Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics & Plagiarism

The International Journal of Information System and Innovative Technology (IJISIT) is committed to maintaining high ethical standards in scholarly publishing and safeguarding the integrity of the academic record. The journal follows recognized principles of publication ethics and best practices in scholarly publishing, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

These principles apply to authors, editors, reviewers, and all parties involved in the publication process.

1. Originality and Plagiarism

All manuscripts submitted to IJISIT must be original works that have not been previously published and are not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

Authors must appropriately acknowledge and cite the work, ideas, data, and words of others. Plagiarism, including direct plagiarism, inappropriate paraphrasing, and the unattributed use of another person's ideas or work, is considered unethical publishing behavior.

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection software as part of the editorial assessment. Manuscripts containing significant plagiarism, inappropriate citation practices, or other serious originality concerns may be rejected.

If plagiarism is identified after publication, the journal may take appropriate corrective action, including issuing a correction or retracting the article where necessary.

2. Duplicate and Concurrent Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal.

Manuscripts that substantially duplicate previously published work without appropriate disclosure, justification, and citation may be rejected. Duplicate, redundant, or concurrent publication is considered unethical publishing behavior.

Authors must inform the Editor if the submitted manuscript is related to other published, accepted, or submitted work that could reasonably be considered overlapping.

3. Authorship and Contribution

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript.

All listed authors should have contributed substantially to one or more aspects of the work, such as the conception or design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation of results, manuscript preparation, or critical intellectual revision.

All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission for publication.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged.

Guest, gift, and ghost authorship are not acceptable.

Any request to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be communicated to the Editorial Office and requires appropriate justification and agreement from the authors concerned.

4. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy, originality, and integrity of their submitted work.

Authors are expected to:

  • present research findings accurately and transparently;
  • provide appropriate citations and acknowledgments;
  • disclose relevant conflicts of interest;
  • disclose sources of financial support where applicable;
  • obtain necessary ethical approvals where required;
  • respond appropriately to editorial and reviewer comments; and
  • promptly notify the journal if a significant error is discovered in a submitted or published article.

Authors must cooperate with the journal in correcting the scholarly record when necessary.

5. Data Integrity and Research Misconduct

Authors are responsible for the integrity and accuracy of the data presented in their manuscripts.

Fabrication, falsification, inappropriate manipulation of data or images, deliberate misrepresentation of research findings, and other forms of research misconduct are unacceptable.

Authors should retain relevant research data and supporting documentation for an appropriate period and should be prepared to provide clarification or supporting information when reasonably requested during the editorial process.

Allegations concerning fabricated, falsified, or manipulated data will be investigated by the journal in accordance with applicable publication ethics procedures.

6. Human and Animal Research

Research involving human participants, human data, or animals must comply with applicable ethical principles, institutional requirements, and relevant regulations.

Where applicable, manuscripts should state that approval was obtained from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board.

For research involving human participants, informed consent should be obtained where required.

Authors are responsible for protecting participants' privacy, confidentiality, and personal information.

7. Conflict of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, peer-review process, or editorial decision.

Authors should disclose relevant conflicts of interest in their manuscripts or during submission.

Reviewers must inform the Editor of potential conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment.

Editors should not participate in editorial decisions concerning manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest. Where necessary, responsibility for the manuscript should be transferred to another qualified editor.

8. Funding Disclosure

Authors should disclose all relevant sources of financial support for the research and publication of the manuscript, including grant information where applicable.

If the research received no external funding, authors may state this explicitly.

Funding information should be presented transparently and should not influence editorial decisions.

9. Peer Review Ethics

IJISIT applies a double-blind peer review process.

Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively, constructively, fairly, and confidentially.

Information obtained through peer review must not be disclosed or used for personal advantage.

Reviewers should:

  • provide objective and constructive evaluations;
  • maintain confidentiality;
  • identify relevant work that may not have been appropriately cited;
  • avoid personal criticism of authors; and
  • disclose potential conflicts of interest.

Reviewers who believe they cannot provide an impartial or timely review should decline the review invitation.

10. Editorial Independence and Fairness

Editorial decisions are based on the scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological quality, clarity, and suitability of manuscripts for the journal's scope.

Decisions must not be influenced by an author's race, gender, nationality, religious beliefs, political views, institutional affiliation, or other characteristics unrelated to the scholarly quality of the manuscript.

The Editor is responsible for determining whether a manuscript should be accepted, revised, or rejected based on the journal's editorial policies, peer-review reports, and scholarly merit.

Commercial considerations must not compromise editorial decisions.

11. Confidentiality

Editors, editorial staff, and reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and associated information.

Information concerning a submitted manuscript should only be disclosed to individuals directly involved in the editorial and peer-review process where necessary.

Unpublished information obtained through the editorial or peer-review process must not be used for personal research or advantage without appropriate authorization.

12. Handling Research and Publication Misconduct

IJISIT takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously.

Potential misconduct may include, but is not limited to:

  • plagiarism;
  • fabrication or falsification of data;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • inappropriate image or data manipulation;
  • undisclosed conflicts of interest;
  • authorship manipulation;
  • fraudulent peer review; and
  • other serious violations of accepted research or publication ethics.

Allegations will be considered fairly and confidentially. Authors or other parties involved may be asked to provide clarification or supporting documentation.

Where misconduct is confirmed, IJISIT may take appropriate action depending on the circumstances, including rejection of the manuscript, publication of a correction, retraction of the article, or other measures necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Where appropriate, IJISIT may refer to relevant COPE guidance and flowcharts when considering publication ethics cases.

13. Corrections

IJISIT is committed to maintaining the accuracy of the published scholarly record.

When a significant error is identified in a published article that does not invalidate the overall findings, the journal may publish a correction.

Corrections should clearly identify the original article and explain the information being corrected.

Minor errors that do not materially affect the scholarly content may be handled according to the journal's editorial judgment.

14. Retractions

An article may be considered for retraction when there is reliable evidence that its findings are seriously unreliable as a result of misconduct or major error, when substantial plagiarism or redundant publication is identified, or when other serious ethical violations undermine the integrity of the publication.

Retraction decisions will be made carefully and transparently.

Where an article is retracted, the journal will endeavor to maintain the scholarly record by clearly identifying the article as retracted rather than simply removing it from the publication record, except where removal is necessary for legal or other exceptional reasons.

15. Complaints and Appeals

Authors and other parties may submit complaints concerning the journal's editorial process, publication ethics, or other relevant matters to the Editorial Office.

Authors may also appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant error occurred during the evaluation of their manuscript.

Complaints and appeals should clearly explain the issue and provide relevant supporting information.

They will be considered fairly and objectively. Where appropriate, a complaint or appeal should be reviewed by an editor who was not directly involved in the matter.

Submission of an appeal does not guarantee that the original editorial decision will be changed.

16. Post-Publication Concerns

IJISIT welcomes legitimate concerns regarding the integrity or accuracy of published content.

When credible concerns are raised after publication, the Editorial Office may review the matter and request information from the authors or other relevant parties.

Depending on the outcome, appropriate action may include clarification, correction, retraction, or other measures necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

17. Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright in their published articles and grant IJISIT the right of first publication.

Articles published by IJISIT are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The copyright and licensing information displayed on individual article pages and published articles must be consistent with the journal's Copyright and Open Access policies.

For complete information, readers and authors should refer to the journal's Copyright Notice, Open Access Policy, and Licensing Policy.

18. Commitment to Publication Ethics

IJISIT is committed to investigating ethical concerns fairly, maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record, and continuously improving its editorial practices.

Where appropriate, the journal refers to recognized international publication ethics guidance, including relevant recommendations and resources provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).