Ethics for editors, authors, and reviewers
Ethics for editors
- Editors adhere to the principles of independence and integrity and strictly abide by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)’s core practices in the decision-making process to strive for the publication and quality of manuscripts to meet ethical standards.
- All manuscripts submitted to the IJSIE are subject to a rigorous peer review.
-Before peer review, manuscripts will be screened for readability, novelty, and relevance to the scope and aims of the IJSIE.
-The editor shall maintain the fairness and impartiality of the review. At least two reviewers shall review each manuscript. Whether the journal accepts the manuscript will be decided by the Editor-in-Chief or the academic editor designated by the Editor-in-Chief, in combination with the reviewer’s comments.
- Any manuscript submitted to IJSIE is confidential. The manuscript will not be disclosed to anyone except the editorial staff, reviewers, editors, and other individuals who participate in the preliminary review, peer review, and handling and are responsible for the publication of the manuscript (if accepted).
- Editors shall not participate in the processing of articles in which they have a conflict of interest.
- We ensure that the commercial behaviour of the journal will not affect the editorial decision and firmly adhere to the principles of independence and integrity.
Editors, employees, and members of the editorial board as authors
The GAERPSY Publishing does not allow editors, employees, and editorial board members to participate in processing their articles.
Editors, employees, and editorial board members must disclose all potential conflicts of interest related to their articles.
Editors, employees, and members of the editorial board should follow a strict review process to ensure the quality and reliability of articles.
For articles submitted by our editors, employees, and editorial board members, GAERPSY Publishing will assign the manuscript to an expert reviewer in the field who does not have a conflict of interest with the author and to other editors for evaluation and processing.
Ethics for authors
Clear authorship
At the time of submission, the list of authors includes all the eligible authors of the article (in the correct order). It reaches consensus with all co-authors on the journal and the submission date (For Authorship Policy, please see the detailed policy).
Avoid plagiarism (including self-plagiarism)
Check if the article correctly quotes yourself or someone else’s work (Plagiarism Policy). Not only that, but the author (s) also need permission from the copyright owner to publish any previously published content (including quotations, numbers, or forms) (Copyright Policy).
Conflicts of interest
Any facts considered (potential) conflict (s) of interest should be disclosed before the article’s references section (Conflicts of Interest Policy). There are many types of financial and non-financial benefits involved in contributing to an article, some of which may include:
Financial interest:
The following could be considered a financial interest:
- Company Shares: The author (s) own shares in a company that is relevant to the topic covered in the article,
- Fund Sponsorship: Research is done through grant funding,
- Consultant/Consulting work: The authors have worked as consultants or advisors in any company or organisation relevant to the research in this paper,
- Patents held: The author (s) hold patents related to this research,
- Political support: The author (s) have donated to political parties or political candidates relevant to the study of this paper, government grants, foundation grants, etc.
- Honoraria received by the author (s): The manuscript or other fee that the author gets after publishing the article, and
- Other financial relationships: Disclosure is required if the author (S) has other financial relationships with any company, organisation, or individual related to the study in this paper.
Non-financial interests:
Non-financial interests involve interpersonal relationships, political positions, religious beliefs, intellectual property rights, etc. Therefore, authors, editors, and reviewers should also make timely statements regarding the potential non-financial conflicts of interest, which include but are not limited to the following:
- Academic Competition Conflict of Interest: For example, the reviewer has an academic competition or conflict of interest with the author, editor, or other related person.
- Personal Conflict of Interest: For example, the reviewer, author, or editor has a conflict of interest, such as a friendly relationship, kinship, or other personal relationship.
- Conflict of Interest of Opinion Position: For example, the reviewer, author, or editor has a specific opinion or position.
- Intellectual Property Conflict of Interest: For example, the reviewer, author, or editor has a specific intellectual property or patent right.
- Conflict of Interest in Political, Religious, or Other Beliefs: For example, the reviewer, author, or editor has a political, religious, or other belief position.
Editors must always be honest and transparent to avoid conflicts of interest. If an editor has a personal or financial interest related to a submitted article, the editor must disclose this to the publisher. At the same time, this editor is no longer involved in the review process related to this article until the article is finalised for publication.
When assigning reviewers for an article, editors must check to the maximum extent possible whether there is a (potential) conflict of interest between the assigned reviewer and the author(s) involved in the article. Suppose a reviewer discovers a (possible) conflict of interest with the article at the review time. In that case, the reviewer should immediately notify the relevant editor and withdraw from the article review process.
Please don't forget to write more than one draft.
The consubmission to multiple journals is not allowed. Original research work must be novel and not have been previously published. The above is not exhaustive; authors should be aware of local regulations and accepted norms in academic publishing.
Allegations of misconduct
The editors of GAERPSY Publishing are responsible for ensuring the academic integrity of the articles published in the journal, and any misconduct will result in the taking of all necessary actions in accordance with the COPE guidelines. The misconduct list is not limited. These include plagiarism or the use of artificial intelligence, falsification of research or fabrication of data, misrepresentation of affiliation, submission of manuscripts to multiple journals simultaneously, breaches of copyright/use of third-party material without appropriate permissions, undisclosed competing interests, unethical research, etc.
Data sharing
The GAERPSY Publishing encourages authors to share data. Data sharing facilitates scientific research and knowledge discovery, increases the reproducibility and reliability of research, fosters collaboration and innovation, improves research efficiency, and enhances the value and application of data. Sharing relevant data and materials when authors publish their articles can enhance the transparency and quality of scientific research. Authors can work with the editors of their journals to share raw data, codes, and other relevant materials used in their articles with other researchers for further scientific research.
The IJSIE requests that authors provide raw data with their article submissions, along with details of the article’s data sources and data processing methods. The author(s) should provide a suitable solution to ensure that other researchers can access the data under reasonable conditions, even if there are restrictions or limitations, such as privacy concerns.
Data shared by the journal includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- The Raw data concerns data collected or generated by the research, including experimental data, observations, questionnaire data, etc.
- The code and algorithms include the Software code and algorithms used to process, analyse, and interpret the data.
- The literature and metadata involve the literature, metadata, and annotations related to the research process, such as study design, methods, hypotheses, results, and conclusions.
- The images and multimedia deal with multimedia materials such as audio, video, etc., used to support the presentation and interpretation of the research process and results.
- The models and simulations involve mathematical models, tools, etc., used for research predictions and simulations.
- The other related materials include questionnaires, sampling protocols, experimental protocols, and other materials related to the study.
Reproducibility of data
Other researchers can reproduce and validate the data and methods used in scientific research. Data reproducibility improves the credibility and reliability of scientific research, accelerates scientific progress, promotes academic communication and collaboration, and increases the efficiency of research resources. In short, the reproducibility of journal data is of great importance to the development and progress of scientific research and is the foundation and guarantee of scientific research.
We strongly recommend that authors adopt open science practices, such as sharing data on public databases and complying with applicable ethical and legal requirements. We believe these practices help foster collaboration and innovation in the scientific community and enhance the credibility and reproducibility of scientific research.
We will strictly enforce the above policy and require reviewers and editors to critically review the data and methods of articles. We may reject articles or ask authors to make corrections and additions if incomplete data, inadequate methods, or analytical errors are found.
*Simultaneous submission and salami slicing are prohibited
The IJSIE discourages the "simultaneous submission" and "salami slicing" practices and considers them as academic misconduct. It is therefore forbidden.
Options for post-publication discussions and corrections
The IJSIE is open to the post-publication conversation. Suppose the author (s) or reader (s) have concerns about any content of the articles published at the IJSIE. We encourage them to write an email to the Editor-in-Chief or Editor (s) in charge of the concerns, and a retraction can remedy any errors or faults detected in the article. Each author is responsible for providing early retractions or corrections of inaccuracies in published articles at the IJSIE. Editors-in-Chief or editors-in-charge may request revisions. After the update request has been accepted, the document will be amended and re-published on the IJSIE website, along with a correction post.
Intellectual property
IJSIE requires the author (s) to declare their articles open-access under one of the Creative Commons Licenses to satisfy the conditions of open-access publishing and promote the most excellent possible distribution. These license functions have been described in the IJSIE Licensing Policy.
Ethical oversight
The GAERPSY Publishing is committed to promoting the quality and reliability of scientific research, valuing ethical guidelines, and following COPE’s ethical oversight policy. We require all authors to adhere to the following ethical guidelines and policies when submitting articles (including but not limited to):
*Policies on consent to publication
The GAERPSY Publishing requires all authors to ensure that all Co-authors have consented to publication when submitting an article. The data and information in the article are appropriately licensed.
*Publication on vulnerable populations
The GAERPSY Publishing requires all authors to adhere to ethical guidelines and moral standards when conducting academic research involving vulnerable populations. In research involving vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, people with disabilities, the sick, and the underprivileged, the author must have obtained informed consent from the subjects or their guardians and safeguarded their rights, privacy, and confidentiality. The GAERPSY Publishing follows strict academic standards and is committed to promoting understanding and support for disadvantaged groups to promote societal equality and progress.
*Ethical conduct of research using animals
GAERPSY Publishing strongly urges researchers to conduct animal experiments only when necessary, to comply with relevant ethical and moral standards, and to ensure that animal rights are protected. Authors should provide detailed plans and methods for animal experiments, appropriate ethical review, and authorisation materials. The GAERPSY Publishing encourages authors to implement the principles of 3R (Reduce, Refine, Replace) to strictly control the number and use of laboratory animals and thereby reduce harm to animals in animal experiments.
*Ethical conduct of research using human subjects
GAERPSY publishing requires authors to adhere to relevant ethical and moral standards when conducting human-subject experiments to ensure the rights and safety of subjects are safeguarded. Author (s) should provide detailed trial plans, methods, and the appropriate ethical review and authorisation materials. Informed consent should be signed before subjects participate in the study, and authors should ensure that the rights and privacy of trial participants are adequately protected.
*Handling confidential data and ethical business/marketing practices
The author (s) should clearly understand and comply with the policy on protecting confidential data when handling confidential data and ensure that data are kept confidential and secure to avoid misuse or disclosure of confidential data. The author (s) should adhere to honest, fair, and transparent business codes and comply with corresponding laws and regulations. The author (s) should not use false statements or misleading language in their manuscripts.
*Retractions and errata
The Editorial Committee of the IJSIE considers retracting a publication if:
- We have enough evidence that the findings are unreliable, either because of misconduct (e.g., data fabrication) or honest error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error),
- The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification (i.e., cases of redundant publication)
- It constitutes plagiarism.
- It reports unethical research.
Cases of errors or failures, regardless of nature or origin, that do not constitute misconduct are corrected by errata (COPE retraction guidelines)
*Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy
AI resources cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. If AI tools are used in research, authors must clearly disclose this in the "AI Usage Declaration" section, specifying the type of software and its purpose. It is not necessary to declare AI use when employed solely for typographical correction or writing enhancement. Reviewers are prohibited from using AI in the manuscript review process.
Ethics for reviewers
The peer reviews are conducted as a double-masked process via our Open Journal System (OJS). These editors’ and reviewers’ comments are considered in the peer-review process. Thus, their comments will determine whether the manuscript is accepted or rejected.
Reviewers are required to adhere to the following:
- Conflicts of interest should be declared accordingly,
- Published works relevant and valuable to the manuscript should be pointed out,
- Reviewed articles and their contents should be kept strictly confidential, and reviewers should not give, share, use, or in any other way distribute this manuscript to third parties before publication.
- Reviews should be objective and avoid personal criticism.
- Promptness in response: reviewers should notify GAERPSY Publishing if they cannot participate in the peer review of a specific manuscript.
- Possible areas of focus while conducting the review of manuscripts:
*Potential ethical concerns. These include research misconduct (e.g., Data fabrication/manipulation) and author misconduct (e.g., Plagiarism, redundant publication).
*Technical errors
*Logical errors concern fallacies, lapses in logic, etc.
*Language errors that mar the clarity of the text
*References involve the suitability of references used in the manuscripts and other relevant research that should be referenced in the articles.