Publication Ethics

The International Journal of Advanced Science Computing and Engineering (IJASCE) is committed to ethical, transparent, accountable, and responsible scholarly publishing. The journal aligns its editorial policies and procedures with the COPE Core Practices and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing developed jointly by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

These principles apply throughout the publication process and to all scholarly content published by IJASCE. Authors, editors, reviewers, editorial board members, and other individuals involved in the journal's publication activities are expected to act responsibly and to comply with the applicable journal policies.

IJASCE recognizes that publication ethics extends beyond detecting misconduct. Ethical scholarly publishing also requires transparent authorship, responsible peer review, appropriate management of competing interests, research ethics oversight, data transparency, protection of intellectual property, editorial independence, responsible use of artificial intelligence, and mechanisms for correcting the scholarly record when necessary.

Editorial decisions are based on the scholarly merit, methodological soundness, originality, relevance, and integrity of the submitted work. Decisions must not be influenced by an author's nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political beliefs, institutional affiliation, geographic location, or other characteristics unrelated to the scholarly evaluation of the manuscript.

IJASCE maintains publicly available policies and procedures to support research and publication integrity before, during, and after publication. In particular, the journal seeks to ensure that:

• editorial decisions remain independent from financial, personal, institutional, commercial, or other inappropriate influence;

• peer review is conducted through a transparently described process and manuscripts designated for external peer review are assessed by appropriately qualified reviewers;

• authors remain accountable for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical conduct of their work;

• authorship and contributorship accurately reflect the individuals who made qualifying contributions to the research and manuscript;

• authors, reviewers, and editors disclose relevant competing interests and those interests are managed appropriately;

• research involving humans, animals, identifiable personal information, confidential information, or other activities requiring ethical oversight complies with applicable ethical and legal requirements;

• research data, code, methods, and other supporting materials are reported and made available as appropriate to support transparency, verification, and reproducibility;

• plagiarism, inappropriate text recycling, redundant or duplicate publication, fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, peer review manipulation, and other threats to research or publication integrity are addressed through appropriate editorial procedures;

• the use of artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies is transparent, responsible, and subject to human accountability;

• complaints and appeals are handled fairly and through clearly described procedures;

• credible concerns about submitted or published work are assessed seriously and, when appropriate, referred to relevant institutions or other competent bodies;

• corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or other post-publication amendments are issued when necessary to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record; and

• journal management, ownership, publishing arrangements, fees, copyright, licensing, and open access practices are communicated transparently.

Our Ethical Framework

IJASCE develops and reviews its publication ethics policies with reference to recognized COPE guidance and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Key resources include:

• COPE Core Practices

• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing

• COPE Ethics Toolkit for a Successful Editorial Office

• COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers

• COPE Guidelines on Cooperation Between Research Institutions and Journals on Research Integrity and Publication Misconduct Cases

• COPE Retraction Guidelines

• COPE flowcharts and other relevant COPE guidance for addressing publication ethics and research integrity concerns.

IJASCE also considers relevant COPE discussion documents when developing policies for emerging or evolving issues. COPE discussion documents are used as sources of informed guidance and discussion and are distinguished from formal COPE guidelines or policies. This distinction is particularly relevant to emerging areas such as artificial intelligence in scholarly publishing.

IJASCE Publication Ethics and Editorial Policies

The journal's publication ethics framework is implemented through the following policies:

• Allegations of Misconduct
  Describes how the journal receives, assesses, and responds to concerns involving suspected research, publication, editorial, or peer review misconduct.

• Authorship and Contributorship
  Defines expectations for authorship, contributorship, author accountability, acknowledgments, and the handling of authorship concerns or disputes.

• Complaints and Appeals
  Explains the procedures for submitting and handling complaints concerning editorial decisions, journal processes, editors, reviewers, or other aspects of journal operation.

• Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests
  Defines the disclosure and management of financial and non-financial competing interests involving authors, reviewers, editors, the journal, and relevant organizations.

• Data and Reproducibility
  Sets expectations for data availability, research transparency, reproducibility, reporting, and responsible management of research data and supporting materials.

• Ethical Oversight
  Covers ethical approval, informed consent, consent for publication, research involving human participants or animals, confidential information, vulnerable populations, and other ethical requirements relevant to research within the journal's scope.

• Intellectual Property and Copyright
  Explains copyright, licensing, permissions, plagiarism, previous publication, and other intellectual property considerations.

• Journal Management and Ownership
  Provides information about journal governance, ownership, editorial responsibility, and editorial independence.

• Peer Review Process
  Describes the journal's single-anonymous peer review model, reviewer selection and responsibilities, confidentiality, editorial decision-making, and procedures for maintaining peer review integrity.

• Post-Publication Discussion and Corrections
  Describes mechanisms for post-publication discussion and for issuing corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, and other amendments to the published record.

• Plagiarism and Text Overlap Policy
  Explains the journal's approach to similarity screening, plagiarism, text recycling, and redundant or duplicate publication.

• AI Tools Usage Policy
  Defines the responsible and transparent use of artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies by authors and within the editorial and peer review process.

• Open Access Policy
  Explains how published content is made openly available and describes the journal's approach to access and licensing.

• Repository and Self-Archiving Policy
  Describes the journal's policies regarding preprints, manuscript versions, repositories, and author self-archiving.

Responsibility for the Scholarly Record

IJASCE distinguishes between the journal's editorial responsibility and the responsibility of research institutions or other competent authorities. The journal assesses concerns insofar as they affect submitted manuscripts, editorial processes, or the reliability and integrity of published content. When formal investigation of researcher conduct is required, IJASCE may refer the matter to the relevant institution or competent authority. The journal remains responsible for editorial decisions and for correcting the published record when necessary.

The purpose of corrective editorial action is to maintain an accurate and reliable scholarly record. Correction or retraction is not primarily intended as punishment and may be necessary when published information is unreliable because of misconduct, honest error, or another serious problem affecting the validity or integrity of the work.

Continuing Review of Publication Ethics

IJASCE periodically reviews its publication ethics and editorial policies to maintain consistency across the journal website, submission system, editorial workflow, and published content and to respond to developments in recognized scholarly publishing practices.

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other members of the scholarly community are encouraged to consult the relevant policy before submission, review, or correspondence with the journal and to contact the editorial office when clarification is required.