publication-ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The International Journal of Community Service (IJOCS) strictly adheres to the guidelines and core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to meet high-quality ethical standards for publishers, editors, authors, and reviewers. Publication ethics is a critical issue to ensure the integrity of global research. The publisher has no right to interfere with the integrity of the content and strictly supports timely publication. Below are the ethical standards for all parties involved:

1. Duties of Editors

  • Responsibility: The Editor is fully responsible for every article published in IJOCS and must assist authors in following the journal's instructions.
  • Fair Play: Editors must objectively evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, religion, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the authors.
  • Conflict of Interest: Editors should recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.
  • Confidentiality: The Editor must ensure the confidentiality of the submitted manuscript. The double-blind review process must be strictly maintained; documents sent to reviewers must not contain author information, and vice versa.
  • Decision Making: The editor's decision must be communicated to the author along with the reviewers' comments, unless they contain offensive or defamatory remarks. Editors will be guided by COPE flowcharts in cases of suspected misconduct or disputed publications.

2. Duties of Reviewers

  • Confidentiality: Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors must be kept strictly confidential and treated as privileged information.
  • Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation.
  • Standards of Objectivity: Reviews must be conducted objectively. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments to help authors improve their manuscript.
  • Disclosure & Conflict of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must not be used for personal advantage. Reviewers must not evaluate manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive or collaborative relationships with any of the authors or institutions.
  • Alertness to Misconduct: Reviewers should notify the editor immediately if they suspect any ethical violations, substantial similarity with other published works, or any form of research misconduct.

3. Duties of Authors

  • Originality & Plagiarism: Authors must ensure the authenticity of their work. Plagiarism and auto-plagiarism (recycling one's own previous work without proper citation) are strictly prohibited.
  • Multiple or Concurrent Publication: The author confirms that the material has never been published before and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. "Salami slicing" (fragmentation of data into multiple publications) is strictly prohibited.
  • Ethical Clearance: In the case of experiments on human subjects, authors must have obtained ethical clearance from the relevant institutional Ethics Committee. Photographs or personal information that might make a subject's identity recognizable must be accompanied by written consent.
  • Data Access & Retention: Authors must provide the editor with raw data and details of the work if there is any suspicion of data falsification or fabrication.
  • Conflict of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial or substantive conflicts of interest (such as employment, research grants, or consultant fees) that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.