Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy

KODISA Journals are a group of peer-reviewed scholarly journals owned, managed, and published by KODISA Foundation. KODISA Journals are committed to upholding high standards of publication ethics and to preventing publication malpractice in all stages of submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, production, publication, correction, and archiving.

This policy applies generally to all KODISA Journals. Each journal may have additional or more specific requirements according to its academic field, indexing status, submission system, or editorial policy. Where there is any difference between this general policy and the specific policy of an individual KODISA journal, the specific policy of the relevant journal shall apply.

KODISA Journals endeavor to follow internationally accepted standards of publication ethics, including the principles and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), where applicable.

1. General Ethical Principles

The publication of a scholarly article is an important process of academic communication and knowledge development. Authors, editors, reviewers, editorial board members, and the publisher are expected to act with honesty, transparency, fairness, confidentiality, and respect for academic integrity.

KODISA Foundation and KODISA Journals take their responsibilities seriously in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. Editorial decisions shall be based on academic merit, originality, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, and the quality of the manuscript.

Commercial considerations, publication fees, advertising, institutional relationships, or other non-academic factors shall not influence editorial decisions.

2. Duties of Authors

2.1 Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their submitted work is original and that the work and words of others are properly cited or quoted. Plagiarism in any form, including copying, paraphrasing without proper attribution, self-plagiarism, duplicate publication, or claiming another person’s research as one’s own, is unacceptable.

Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism, excessive text overlap, fabricated data, falsified results, or other serious ethical problems may be rejected, withdrawn, corrected, or retracted according to the journal’s policy.

2.2 Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Authors must not submit a manuscript that has already been published elsewhere, except where permitted by the relevant journal’s policy, such as abstracts, academic theses, conference presentations, or other preliminary forms.

If a manuscript is based on a dataset, project, thesis, conference paper, or previous publication that overlaps with other works by the authors, this must be clearly disclosed at the time of submission.

2.3 Reporting Standards

Authors should present an accurate and objective account of their research. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail, data, explanation, and references to allow readers and researchers to understand, evaluate, and, where applicable, replicate the work.

Fraudulent, knowingly inaccurate, or misleading statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

2.4 Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide data, materials, or other supporting information related to the manuscript for editorial review or ethical investigation. Authors should retain such data for a reasonable period after publication, according to disciplinary standards, institutional requirements, and applicable laws.

2.5 Authorship

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, data collection, analysis, interpretation, drafting, or revision of the manuscript. All individuals who made substantial contributions should be listed as co-authors.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission and publication.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged, where appropriate and with their permission.

2.6 Acknowledgement of Sources

Authors must properly acknowledge the work of others. Publications, data, theories, methods, images, tables, figures, and other materials that influenced the submitted work must be appropriately cited.

Information obtained privately, such as through personal communication, correspondence, peer review, or confidential services, must not be used without appropriate permission.

2.7 Human or Animal Subjects and Research Ethics

If the research involves human participants, animals, personal information, surveys, interviews, experiments, clinical data, or other ethically sensitive materials, authors must ensure compliance with applicable laws, institutional guidelines, and ethical standards.

Where required, authors should include a statement confirming approval by the appropriate institutional review board, ethics committee, or relevant authority. Authors should also state that informed consent was obtained when applicable. The privacy, dignity, rights, and safety of research participants must be protected.

2.8 Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the research, interpretation, or publication of the manuscript. Conflicts may include financial, personal, professional, institutional, academic, or other relationships.

All sources of financial support, grants, sponsorship, or other funding related to the research must be disclosed.

If there are no conflicts of interest, authors should include a statement such as:

“The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

2.9 Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate in correcting, retracting, or clarifying the article where necessary.

If the editor or publisher becomes aware of a significant error from a third party, authors are expected to cooperate with the investigation and provide evidence or clarification when requested.

2.10 Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Tools

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of all submitted work, including any part prepared with the assistance of generative AI or AI-assisted tools.

AI tools must not be listed as authors. If AI tools are used for language editing, grammar checking, formatting assistance, idea organization, coding support, or other permitted purposes, such use must be disclosed according to the KODISA Generative AI Usage Policy and the policy of the relevant journal.

AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, citations, references, images, peer review reports, results, or scholarly claims.

3. Duties of Editors

3.1 Editorial Decision-Making

The Editor-in-Chief or authorized handling editor is responsible for making editorial decisions regarding submitted manuscripts. Decisions shall be based on the manuscript’s academic merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance, clarity, relevance to the journal’s aims and scope, and reviewer comments.

Publication fees, commercial interests, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, advertising, or other non-academic factors must not influence editorial decisions.

3.2 Fair Evaluation

Editors must evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual and scholarly content without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, political belief, institutional affiliation, academic status, or personal background of the authors.

3.3 Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must treat all submitted manuscripts and related materials as confidential. Information about a submitted manuscript may be disclosed only to the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, editorial board members, the publisher, or other persons directly involved in the editorial process, as appropriate.

3.4 Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Editors must not use unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research or personal advantage without the author’s written consent.

Editors should recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, financial, personal, institutional, or other relationships with the authors, institutions, companies, or organizations connected to the manuscript.

Where necessary, another editor, associate editor, or editorial board member should be assigned to handle the manuscript.

3.5 Ethical Complaints and Investigations

Editors should take reasonable and appropriate measures when ethical concerns or complaints are raised regarding a submitted or published manuscript. Such measures may include contacting the authors, reviewers, editorial board members, institutions, or other relevant parties.

If misconduct or serious error is confirmed, the journal may issue a correction, retraction, expression of concern, editorial notice, or other appropriate action in accordance with the journal’s policy and publication ethics standards.

Ethical concerns may be investigated even after publication.

4. Duties of Reviewers

4.1 Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and may help authors improve their manuscripts. Reviewers should provide objective, constructive, clear, and evidence-based comments.

Reviewers provide recommendations, but the final editorial decision rests with the Editor-in-Chief or authorized editorial decision-maker.

4.2 Promptness

Reviewers who feel unqualified to review a manuscript or who are unable to complete the review within the requested time should promptly notify the editor and decline the review invitation.

4.3 Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share, discuss, copy, distribute, upload, or disclose the manuscript or review materials to others without permission from the editor.

Reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal advantage or for their own research.

4.4 Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively and respectfully. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly and support their comments with relevant evidence, reasoning, or references where appropriate.

4.5 Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors where appropriate. Reviewers should also inform the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under review and any other published or submitted work of which they are aware.

4.6 Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, financial, personal, institutional, or other relationships with the authors, institutions, companies, or organizations connected to the manuscript.

4.7 Use of AI Tools by Reviewers

Reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, confidential review materials, or unpublished data to generative AI tools or other external platforms that may compromise confidentiality, unless explicitly permitted by the journal and appropriate safeguards are in place.

Reviewers remain fully responsible for the content, accuracy, fairness, and confidentiality of their review reports.

5. Peer Review and Editorial Process

KODISA Journals operate a double-blind peer-review process unless otherwise stated by the specific journal. In this process, the identities of both authors and reviewers are kept confidential.

All submitted manuscripts are first checked by the editorial office and/or the Editor-in-Chief for completeness, suitability, ethical compliance, similarity concerns, and relevance to the journal’s aims and scope. Manuscripts that do not meet the journal’s basic requirements may be returned to authors or rejected without external review.

Manuscripts that pass the initial editorial assessment are assigned to at least two independent expert reviewers for scholarly evaluation. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript’s originality, academic contribution, methodological soundness, clarity, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s aims and scope.

When reviewer opinions are substantially divergent, or when additional expert judgment is needed, an additional reviewer may be invited or the editorial board may be consulted before a final decision is made.

The final decision regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection rests with the Editor-in-Chief or authorized editorial decision-maker.

6. Plagiarism Detection and Similarity Screening

KODISA Journals may use similarity-checking software, such as iThenticate or other appropriate tools, to detect overlapping or similar text in submitted manuscripts.

Similarity screening is used to support editorial evaluation and ethical review. A similarity report does not automatically determine acceptance or rejection. Editors may consider the nature, extent, source, and context of similarity when making decisions.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are original, properly cited, and free from plagiarism, duplicate publication, and inappropriate text recycling. Manuscripts may be returned, rejected, corrected, or retracted if serious similarity or plagiarism issues are identified.

Specific similarity thresholds, if applicable, may vary by journal and shall be applied according to the policy of the relevant KODISA journal.

7. Publisher’s Responsibilities

KODISA Foundation, as the owner, manager, and publisher of KODISA Journals, supports editors, reviewers, authors, and editorial staff in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.

KODISA Foundation is committed to ensuring that editorial independence is respected and that publication ethics policies are applied fairly and consistently across KODISA Journals.

KODISA Foundation may support investigations of publication misconduct and may take appropriate actions, including correction, retraction, expression of concern, article withdrawal, notice publication, or communication with relevant institutions, where necessary.

8. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

KODISA Journals may issue corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other editorial notices when necessary to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

A correction may be issued when an article contains an error that does not invalidate the overall findings.

A retraction may be issued when there is clear evidence of unreliable findings, plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, falsification, unethical research, or other serious misconduct.

An expression of concern may be issued when serious concerns have been raised but the investigation is incomplete or inconclusive.

9. General Provision

This Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Policy applies generally to KODISA Journals. Individual KODISA journals may adopt additional policies or specific procedures according to their academic discipline, indexing requirements, editorial structure, or publication model.

Authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and editorial staff must follow both this general policy and the specific policy of the relevant KODISA journal.