Publication Ethics Statement
Introduction
The Vishwakarma Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (VJIR), published by Vishwakarma University, is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, transparency, and responsible scholarly publishing. This Publication Ethics Policy establishes ethical principles and responsibilities applicable to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial staff, and all stakeholders involved in publication activities of the journal. The journal follows ethical practices aligned with internationally accepted scholarly publishing standards and principles broadly consistent with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines and general international ethical norms.
Scope of the Policy
This policy shall apply to all processes and procedures including manuscript submission, peer review, editorial processing, publication decisions, post-publication activities, and ethical dispute resolution and all other relevant and incidental processes.
Ethical Principles
The journal is committed to maintain and adhere to academic integrity, originality, transparency, confidentiality, fairness, accountability, ethical peer review, and responsible dissemination of scholarly knowledge.
Author Responsibilities
Authors submitting manuscripts to VJIR shall ensure that submitted work is original and unpublished, the manuscript is not under simultaneous consideration elsewhere, all data presented are accurate and authentic, all sources are appropriately cited, permissions for copyrighted material are obtained, ethical approvals are secured wherever required, and all co-authors have approved the final manuscript submission.
Authorship Criteria
Authorship shall be limited to individuals who have made significant scholarly contribution to conception or design of the study, research execution, data analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or critical intellectual revision. All listed authors shall share responsibility for the integrity and authenticity of the work.
Prohibited Authorship Practices
The journal strictly prohibits gift authorship, honorary authorship, ghost authorship, and misrepresentation of authorship contributions.
Responsibilities of Corresponding Author
The corresponding author shall be responsible for ensuring consent of all co-authors, accuracy of submission information, ethical compliance, disclosure conflict of interest of all authors, and communication with the journal throughout the publication process.
Originality and Plagiarism Policy
All manuscripts shall undergo plagiarism screening using approved software tools. Manuscripts with plagiarism similarity below 10% shall ordinarily be considered acceptable. Manuscripts with higher similarity level will be returned for revision with or without comments of the reviewers. The journal strictly prohibits plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, unattributed copying, and misappropriation of intellectual work.
AI Usage and Disclosure Policy
Limited use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be permitted only with proper disclosure accompanied by detailed academic oversight. Authors shall disclose use of AI tools wherever applicable, remain fully responsible for originality and accuracy, and ensure authenticity of submitted content. AI tools shall not be listed as authors, and shall not replace human scholarly responsibility. AI-generated content without appropriate disclosure and detailed academic oversight shall not be permitted.
Data Integrity and Research Misconduct
The journal strictly prohibits fabricated data, falsified results, manipulated images, misleading analysis, and unethical research practices. Any detected research misconduct may result in rejection, correction, retraction, publication ban, and or institutional notification.
Human Subject Research Ethics
Research involving human participants, interviews, surveys, patient information, or clinical/social data shall require to maintain and keep ready proof of informed consent wherever applicable, and approval from appropriate ethics committees or institutional review boards at their own affiliations. Authors shall provide ethical approval information when required.
Animal Research Ethics
Research involving animal experimentation shall require approval from appropriate institutional ethical authorities and other compliances with ethical regulations applicable to the respective domains/disciplines.
Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication
Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals is strictly prohibited. Duplicate publication, redundant publication, or salami publication practices shall be treated as publication misconduct.
Preprint Policy
The journal may consider manuscripts previously uploaded on preprint servers, institutional repositories, or recognized scholarly archives provided such disclosure is clearly mentioned in the article and duly communicated during submission of manuscript.
Reviewer Ethics and Responsibilities
Reviewers shall returned the manuscript if knows or has reasons to know the author/s, maintain confidentiality, provide unbiased and objective evaluation, disclose conflicts of interest, avoid personal criticism, and submit reviews within prescribed timelines. Reviewers shall not share manuscripts, use unpublished information, try to find out authors, or disclose author identity or manuscript details.
Editorial Responsibilities
Editors shall maintain confidentiality, ensure fair and unbiased decisions, avoid conflicts of interest, uphold ethical standards, and ensure integrity of peer review and publication processes. Editorial decisions shall be based solely on academic merit, originality, relevance, ethical compliance, and scholarly quality.
Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions shall remain independent from commercial influence, institutional pressure, financial considerations, personal relationships, or external interference.
Conflict of Interest Policy
Authors, reviewers, and editors shall disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest that may affect objectivity, evaluation standards, editorial decisions, or interpretation of research findings. The journal reserves the right to take appropriate measures to manage disclosed conflicts.
Citation Ethics
Authors shall adhere to APA citation as mentioned in the manuscript template. The journal prohibits coercive citation, unnecessary citation inflation, excessive self-citation, and manipulative citation practices. Citations shall be relevant, ethical, and academically justified.
Confidentiality Policy
All manuscripts, reviewer comments, editorial communications, and publication-related documents shall remain confidential during the submission, review and publication process. Confidential information shall not be disclosed except where required by law or ethical investigation.
Complaints and Appeals
Ethical complaints or appeals may be submitted by authors, reviewers, readers, institutions, or other stakeholders through mail addressed to the managing editor. Complaints shall be evaluated confidentially and fairly by the journal authorities.
Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
The journal may publish corrigenda, errata, expressions of concern, corrections, or retractions where necessary to maintain integrity of the scholarly record. Retraction may occur in cases involving plagiarism, fabricated data, duplicate publication, ethical violations, copyright infringement, or serious scholarly misconduct.
Ethical Investigation and Sanctions
Where ethical misconduct is suspected, the journal may conduct editorial investigation, seek clarification from authors, consult institutional authorities, or initiate ethical review procedures. Possible actions may include manuscript rejection, publication withdrawal, retraction, temporary submission ban, or institutional notification.
Retention of Ethical Records
Records relating to ethical investigations, complaints, misconduct proceedings, and related communications shall be maintained confidentially by the journal for appropriate administrative and legal purposes.
Post-Publication Responsibilities
Authors shall notify the journal if significant errors or ethical concerns are identified after publication. The journal reserves the right to correct, revise, retract, or annotate published content where necessary.
Policy Review and Amendments
This Publication Ethics Policy may be periodically reviewed and revised by the Editorial Board and Editor-in-Chief in accordance with evolving scholarly publishing standards and institutional requirements.