Publication Ethics

Our institution and journals are working together to ensure the highest quality and integrity of the published research records. Therefore we do not accept duplication, misinterpretation, adulteration, repetition and spurious research work. Our clear descriptive ethical principles will help authors to manage their expectations and avoid situations which may arise when they do not adhere to the guidelines.

Common Ethical Issues

Serious scientific fraud or errors could lead to ethical issues. Errors could be happen due to negligence such as statistical errors, grammar errors or honest errors which are part of the normal course of doing research. Therefore it is important to treat potential cases with care as academic careers could be at risk.

  • Duplication

Situations like one study is split into several parts and submitted to two or more journals also consider as duplication.

  • Misinterpretation

Misinterpretation could be the changing key words and phrases but retaining the essential content of the source as a framework.

  • Adulteration

Rephrasing of the text’s original wording and/or structure and submitting it as one’s own and mixing slightly rephrased material from multiple sources and presenting what has been published already as new is adulteration.

  • Repetition

Repetition is the action of submitting the same study for two journals or publishing more or less the same study in two journals simultaneously or years later.

  • Spurious research work

Spurious research work is manipulating research data with the intention of giving a false impression. This includes manipulating images (e.g. micrographs, gels, and radiological images), removing outliers or “inconvenient” results, changing, adding or omitting data points, etc.

  • Plagiarism

In the process of publishing, each new paper builds on previous work. However, it’s important to note that rules about quoting and citing previous work apply equally to one’s own writing.

“Self-plagiarism” is any attempt to take any of your own previously published text, papers, or research results and make it appear brand new.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors, Reviewers and Authors

Outlined below are the ethical behavior expected from Editors, Reviewers, Authors and Publisher of Journals under KnowEx Online published by The International Institute of Knowledge Management (TIIKM).

The ethical guidelines here are prepared based on the COPE https://publicationethics.org/ (Committee on Publication Ethics)

Responsibilities of the Rditor/Editorial Board

  • Editor in chief in consultation with the editorial board will be making the final decision on the manuscripts and will consider legal aspects such as libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism in making the decision.
  • Upon rejection, editors should convey the authors as to why the rejection decision was made.
  • Editors should not disclose any material related to the manuscript external parties who are not related with the manuscript publication process. (Apart from the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher)
  • Editors should not follow any discriminatory practices based on gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, nationality, religiosity, political orientation of authors in the evaluation process.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • Contribution to editors and authors: Reviewers, through their comments should assist potential editorial decisions by providing fair, honest, and unbiased assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the manuscript and assist authors to develop their manuscripts.
  • Conflict of interest and biasness: Reviewers should ensure to declare all potential competing, or conflicting, interests. If you are unsure about a potential competing interest that may prevent you from reviewing, communicate the same to organizing committee. Also, remain unbiased by considerations related to the nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender or other characteristics of the authors, origins of a manuscript or by commercial considerations
  • Timeliness: Reviewers should inform the editors if the manuscript cannot be reviewed as per the time given for the review until it is too late.
  • Confidentiality: Respect the confidentiality of the peer review process and refrain from using information obtained during the peer review process for your own or another’s advantage, or to disadvantage or discredit others.
  • Accountability: Do not delegate the authority to any other person with regard to reviewing the manuscript without obtaining permission of journal editors. Review reports also should be prepared by yourself.

Responsibilities of Authors

  • Authorship: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study and identified as co-authors to the paper. Others who supported the research project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors are included on the paper, all of them have gone through the final copy and agreed for the submission for publication.
  • Originality: The manuscript being submitted for publication should be entirely original work of the author
  • Plagiarism: Authors should refrain from plagiarism. Plagiarism consists of below different types and all are unethical and unacceptable.
  • Pretending another author’s paper as your own paper
  • Copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper without proper acknowledgment
  • Claiming results from research conducted by others as own results
  • Multiple and Concurrent publications: Author should not publish the same paper in more than one journal or primary publication. A paper submitted to one journal/ proceeding should not be published or under consideration for publication in another journal/ proceeding. Submitting one paper concurrently to several journals/ proceedings is also not acceptable.
  • Acknowledging Sources: Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. In-text citation and providing a list of references is a must in this regard. Information obtained through confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used unless you have explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: all authors should disclose in their financial or other form of conflict of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. Sources of financial support received for the research via grants or donations should be acknowledged. If authors get to know that there are erroneous contents on a published paper, they should promptly notify the same to the journal editor