Commerce and Sciences (m-JACS) may constitute a conflict of interest, and if the editor determines such a conflict exists, an alternate reviewer will instead evaluate the manuscript.

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards: Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. An author should accurately describe findings in the manuscript with sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical and unacceptable behavior, and they may result in disqualification from publication with the editor’s determination.

Originality and Plagiarism: The authors should ensure that they have prepared entirely original work, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that they have appropriately cited or quoted it. Plagiarism takes many forms, from masking another author’s work as the author’s own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of other works without attribution, to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical and unacceptable publishing behavior. If the editor determines it to have inadvertently taken place in an article submitted for publication, the author must comprehensively revise any area(s) in question with a failure to do so resulting in rejection of the article.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication: An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical and unacceptable publishing behavior. If a manuscript under review appears in substantially the same form as an article published elsewhere, it is the editor’s prerogative to remove the manuscript from potential publication in mLAC Journal for Arts, Commerce and Sciences (m-JACS)

Acknowledgement of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have influenced the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must be accompanied by explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must be accompanied by the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Authorship of the Manuscript: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the material considered for publication. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors, and others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should include only appropriate co-authors with the manuscript, and ensure that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the draft and have agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors should disclose in their manuscript any potential conflict of interest (financial or substantive) that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their work. They should disclose all sources of financial support for the project.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works: If authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in a manuscript they have published, they must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the published version of the manuscript.