Ethics & Policies

3. Transparency

The journal abides by the information provided on its website. There is no unstated policy other than mentioned on the website. Also, there are no other charges except APC.

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4. Policy to Prevent Research Misconduct, and Process for Dealing with Such Allegations

The Editorial Board has zero-tolerance for misconducts such as plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others. The manuscript would go through a mandatory plagiarism check and editorial screening. Manuscripts with deliberate plagiarism would be rejected right away. Screened manuscripts with accidental plagiarism will be returned to the authors and re-submission is expected with all the issues addressed in a proper manner. If the editor of the journal or an editorial board member is made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a published article in the journal, the following actions may be taken:

1111a) An investigation will be carried out within 7 days from the date of filing of the complaint.

1111b) If the allegation is found to be true, the paper will be immediately retracted. The information will be intimated to 1111the authors and the Head of the concerned institution by email. Any future submission from the authors will not be 1111considered for publication.

1111c) No action will be taken if the allegations are not true.

 

5. Guidelines for Reviewers

1111a) Reviews should be conducted objectively.

1111b) Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.

1111c) Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments and references as necessary and not be 1111defamatory or libellous.

1111d) Reviewers should declare any competing interests.

1111e) Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts in which they have a competing interest resulting from 1111competitive, collaborative, or other relationships, or connections with any of the authors, companies, or 1111institutions connected to the paper.

1111f) Reviewers should respect the confidentiality of material supplied to them and may not discuss unpublished 1111manuscripts with colleagues or use the information in their own work.

1111g) Any reviewer that wants to pass a review request onto a colleague must obtain the editor’s permission first.

1111h) Reviewers needs to address the ethical aspects of the submission such as:

111111111. Has the author published this research before?

111111112. Has the author plagiarised another publication?

111111113. Is the research ethical and has the appropriate approvals/consent been obtained?

111111114. Is there any indication that the data have been fabricated or inappropriately manipulated?

111111115. Have the authors declared all relevant competing interests?

 

6. Submissions from ​Editorial Board Members

Editorial Board Members are welcome to submit manuscripts to the journal. However, these submissions will not be given any priority over the other manuscripts, and Editorial Board Member status will not have any influence on the editorial decision. Also, when an Editorial Board Member is one of the authors of a submission, they will have no involvement in the editorial review of the manuscript, no access to confidential information on the editorial process, and no input into the decision to publish the article.