Malpractice & Ethics Policy

The Editorial Board discourages any kind of malpractice or unethical behavior adopted by the researchers/contributors. Keeping this in mind following fundamental ethical issues have been defined. Each ethical issue is also followed by recommended actions.

1. Data Fabrication / Data Falsification: Data fabrication concerns the making up of research findings. Data falsifications manipulating research data with the intention of giving a false impression. If data fabrication by researchers/authors is found in the submitted paper, the Editorial Board reserves the right to reject the paper.

2. Duplicate submission / publication and redundant publication:
   Duplicate submission / publication: This refers to the practice of submitting the same study to two different publishing houses or publishing more or less the same study in two journals/ publications. These submissions/publications can be nearly simultaneous or years later.
   Redundant publication: This refers to the situation that one study is split into several parts and submitted to two or more journals. Or the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission or justification. “Self-plagiarism” is considered a form of redundant publication.In case of such publications, the Editorial Board reserves the right to reject the papers.

3. Duplication of text and/or figures (plagiarism): Plagiarism is the use of other's published and unpublished ideas or words (or other intellectual property) without attribution or permission, and presenting them as new and original rather than derived from an existing source. The severity is dependent on various factors: extent of copied material, originality of copied material, position/context/type of material and referencing/attribution of the material used.
   Less then 10% plagiarism will be allowed in the papers submitted for publication, otherwise the papers will be rejected.

4. Authorship: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

5. Acknowledgement of sources: : Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.