Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Innovation in Education, Technology, and Sustainability (JIETS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical responsibility in scholarly publishing.

The journal's publication ethics policies are informed by the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and internationally recognized standards of responsible research and scholarly communication.

These policies apply to all authors, editors, reviewers, and individuals involved in the editorial and publication processes.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

1.1 Originality and Academic Integrity

Authors must submit original scholarly work that has not been previously published and is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate data manipulation, duplicate publication, and misleading presentation of findings are prohibited.

All sources, data, methods, and intellectual contributions originating from other researchers must be appropriately acknowledged and cited.

1.2 Authorship and Contributions

Authorship must reflect substantial scholarly contributions to the research.

All listed authors must have made meaningful contributions, approved the final manuscript, and agreed to accept accountability for their contributions and the integrity of the published work.

Guest, gift, honorary, and ghost authorship are prohibited.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors approve the submission and that authorship information is accurate.

Changes to authorship after submission require a justified written request and agreement from all affected authors, subject to editorial approval.

JIETS encourages the use of the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) to describe individual contributions.

1.3 Research Ethics and Participant Protection

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical requirements.

Authors must provide information concerning ethical review, approval or exemption, informed consent, confidentiality, and participant protection, where applicable.

Research involving minors, vulnerable populations, sensitive personal data, or potentially harmful interventions requires particular ethical consideration.

Authors must explain when formal ethical approval was not required under applicable regulations.

1.4 Data Integrity and Reproducibility

Authors are responsible for ensuring that reported data, analyses, figures, and findings are accurate and traceable.

Research methods should be described with sufficient detail to permit scholarly evaluation and, where feasible, replication.

Authors are encouraged to share datasets, analytical code, research instruments, and supplementary materials through appropriate repositories, subject to ethical, legal, and confidentiality restrictions.

Fabrication, selective manipulation, or deliberate misrepresentation of research findings constitutes serious research misconduct.

1.5 Conflicts of Interest and Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research.

All sources of financial support must be acknowledged.

If no relevant conflicts of interest exist, authors must explicitly declare this.

1.6 Citation and Intellectual Property

Authors must cite relevant and reliable sources accurately.

Citation manipulation, excessive self-citation, fabricated references, and the inclusion of irrelevant citations are unacceptable.

Authors must obtain necessary permissions for copyrighted materials used beyond the terms of applicable licenses or legal exceptions.

2. Use of Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies

JIETS recognizes the potential value of artificial intelligence in research and scholarly communication while emphasizing human accountability, transparency, and research integrity.

2.1 Permitted Use

Authors may use AI-assisted technologies for legitimate purposes, including language assistance, programming, data analysis, and research-related computational tasks, provided that such use complies with ethical and methodological standards.

2.2 Disclosure Requirements

Authors must disclose substantive use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in preparing the manuscript or conducting the research.

The disclosure should identify the tool used, its purpose, and the nature of its contribution.

Routine spelling, grammar, and formatting checks do not require separate disclosure.

AI applications contributing to research design, data processing, analysis, image generation, or interpretation must be transparently described in the relevant methodological section.

2.3 Human Accountability

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors.

Human authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, validity, ethical compliance, citations, and final content of their manuscripts.

AI-generated references, fabricated data, misleading images, and unverified claims are prohibited.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must evaluate manuscripts fairly and impartially based on academic merit and relevance to the journal.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by an author's nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion, political views, institutional affiliation, or financial status.

Editors are responsible for:

Protecting the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts
Managing potential conflicts of interest
Selecting qualified and independent reviewers
Maintaining consistent editorial standards
Addressing suspected research misconduct
Ensuring the independence and integrity of editorial decisions

Editors must not use privileged unpublished information for personal advantage.

An editor with a relevant conflict of interest must recuse themselves from handling the manuscript.

4. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must provide objective, constructive, evidence-based evaluations of submitted manuscripts.

Reviewers are expected to:

Maintain strict confidentiality
Evaluate manuscripts within their expertise
Declare relevant conflicts of interest
Identify major methodological and scientific concerns
Provide respectful and substantiated recommendations
Avoid using unpublished information for personal benefit
Notify editors of suspected ethical violations

Reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts or review materials to external AI systems unless explicitly authorized by the journal and appropriate confidentiality protections are established.

Reviews must reflect the reviewer's independent scholarly judgment.

5. Plagiarism and Research Misconduct

All submissions may be assessed for textual similarity and potential research integrity concerns.

JIETS does not use a single similarity percentage as an automatic determinant of plagiarism. Editorial evaluation considers the nature, extent, context, and attribution of overlapping material.

Suspected misconduct, including plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, image manipulation, citation manipulation, and peer review manipulation, will be examined using a fair and documented procedure.

Authors will normally be given an opportunity to respond to substantive allegations before a final decision is made.

Depending on the findings, actions may include rejection, requests for clarification or correction, notification of relevant institutions, or post-publication amendments.

6. Complaints and Appeals

Authors and other stakeholders may submit formal complaints or appeals regarding editorial decisions, ethical concerns, or journal procedures through the journal's official contact channel.

Appeals must include a clear explanation and relevant supporting evidence.

Appeals will be assessed by an editor or designated editorial representative who was not directly responsible for the original decision, where practicable.

Appeals do not guarantee reconsideration or acceptance.

7. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

JIETS is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

When significant errors or ethical concerns are identified after publication, the journal may issue:

Corrections: For errors that require amendment but do not invalidate the principal findings.
Retractions: For articles whose findings are unreliable or whose publication involves serious ethical violations.
Expressions of Concern: When substantial concerns exist but the available evidence does not yet support a definitive conclusion.

All notices will be clearly identified, linked to the original publication, and publicly accessible.

Retracted articles will normally remain available with clear retraction identification to preserve the scholarly record.

8. Post-Publication Discussion

JIETS welcomes scientifically grounded post-publication comments, concerns, and discussions regarding published research.

Substantive concerns may be addressed through editorial correspondence, published responses, corrections, or other appropriate mechanisms.

9. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are independent of commercial, institutional, political, and financial pressures.

Publication charges, sponsorships, and institutional relationships must not influence manuscript acceptance or rejection.

10. Ethical Commitment

JIETS reserves the right to investigate ethical concerns arising before or after publication and to take proportionate corrective action when necessary.

All parties involved in scholarly publication are expected to support transparency, fairness, accountability, and responsible research practices.

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement