Ethical Principles and Publication Policy
EJCSRTS follows the documents "Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers" of the Publication Ethics Committee (COPE). Regarding the "Core Practices" document of COPE, see: https://publicationethics.org
Ethical Guidelines for Journal Publication
The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed of EJCSRTS is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher and the society.
EJCSRTS takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, Editorial Board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.
Publication Decisions
The editor of EJCSRTS is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Ethical Responsibilities of Editors
The editor-in-chief, associate editor and co-editors of EJCSRTS should hold the following ethical responsibilities that are based on the guides "COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" and "COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors" published as open Access by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
General Duties and Responsibilities
Editors are responsible for each study published in EJCSRTS. In this respect, the editors have the following roles and responsibilities:
• Making efforts to meet the demand for knowledge from readers and authors,
• Ensuring the continuous development of the journal,
• Managing the procedures aimed to improve the quality of the studies published in the journal,
• Supporting freedom of expression,
• Ensuring academic integrity,
• Following the procedures without making concessions on intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
• Being transparent and clear in issues that require correction or explanation.
Duties of Authors
Authors submitting their work to EJCSRTS are obliged to meet the ethical principles stated below:
• Author(s) must submit original studies to the journal. If they utilize or use other studies, they must make the in-text and end-text references accurately and completely.
• Individuals who have not contributed to the study at any intellectual/academic level should not be indicated as an author.
• If the manuscripts submitted to be published are subject of conflicting interests or relations, these must be explained thoroughly.
• During the review process of their manuscripts, author(s) may be asked to supply raw data. In such a case, author(s) should be ready to submit such data and information to the editorial and scientific boards.
• Author(s) should document that they have the participants' consent and the necessary permissions related with the sharing and research/analysis of the data that are used.
• Author(s) bears the responsibility to inform the editor of the journal or publisher if they happen to notice a mistake in their study which is in early release or publication process and to cooperate with the editors during the correction or withdrawal process.
• Authors cannot submit their studies to multiple journals simultaneously. Each submission can be made only after the previous one is completed. A study published in another journal cannot be submitted to EJCSRTS.
• Author responsibilities in a study, (e.g., adding an author, reordering of author names and alike) whose review process has begun, cannot be changed.
Reporting Standards: Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the study. Authorship has been agreed prior to submission and that no one has been ‘gifted’ authorship or denied credit as an author (“ghost authorship”).
Acknowledgements: Those (institutions and financial resources) who have provided support but have not contributed to the research should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section. 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.
Originality and Purity of Plagiarism: The submitted work should be entirely owned by the authors. If the work of other researchers is included in the manuscript, it should be cited appropriately and listed in the references. The author is obliged to check the manuscript with one of the plagiarism prevention softwares, i.e., Turnitin or iThenticate, and submit the similarity report to the journal for application. Manuscripts with a similarity rate of 20% or more will not be considered.
Ethics Committee Permission and Approval: Authors are required to share in their manuscripts an ethical approval from an appropriate committee and how consent was obtained from participants when research involves human participants.
Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects: If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.
Redundant Publication: Authors are expected to submit original, previously unpublished content to EJCSRTS. It is unacceptable to submit the work for a review to another journal at the same time. An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Salami Publication or Salami Slicing: Authors should not present the results of a research as separate publications in academic appointments and promotions by disaggregating and disseminating the results of the research in an inappropriate manner and disrupting the integrity of the research.
Data Access and Retention: Authors are required to submit the raw data of their research when requested by the editors and referees and keep this data after publication.
Fair Play: An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shared or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
Authorship of the Paper: 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.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without obtaining the written consent of the author(s). All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of the findings in their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be fully disclosed.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published article, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer reviewing assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.
Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that their prompt/timely review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.
Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited (appropriately) by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge of.
Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
Related to Plagiarism
EJCSRTS is a peer reviewed and indexed journal, published online since 2021. The journal is strictly against any unethical act of copying or plagiarism in any form. All manuscripts submitted for publication to EJCSRTS are cross-checked for plagiarism using Turnitin/iThenticate software. Manuscripts found to be plagiarized during initial stages of review are out-rightly rejected and not considered for publication in the journal. In case of a manuscript that is found to be plagiarized after publication, the Editor-in-Chief will conduct preliminary investigation, possibly with the help of a suitable committee constituted for the purpose. If the manuscript is found to be plagiarized beyond the acceptable limits, the journal will contact the author’s Institute / College / University and Funding Agency, if there is any. A determination of misconduct will lead EJCSRTS to run a statement bi-directionally linked online to the original paper, in order to note the plagiarism and provide a reference to the plagiarized material. The paper containing the plagiarism will also be marked on each page of the PDF. Upon determination of the extent of plagiarism, the paper may also be formally retracted.
Unethical Behaviour
Should you encounter any unethical act or content in EJCSRTS apart from the ethical responsibilities listed above, please notify the journal by e-mail at info@ejcsrts.com
