The Iranian Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics (IJAA) is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in publication, adhering to the guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to adhere to these principles, ensuring integrity, transparency, and fairness throughout the publication process.

 

✦✦ Roles and Responsibilities

 

✦ Authors

 

- 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 these 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 media.
• 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 must 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.

 

✦ Reviewers

 

- 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.

 

✦✦ Additional Ethical Policies

 

✦ Plagiarism:
IJAA is dedicated to publishing original research. All submitted manuscripts undergo rigorous screening using iThenticate to ensure they do not contain plagiarized content, including self-plagiarism. If plagiarism is detected, the manuscript may be rejected immediately without proceeding to the peer-review stage.

 

✦ Principles of Transparency:

• Study Design and Ethical Approval: All research must be well-founded, carefully structured, and ethically reviewed. Failure to meet these fundamental standards may be considered research misconduct.
• Data Analysis: All data should be analyzed using appropriate methods. While incorrect analysis may not always be considered misconduct, data fabrication and falsification are clear violations of ethical research standards.
• Data Availability: Authors must provide a data availability statement, clarifying how readers can access the data supporting the study’s conclusions. If data cannot be shared, a valid justification must be provided.
• Human and Animal Studies: For research involving human participants or animal subjects, manuscripts must include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained. Furthermore, all studies must have received formal approval from a recognized ethics committee.
• Conflicts of Interest: Any potential conflict of interest, whether personal, financial, academic, political, or commercial, must be disclosed, as it may influence the objectivity of authors, reviewers, and editors.

✦ Policy on Research Misconduct:
Maintaining scientific integrity is a top priority for the journal. We take proactive measures to prevent and address research misconduct, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification. If misconduct is suspected in a submitted manuscript, the editor will contact the corresponding author for clarification. In severe cases, the matter will be referred to the Publication Committee, which may impose sanctions such as restrictions on future submissions. If a published article is found to involve serious ethical violations, a formal retraction notice will be issued, and the online version will be marked as "retracted" with the retraction date displayed.

 

✦ Investigating Research Misconduct:
Any identified misconduct will be subject to a thorough investigation, which may lead to sanctions, manuscript rejection, or retraction. The journal upholds ethical standards through rigorous editorial oversight and peer review processes.

 

✦ Complaints and Appeals:
Authors wishing to challenge a decision must provide a clear justification, including any relevant new data or information that was not previously considered. While editorial decisions are generally final, authors may submit an appeal with a detailed explanation of their concerns and supporting evidence. The Editorial Board will carefully review the appeal, but its final decision is binding and cannot be contested further.

 

✦ Corrections and Retractions:

• Corrections: If a published article contains errors that affect its interpretation but do not invalidate the overall findings, a correction (Erratum) will be issued. Corrections are transparently linked to the original article and properly indexed to ensure readers have access to the revised information while maintaining the integrity of the research record.
• Retractions: In cases where serious errors, ethical violations, or research misconduct compromise the validity or integrity of a study, a retraction may be necessary. Retractions are conducted by COPE retraction guidelines and are marked and linked to the original article. The retracted article remains accessible in the public domain but is prominently labeled as "retracted" along with the retraction date to ensure full transparency.

✦ Archiving and Self-Archiving:
IJAA employs various platforms to guarantee the long-term preservation of its published content. All articles are indexed and abstracted in

• Islamic World Science and Technology Monitoring and Citation Institute (ISC)
• Ministry of Science, Research and Technology
• DOAJ
• Magiran
• SID

✦ Advertising Policy:
This journal upholds a strict no-advertising policy and does not accept or publish any advertisements.

 

✦ Ownership and Management:
The publisher and proprietor of this work is Damghan University.