Publication Ethics
Publication Ethics in the International Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies
We encourage authors to refer to the international standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and are fully committed to their implementation. The journal strictly adheres to all ethical publishing standards and takes all necessary measures against any unethical practices that undermine the scientific process.
Furthermore, the journal adopts global ethical standards of conduct in line with COPE guidelines. These principles apply to all stakeholders in the publication process, including researchers, the editorial board, and the scientific advisory board. Each party is committed, in accordance with their respective roles, to upholding and applying these standards. Any violation, regardless of its nature, will result in strict disciplinary measures as required by the journal's regulations.
The journal follows established ethical guidelines to ensure best practices, which authors, reviewers, and all other stakeholders are required to respect. Furthermore, it adheres to the Code of Ethics for Scientific Research and Publication, alongside the regulations governing the peer-review process. To maintain high academic standards, the selection of research is strictly based on merit and objectivity.
Authors must strictly comply with publishing ethics and avoid any form of plagiarism. If plagiarism is detected, the journal will enforce strict measures in accordance with standard protocols. Any aggrieved party or individual who discovers plagiarism may contact the editorial office directly. Upon receiving a report, the journal will immediately initiate an investigation and impose appropriate penalties if the claim is substantiated.
The journal is dedicated to preventing conflicts of interest. Consequently, authors must comply with the submission terms by refraining from submitting their manuscripts to any other journal until a final decision has been made by the editorial board. Authors must also adhere to scientific research and publication ethics, ensuring no conflict arises with their sponsoring institutions upon publication. Furthermore, authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest when submitting their manuscript. To ensure an unbiased peer-review process, the journal strictly prohibits reviewing any manuscript by a reviewer who belongs to the same institution as the author, has collaborated with the author on research projects, or has funded the study.
The journal conducts rigorous plagiarism checks. Any manuscript that fails to meet publication requirements will be rejected to prevent academic misconduct. In accordance with international standards and the journal's policy, the maximum permissible plagiarism and similarity index is strictly limited to 20 percent.
It is the collective responsibility of the editorial team, the scientific board, reviewers, and the publisher to maintain confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest. All parties must uphold objectivity, impartiality, and accuracy from the moment a manuscript is submitted until its final publication. Strict measures, commensurate with the violation, will be taken against any party found in breach of these requirements. Penalties may include removing the offender's name from the journal’s boards and notifying their academic institution of the misconduct to ensure appropriate disciplinary action is taken in accordance with institutional policies.
Peer Review Process
Authors must thoroughly review the journal's submission guidelines prior to submitting their manuscript.
The journal strictly prohibits the use of author-recommended reviewers at any stage of the submission process, whether through the online submission system or any other means of communication. The appointment of reviewers is the sole responsibility of the editorial board. This process is conducted in strict confidence, based on each reviewer’s field of expertise, research interests, and the absolute absence of any conflict of interest with the authors.
Reviewers must be recognized experts in their respective disciplines and must provide an objective, impartial evaluation of the manuscript.
Reviewer Selection and Peer Review Policy
Exclusion Criteria for Reviewer Appointment: To ensure a fair and unbiased peer-review process, the journal will not appoint reviewers in the following cases:
1. The reviewer is affiliated with the same institution as the author or any of the co-authors.
2. The reviewer is affiliated with the funding agency of the study.
3. The reviewer was recommended by the author.
4. The reviewer provides only a personal email address (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail), and no official institutional email address can be verified through a standard search using the reviewer’s name, department, and institution.
Editorial Discretion: The journal’s editors are under no obligation to invite any author-recommended or opposed reviewers to evaluate the manuscript.
Ethical Obligations: Reviewers are strictly bound by scientific research and publication ethics. They must evaluate submitted manuscripts objectively, impartially, and in accordance with accepted scientific standards.
Review Process and Divergent Opinions: All manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer-review process by at least two experts in the relevant field. In cases where the first two reviewers provide conflicting or divergent evaluations, a third reviewer will be appointed to reach a final decision.
Review Timeframes and Delays: Reviewers must complete their evaluations within the timeframes established by the editorial board. Adhering to these deadlines ensures a timely process, allowing authors sufficient time to revise their manuscripts or submit them elsewhere in the event of a rejection. If unforeseen circumstances prevent a reviewer from completing the assignment, they must notify the journal promptly. In such cases, the editorial board reserves the right to reassign the manuscript to another expert in the relevant field.
Reviewer Credentials and Recruitment: The journal maintains an updated database of reviewers' academic curriculum vitae (CVs), including their academic degrees, institutional affiliations, and country of residence. Reviewers are selected based on their proven research expertise, publication record, and direct alignment with the journal’s scope. The journal welcomes applications from prospective reviewers, who may submit their CVs to the editorial board for evaluation in accordance with the journal's focus areas.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure: Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the editorial board prior to commencing the review process. The nature of the conflict must be clearly specified and described.
Confidentiality: Reviewers must maintain the absolute confidentiality of manuscripts throughout the evaluation process. No information regarding the manuscript may be disclosed from the time of receipt until after its official publication.
Review Model: The journal employs a double-blind peer-review model, appointing two independent reviewers specializing in the manuscript's field. To ensure an impartial and objective evaluation, the complete manuscript is transmitted to reviewers with all author identities strictly blinded.
Editorial Criteria
Evaluation and Selection: Manuscript acceptance or rejection is based solely on scientific merit, originality, methodological rigor, and contribution to scientific knowledge. The evaluation process is entirely free from any form of bias, as the journal welcomes submissions from all global regions and academic communities.
Scope and Alignment: Only manuscripts that directly align with the journal’s scope and research interests are considered for publication. Submissions outside the journal's scope will be promptly rejected, and authors will be notified immediately to allow them sufficient time to submit their work to an appropriate journal.
Reporting Academic Misconduct: Any ethical violations detected in submitted manuscripts will be formally documented. A detailed report of the infraction will be compiled by the journal and subsequently forwarded to the author.
Editorial Coordination and Confidentiality:
Editors maintain periodic communication with reviewers to ensure an accurate and effective peer-review process. Throughout this process, strict confidentiality must be upheld, and the identities of both authors and reviewers shall not be disclosed to any third party.
Compliance with Editorial Policies: Strict compliance with the journal’s editorial policies and publication procedures is mandatory to preserve the journal’s credibility and the scholarly quality of its published research.
Plagiarism Detection: All submitted manuscripts undergo rigorous screening via plagiarism detection software. In accordance with the journal's publication requirements, the similarity index must strictly not exceed 20 percent.
Publisher Standards Adherence
to Ethical Standards: The publisher must strictly adhere to ethical publishing standards to safeguard the journal’s reputation, credibility, and academic integrity.
Support and Copyright Protection: The publisher provides all necessary support to foster the journal's advancement and development, while vigorously protecting its legally guaranteed copyright.
Enforcement and Prevention of Misconduct: The publisher is required to take decisive action to prevent the publication of any material that violates international ethical publishing standards.
Authorship Criteria and Responsibilities
Eligibility and Accountability: The list of authors must strictly include only individuals who legitimately qualify for authorship. Every author must have contributed substantially to the research to bear collective or individual responsibility for its content.
Multicenter and Large Group Studies: When a study is conducted by a large, multicenter collaborative group, the collective body must explicitly identify the specific individuals who assume direct responsibility for the manuscript. These designated individuals must fully satisfy all standard authorship criteria.
Author Order and Credit Allocation: Primary authorship, author order, and publication credits must be based strictly on the relative scientific or professional contributions of the individuals involved, regardless of their academic status or seniority. Typically, a student shall be listed as the lead author on any multi-authored publication derived substantially from their thesis or dissertation, provided their contribution is clearly documented and justified.
Role of the Corresponding Author: The corresponding author is the sole representative who bears primary responsibility for all communications with the journal during manuscript submission, peer review, and the publication process. While specific administrative tasks may be delegated to co-authors, the corresponding author remains ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with all journal requirements, including the provision of accurate authorship details, institutional review board (IRB) approvals, experimental documentation, and completed conflict-of-interest disclosures.
Role of the Corresponding Author
The corresponding author signs the publication agreement on behalf of all co-authors and serves as the primary point of contact. Following publication, they must remain available to respond to critiques, address inquiries, and cooperate with any editorial requests for raw data or additional information should questions regarding the integrity of the article arise.
Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
Zero-Tolerance Policy: Plagiarism constitutes a severe breach of professional ethics, and the journal will impose strict penalties on all complicit parties. The journal categorically rejects copyright infringement, plagiarism, and any form of academic misconduct.
Screening and Enforcement: All submitted manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software. The journal reserves the right to take immediate disciplinary action if a manuscript is found to contain plagiarized content, unauthorized third-party copyrighted material, or unresolved authorship disputes.
Core Values: The journal is fundamentally committed to the principles of integrity, transparency, objectivity, and fairness. All researchers, editors, and reviewers are expected to strictly uphold these values to preserve the credibility and scholarly standard of the publication process.
Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct Policy
Commitment and Screening: The journal is strictly committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity and internationally recognized publication ethics in line with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines. Prior to entering the peer-review process, all submitted manuscripts must undergo mandatory automated screening for plagiarism and academic misconduct using internationally recognized software.
Acceptable Thresholds: The maximum permissible total similarity index is strictly limited to 20%. Furthermore, the similarity score from any single source must not exceed 2%, and all incorporated text must be accurately cited, documented, and attributed to its original source.
Procedural Actions: Any manuscript that exceeds the acceptable similarity threshold or is found to contain plagiarized material will be automatically rejected at the initial evaluation stage (Desk Rejection). The journal reserves the right to enforce necessary disciplinary measures against the authors in strict accordance with publication ethics standards.
Editorial Board Responsibilities and Misconduct Policy
Objectivity and Academic Freedom: Editors are strictly committed to evaluating all submitted manuscripts objectively, based solely on their scientific and intellectual merit. Evaluation processes shall be conducted without regard to the authors' nationality, ethnicity, gender, or personal and religious beliefs.
Strict Confidentiality: The Editorial Board is pledged to protecting the integrity of all submitted data. No details, metadata, or contents regarding the manuscript may be shared with any external party, except for the journal’s approved peer reviewers.
Handling Violations and Errors: In the event of an ethical complaint or suspected research misconduct regarding a submitted or published paper, the Editorial Board will immediately initiate a transparent investigation. All cases are handled promptly and resolved in strict accordance with the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Responsibilities of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions and Quality: Reviewers are required to assist the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board in making informed publication decisions Through objective evaluation within their specific fields of expertise, reviewers shall provide constructive feedback to help authors refine and elevate the scholarly quality of their research.
Timeliness and Promptness: If an invited reviewer determines that the manuscript's topic falls outside their area of expertise, or if they are unable to meet the specified deadline, they must notify the Editor-in-Chief immediately.
This prompt notification allows the editorial board to reassign the manuscript efficiently, ensuring a timely evaluation process for the author.
Confidentiality and Objectivity: Submitted manuscripts must be treated as strictly confidential documents. Reviewers are required to compose a detailed, professional evaluation report supported by scientific evidence and objective arguments, entirely free from personal bias or unsubstantiated opinions.
Responsibilities of Researchers (Authors)
Data Integrity and Scientific Accuracy: Authors bear sole responsibility for ensuring that their manuscripts adhere strictly to established scientific methodologies and ethical principles. Findings must be presented with absolute honesty and accuracy. Data fabrication, falsification, or the provision of misleading results is strictly prohibited. Furthermore, authors must remain prepared to submit raw research data for editorial review upon request.
Originality and Prevention of Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their submitted manuscript is entirely original. Any incorporation of third-party text, data, or ideas must be clearly documented, formatted, and properly cited. Plagiarism in any form is categorically unacceptable and will result in immediate procedural action.
Prohibition of Simultaneous or Multiple Submissions: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is prohibited. Authors are likewise prohibited from publishing redundant research that replicates identical methodologies and findings across different journals, as duplicate publication constitutes a severe breach of academic ethics.
Rigorous Citation and Documentation: Authors are required to accurately document and cite all primary sources, references, and foundational literature utilized in their research. All cited works must be fully compiled and formatted within the designated reference list
Participant Consent, Data Privacy, and Field Research Ethics
Ethical Mandate and Informed Consent: The journal strictly requires that all field studies involving human participants (including surveys, interviews, and observational research) adhere to international ethical standards. Authors must obtain explicit, prior informed consent from participants—or from legal guardians in the case of minors or vulnerable groups—before commencing data collection.
Full Transparency and Autonomy: Participants must be thoroughly informed of the study's nature, objectives, and estimated duration. Their absolute right to withdraw from the study at any stage, without penalty or liability, must be explicitly affirmed.
Data Protection and Confidentiality: Authors must guarantee the complete anonymization of participants' identities and personal data. Publishing images, audio/video recordings, or any identifiable institutional data is strictly prohibited unless explicit, prior written consent has been obtained.
Institutional Approvals: Authors must explicitly state within the manuscript that approval was obtained from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or the relevant institutional authorities, whenever such oversight is legally or institutionally required.
Procedures for Handling Violations of Publication Ethics
Complaint Submission and Processing: Any individual may formally file a complaint regarding an alleged violation of publication ethics with the editorial board. The journal is committed to investigating all complaints thoroughly and objectively, irrespective of the complainant’s identity or affiliation. Following a rigorous verification process, complaints will be formally resolved—either confirmed or refuted—and a detailed investigation report will be issued to the complainant.
Evidentiary Requirements: The complainant must provide substantiating evidence, documentation, or verifiable proof to facilitate an effective investigation. The editorial board is required to treat every submission with the utmost seriousness, pursuing each case until a final resolution is reached.
Retrospective Scope and Archiving: Ethical complaints will be addressed regardless of the article's publication date, as there is no statute of limitations on research misconduct. All supporting evidence, case documentation, and investigation records must be securely archived and retained by the Editorial Board.
Article Retraction, Correction, and Amendment Policy
In strict accordance with the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the journal is fully committed to preserving the integrity, accuracy, and reliability of the scholarly record. To maintain these standards, the journal rigorously applies established protocols when investigating and executing post-publication amendments, errata, or full article retractions.
Pre-Review Screening: Prior to being sent for peer review, every manuscript undergoes a thorough screening using internationally recognized software to detect plagiarism and academic misconduct. Manuscripts that exceed the journal's permissible similarity threshold will be automatically rejected during the initial screening stage (Desk Rejection).
Article Corrections (Errata and Corrigenda): Unintentional errors reported by authors or readers that do not compromise the scientific validity of the research shall be reviewed and resolved at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. An official correction notice (erratum) will be published in the next available issue, featuring a direct digital hyperlink to the original article that clearly states the date and nature of the correction.
Article Retractions: A published article will be formally retracted if conclusive evidence of scientific misconduct is established. This includes, but is not limited to: gross plagiarism, data falsification or fabrication, fraudulent claims of authorship, and duplicate or parallel publication. Retraction occurs following a transparent internal investigation, after which a "Retracted" watermark is permanently applied to the original PDF file and linked directly to the official retraction notice page.
Removal of Articles (Legal and Judicial Compliance): In exceptional and extreme circumstances, the journal reserves the right to completely remove a published manuscript from its website and digital repositories. This measure is strictly limited to cases where a binding judicial ruling or definitive legal consensus establishes that the article constitutes defamation, violates privacy laws, or infringes upon third-party intellectual property rights. In such instances, the full text of the article will be permanently removed and replaced with a formal notice stating that the article was excised for legal and judicial reasons.
Article Replacement: If a published article is found to contain severely flawed methodologies or compromised data that pose a substantial risk of public harm or serious health danger if replicated, the journal will execute an immediate article replacement. The original flawed text will be suppressed from the archive, and a corrected version—accompanied by a detailed erratum and a history of the document—will be uploaded to mitigate any potential public or scientific harm.
Disciplinary and Escalating Sanctions
In cases of substantiated complaints, intentional academic misconduct, or proven fraudulent submission, the Editorial Board shall enforce the following escalating measures and sanctions, which will be formally communicated to all relevant parties:
1. Official Written Warning: Issuing a formal written notice to the authors outlining the exact details and nature of the ethical violation, serving as an initial official warning or consultation in cases of demonstrable misunderstanding.
2. Institutional Notification: Dispatching a formal letter to the university, research center, organization, or funding agency with which the authors are officially affiliated, notifying them of the proven scientific misconduct.
3. Editorial Notice: Publishing an official editorial statement or expression of concern in the journal to inform the scholarly community of the infraction.
4. Academic Submission Ban: Prohibiting the authors (including co-authors) from submitting any new manuscripts to the journal for a specified period, ranging from one to five years, or imposing a permanent ban in cases of recurrence.
5. Digital De-indexing and External Referral: Permanently removing the article from the journal’s active archives, requesting its excision from all international bibliographic databases, indexes, and venues where it has been deposited, and referring the case to relevant external disciplinary authorities or regulatory bodies with the jurisdiction to handle the misconduct.
