Research Misconduct Policy

Research Misconduct Policy

1. Purpose

The International Journal of Interdisciplinary Knowledge (IJIK) is committed to maintaining high standards of research integrity, academic honesty, transparency, and responsible scholarly publishing. Research misconduct undermines public trust in academic research and can damage the integrity of the scholarly record.

This policy defines research misconduct and establishes procedures for identifying, investigating, and addressing suspected misconduct in manuscripts submitted to or published by IJIK.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

·  Authors and co-authors

·  Editors and editorial board members

·  Peer reviewers

·  Guest editors

·  Researchers

·  Research institutions and other parties involved in manuscripts submitted to or published by IJIK

The policy applies before submission, during peer review, after acceptance, and after publication.

3. Definition of Research Misconduct

Research misconduct includes serious violations of accepted standards of research and publication ethics. It may occur intentionally or, in some circumstances, through serious negligence.

Major forms of research misconduct include:

3.1 Fabrication

Fabrication means making up research data, results, participants, observations, interviews, experiments, references, or other research information and presenting them as genuine.

Examples include:

·  Inventing survey responses;

·  Creating participants who did not exist;

·  Inventing experimental results;

·  Reporting research activities that were never conducted;

·  Creating false citations or references.

3.2 Falsification

Falsification means manipulating, changing, omitting, or selectively reporting research materials, data, procedures, images, or results in a way that misrepresents the research.

Examples include:

·  Manipulating research data;

·  Removing inconvenient results without justification;

·  Altering research images;

·  Misrepresenting statistical findings;

·  Changing research procedures in the manuscript without appropriate disclosure.

3.3 Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of another person's words, ideas, data, figures, findings, or other intellectual material without appropriate acknowledgement.

Plagiarism includes:

·  Direct copying without citation;

·  Copying substantial portions of another work;

·  Presenting another person's ideas as one's own;

·  Inappropriate paraphrasing;

·  Reusing published material without proper attribution.

IJIK may use plagiarism-detection software and other appropriate methods to identify suspected plagiarism.

4. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors must not submit or publish substantially the same research in multiple journals without appropriate justification and disclosure.

Duplicate publication includes:

·  Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously;

·  Publishing substantially identical articles more than once;

·  Dividing one study into multiple publications in a way that improperly duplicates the scholarly record;

·  Republishing previously published material without appropriate disclosure.

Authors must inform the editor if a manuscript substantially overlaps with their previous publications.

5. Authorship Misconduct

All listed authors must have made a meaningful scholarly contribution to the research and must approve the final version of the manuscript.

Authorship misconduct may include:

·  Ghost authorship: omitting a person who made a substantial contribution;

·  Guest or honorary authorship: listing a person who did not make an appropriate contribution;

·  Gift authorship: adding an author without a legitimate scholarly contribution;

·  Falsely claiming authorship;

·  Unauthorised changes to the author list.

Requests to add, remove, or change authors after submission must be properly justified and agreed upon by all affected authors.

6. Citation and Reference Misconduct

Authors must provide accurate and relevant citations.

Misconduct may include:

·  Fabricating references;

·  Misrepresenting the content of cited sources;

·  Manipulating citations;

·  Excessive self-citation intended to artificially increase citation counts;

·  Adding irrelevant citations for the purpose of influencing citation metrics.

References should be used to support the scholarly discussion and not to manipulate academic metrics.

7. Peer-Review Manipulation

IJIK considers manipulation of the peer-review process to be a serious ethical violation.

Examples may include:

·  Providing false reviewer identities or contact information;

·  Creating fraudulent reviewer accounts;

·  Interfering with reviewer reports;

·  Attempting to influence reviewers improperly;

·  Submitting fabricated peer-review reports;

·  Using confidential reviewer information for inappropriate purposes.

Where peer-review manipulation is suspected, IJIK may suspend the editorial process and investigate the matter.

8. Data and Image Manipulation

Research data, photographs, figures, tables, charts, and other research materials must accurately represent the underlying research.

Authors must not:

·  Invent research data;

·  Deliberately manipulate images or figures to misrepresent findings;

·  Remove relevant data without scientific justification;

·  Present altered material as original evidence;

·  Misrepresent the source or collection method of data.

Legitimate processing or enhancement of research images must be appropriate to the research field and transparently described where necessary.

9. Ethical Approval and Participant Protection

Research involving human participants, animals, sensitive personal information, or other ethically regulated activities must comply with applicable ethical standards.

Where required, authors should provide information regarding:

·  Institutional or ethics committee approval;

·  Informed consent;

·  Participant confidentiality;

·  Data protection;

·  Permission for use of identifiable information.

Failure to obtain required ethical approval or serious violations of participant rights may constitute research misconduct or another serious publication-ethics concern.

10. Misrepresentation of Qualifications or Affiliations

Authors must provide accurate information about:

·  Names;

·  Institutional affiliations;

·  Academic qualifications where relevant;

·  ORCID identifiers;

·  Funding information;

·  Research contributions.

False institutional affiliations, qualifications, identities, or other material information may be investigated as research or publication misconduct.

11. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose relationships or interests that could reasonably affect the research, review, or editorial decision.

Failure to disclose a significant conflict of interest may result in further investigation and appropriate editorial action.

12. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors must follow IJIK's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use Policy.

AI tools must not be used to fabricate data, generate false references, manipulate research evidence, or otherwise misrepresent research.

Authors remain responsible for verifying AI-assisted content and for the integrity of the submitted manuscript.

13. Reporting Suspected Misconduct

Suspected research misconduct may be reported to the Editor-in-Chief or editorial office.

A report should, where possible, include:

·  Article or manuscript title;

·  Author name(s);

·  DOI or manuscript identification number;

·  Description of the suspected misconduct;

·  Supporting evidence or documentation;

·  Relevant publications or sources.

Reports should be made in good faith and should contain sufficient information to permit an appropriate assessment.

14. Initial Assessment

When IJIK receives an allegation of misconduct, the editorial team will conduct an initial assessment to determine whether the concern appears sufficiently credible and relevant to warrant further investigation.

The editor may:

·  Request clarification from the authors;

·  Request original data or supporting documents;

·  Review the manuscript and related publications;

·  Use plagiarism-detection or other appropriate screening tools;

·  Consult members of the editorial board or appropriate experts.

An allegation will not automatically be treated as proof of misconduct.

15. Formal Investigation

If the initial assessment identifies a serious and credible concern, IJIK may initiate a formal investigation.

Depending on the circumstances, the journal may:

1.     Contact the corresponding author;

2.     Request an explanation and supporting evidence;

3.     Contact other authors;

4.     Consult independent experts;

5.     Contact the relevant research institution or organization;

6.     Examine related publications or submissions;

7.     Review available research records and documentation;

8.     Determine appropriate editorial action.

Where institutional investigation is appropriate, IJIK may refer the matter to the relevant institution or research authority.

16. Author Response

Authors will normally be given an appropriate opportunity to respond to allegations and provide relevant evidence.

Authors are expected to cooperate with reasonable editorial requests during an investigation.

Failure to respond does not necessarily prevent IJIK from continuing an investigation where sufficient evidence is available.

17. Confidentiality and Fairness

IJIK will handle allegations as confidentially as reasonably possible while an investigation is ongoing.

The journal will seek to:

·  Avoid unnecessary disclosure of allegations;

·  Give relevant parties a fair opportunity to respond;

·  Base editorial decisions on available evidence;

·  Avoid treating allegations as established misconduct before an appropriate assessment.

18. Possible Editorial Actions

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the findings, IJIK may take one or more of the following actions:

·  Request clarification;

·  Request correction of the manuscript;

·  Reject the manuscript;

·  Suspend the review or publication process;

·  Issue a correction after publication;

·  Publish an Expression of Concern;

·  Retract a published article;

·  Notify the relevant institution or research authority;

·  Restrict future submissions where justified by serious or repeated misconduct.

The action taken will depend on the circumstances and available evidence.

19. Post-Publication Misconduct

Research misconduct may be investigated even after an article has been published.

If substantial problems are identified in a published article, IJIK may issue:

·  A correction;

·  An Expression of Concern; or

·  A retraction.

The journal will preserve the published record and clearly identify any editorial action taken.

20. Retraction

An article may be considered for retraction where evidence demonstrates that its findings or scholarly record are seriously unreliable or where serious research or publication misconduct has occurred.

Potential grounds include:

·  Fabricated data;

·  Falsified data;

·  Major plagiarism;

·  Serious ethical violations;

·  Duplicate publication;

·  Serious authorship misconduct;

·  Major manipulation of research evidence;

·  Peer-review manipulation;

·  Other circumstances that substantially undermine the integrity of the published article.

Retractions will follow IJIK's Retraction and Correction Policy.

21. False or Malicious Allegations

Concerns should be raised in good faith and supported by evidence where possible.

Knowingly submitting false allegations, fabricated evidence, or malicious complaints intended to damage an author, reviewer, editor, or institution may itself be treated as inappropriate conduct.

22. Appeals

Authors may request reconsideration of an editorial decision related to research misconduct by providing a written explanation and relevant evidence.

An appeal should identify:

·  The manuscript or article;

·  The decision being challenged;

·  The reasons for the appeal;

·  New evidence, if available.

Appeals will be considered by the appropriate editorial authority and, where necessary, by an independent editor or qualified expert who was not directly involved in the original decision.

23. Relationship with Publication Ethics Standards

IJIK aims to follow recognized principles of responsible research and scholarly publishing, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and other appropriate research-integrity standards.

Where a particular situation is not explicitly addressed in this policy, IJIK may consult applicable ethical guidance and seek advice from appropriate experts or institutions.

24. Commitment to Research Integrity

IJIK is committed to protecting the reliability of the scholarly record. The journal expects authors, reviewers, and editors to act honestly, transparently, and responsibly throughout the research and publication process.

Research misconduct concerns will be assessed carefully, fairly, and confidentially, with appropriate action taken when the integrity of the scholarly record is at risk.

International Journal of Interdisciplinary Knowledge (IJIK)
Research Integrity and Publication Ethics Policy