Publication ethics aims to guarantee high-quality scientific publications, public trust in scientific findings, and establish credit for original ideas. Data fabrication and falsification, plagiarism, multiple submissions, redundant publications, and improper author contribution or attribution must be prevented in scientific journals. For this purpose, all the received manuscripts are checked by iThenticate against plagiarism before the review process. If any aspects of plagiarism caught, your manuscript may be rejected without review and your institution informed. This journal is following of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and complies with the highest ethical standards in accordance with ethical laws.
The roles and responsibilities of individuals involved in the publishing process are classified as follows
Authorship Requirements
- Making substantial contributions to the conception, design, acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
- Drafting or critically revising the work for important intellectual content.
- Giving final approval of the version to be published.
- Agreeing to be accountable for all aspects of the work and its integrity.
All individuals designated as authors must meet all four above criteria, and those who meet the criteria should be acknowledged as authors.
Originality and Citations
- Authors must avoid submitting manuscripts that have been previously published, either partially or in their entirety, in other journals or mediums that may lead to conflicting copyright ownership claims.
- Proper citation of relevant works is crucial. Authors should ensure that all relevant sources they have quoted or used in the creation of their manuscript are appropriately cited.
Error Reporting
- If authors discover errors or inaccuracies in their published work, they have an obligation to promptly report them to the journal's editorial office.
Conflict of Interest
- Authors should complete and submit the conflicts of interest disclosure form, revealing any potential sources of conflicting interests related to their research.
Copyright Assignment
-Authors are required to transfer all existing rights to their work under copyright laws to the journal, enabling the publisher to disseminate their work.
Confidentiality and Impartiality
- Information obtained during the review process should not be exploited for personal or organizational advantage or to the detriment of others.
- Reviewers must not be provided with any information that could disclose the identity of the manuscript's authors during the evaluation process.
Objective and Constructive Review
- Review comments should be objective and constructive. Hostile, inflammatory, libelous, derogatory, or personal attacks are strictly prohibited.
Expertise and Awareness
- Reviewers should accept review invitations only if they possess sufficient expertise in the subject matter to conduct a thorough assessment.
- Reviewers should identify relevant published works that have not been cited yet and bring them to the attention of the authors.
Editors
Confidentiality
- Editors must maintain the confidentiality of information obtained from submitted manuscripts.
Publication Decisions
- Editors are responsible for the publication decisions they make.
Ethical Considerations
- Editors must promptly issue errata, clarifications, or retractions when clear evidence of scientific misconduct, unethical research, plagiarism, or other violations of ethical scientific publishing is identified.
- Editors should uphold the scientific integrity of manuscripts and ensure adherence to publication guidelines.
Evaluation Criteria
- The evaluation of submitted manuscripts by editors is based on originality, clarity of presentation, language fluency, soundness of methodology, rigorous data analysis and interpretation, and contribution to the scientific fields of interest to the journal's audience, as defined in the journal's scope.
These guidelines are designed to uphold rigorous ethical standards in publishing and protect the integrity of the scientific community. Failure to comply with these ethical guidelines may lead to appropriate actions being taken by the editorial office of the journal.
If authors wish to appeal a journal editor’s decision, please submit an appeal letter to the journal’s email address (ijaa@du.ac.ir), while explaining clearly the basis for an appeal.