Allegations of Misconduct

Allegations of Misconduct

Publications of a manuscript in a journal shows the relation of trust between an author and publisher. The authors are expected to be aware of research misconduct and extremely cautious about it. However, still there are occasions when such precautions might have not been taken intentionally or unintentionally. In such conditions, if a breach of ethics is reported by anyone or it was observed by the editorial team, then the journal has the right to refer such cases to our Research Integrity Panel for investigation. The panel will assess the case on merit and will decide about the fate of the submitted manuscript.

Our Research Integrity Penal consists of the Editor-in-Chief, two senior members from the editorial team and coopted members deemed appropriate and relevant in the area of the manuscript submitted for publication. The committee will decide on appropriate measures to ensure justice. For this purpose, the authors will be given the right to submit an explanation against the allegations raised regarding the manuscript. The record will be corrected as decided by the committee or will be left as it is if the decision against the raised allegations.

The journal’s publishing policy for managing allegations of research misconduct is based on the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, available at https://publicationethics.org/misconduct.

Complaints Process

Report of research misconduct may be related to a published article or a manuscript under a peer-review process. The procedure for the application and management of complaints of author misconduct should proceed with sensitivity, tact, in confidence and in the following manner:

  1. The journal's editorial office receives a complaint that an article submitted to or published in the journal is suspected of containing research misconduct.
  2. The complainant needs to clearly indicate the specific manner and detail of misconduct; for example, in a case of plagiarism, the plagiarized paragraph should be clearly highlighted, and the original and suspected articles should be referred to clearly.
  3. The editorial office will conduct an investigation, during which time the editor of the journal and the corresponding author(s) of the suspected article will be in contact.
  4. The corresponding author(s) will be asked to provide an explanation with factual statements and any available evidence.
  5. If the author(s) of the suspected article accepts the misconduct complaint, the editorial office will take the following actions depending on the  situation:
    1. If the article has been published, an erratum or retraction may be necessary to remedy the situation. However, there may still be disagreement concerning the appropriate wording of the description.
    2. If the misconduct is reported during the review process, the review process may continue, with the author(s) making the relevant changes.
  6. In the case of nonresponse in the stipulated time or an unsatisfactory explanation, the article may be permanently retracted or rejected. Before making a decision, confirmation will be sought from the experts of the relevant institution or other authorities as required.
  7. The complainant will be informed of the outcome once the issue is resolved.
  8. The complaint case will thereupon be considered concluded.