Ethics And Policies

PUBLICATION ETHICS

International Journal of Multidisciplinary in Humanities and Social Sciences (IJMHSS)  is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in publication. Scholastic Research Publication aims to adhere to the Best Practice Guidelines framed on Publication Ethics (COPE) and abides by its Conduct. To ensure the integrity of our journal, we follow established ethical guidelines for authors, reviewers, and editors.

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must submit original work that has not been published elsewhere. Any work that involves previously published material must be properly cited. Plagiarism, in any form, is strictly prohibited.

Authorship: Authors should accurately represent their contributions to the work. All individuals who contributed significantly to the study should be listed as authors.

Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial or personal conflicts of interest that could influence the research or its interpretation. Authors must declare current or recent funding (including for article processing charges) and other payments, goods or services that might influence the work. All funding, whether a conflict or not, must be declared in the ‘Acknowledgments’. If there are none, the authors should state, “The author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this paper.” Submitting authors are responsible for co-authors declaring their interests.

Data and Results: Authors must ensure that all data and results are accurately presented and that research findings are not fabricated or manipulated.

Ethical Compliance: Authors must ensure that their research complies with relevant ethical standards, including but not limited to, human subjects or animal research ethics.

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS

Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential. Any information gained through the review process should not be used for personal gain.

Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively, and reviewers should avoid any bias or conflicts of interest.

Constructive Feedback: Reviewers are encouraged to provide constructive feedback that helps authors improve the quality of their work.

Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should notify the editors if they recognize similarities between the submitted manuscript and other works, and if necessary, provide relevant references.

Citation Manipulation: Citation manipulation sanctions will be applied to submitted publications that contain citations whose main objective is to boost the number of citations to a certain author’s work or to articles that appear in a particular journal. Every citation, including self-citations (expressly prohibited for authors and journals), must be free of manipulation. 

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS

Fairness and Impartiality: Editors should treat all submitted manuscripts with fairness and without bias. Decisions should be based solely on the quality and relevance of the research.

Confidentiality: Editors must maintain confidentiality regarding the manuscripts under review and the identities of the authors and reviewers.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Editors should disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may affect their decisions and should recuse themselves from editorial decisions if a conflict arises.

Handling Misconduct: In cases of ethical violations (e.g., plagiarism, falsification of data), editors are responsible for investigating and taking appropriate action, which may include retracting the article. 

Plagiarism

IJMHSS uses advanced plagiarism detection tools to check for instances of plagiarism. Manuscripts that overlap significantly with other works without proper citation will be rejected. Authors should not submit manuscripts that have been previously published or are under consideration elsewhere. Scholastic Research Publication uses the Turnitin™ similarity check to detect instances of overlapping and similar text in submitted manuscripts.

Corrections and Retractions

When inaccuracies are found in published papers, the publisher will think about what needs to be done and may confer with the authors’ institution or editors.

A corrigendum can fix errors made by the authors, and an erratum can remedy errors made by the publisher.

Retraction or a declaration of concern in accordance with the COPE Retraction Guidelines may be necessary if there are mistakes that materially alter the conclusions or if there is proof of misconduct.

The notice’s content will be approved by each author.