Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

ShodhPatra: International Journal of  Science and Humanities (SPIJSH) is deeply dedicated to advancing the utmost ethical standards in publication and mandates that all submitting authors, reviewers, and board members adhere to COPE’s stringent publication ethics standards. We treat ethical misconduct with the utmost seriousness and strictly adhere to the COPE guidelines in addressing it.

Duties of Authors

• Publication and Submission Fee: There are no charges or fees attached to the submission of manuscripts by authors. We assess a nominal Article Processing Charge (APC)  solely upon the article’s acceptance. In order to grant open access to a work, authors are required to pay a nominal article processing charge or publication charge. The author, the author’s institution, or their research funder may be responsible for covering this fee. Detailed fee information is available on the website of the journal.
• Open Access Policy: The principle underlying the open access policy of all articles published in the SPIJSSH is to facilitate a more extensive exchange of global knowledge through the public availability of research.
• Data Access and Retention: When editorial reviewers request raw data in conjunction with a paper, authors should be willing to grant public access to the data if possible and, at the very least, be able to retain the data for a reasonable period of time following publication.
• Reporting Standards: Authors of reports detailing original research must provide both an objective analysis of the significance of the findings and an accurate account of the conducted work. Accurate representation of underlying data is imperative in the paper. A paper ought to contain an adequate amount of information and citations to enable others to duplicate the research. Unacceptable and unscrupulous conduct includes making fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements.
• Plagiarism and authenticity: It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that their works are completely original. Furthermore, if they have utilized the work or words of others, they must properly cite or quote them. We strictly prohibit both plagiarism and the use of fraudulent data. SPIJSSH will initiate an initial inquiry into any matters of plagiarism or falsified data that come to light subsequent to the publication of a paper in its journal. Additionally, SPIJSSH will notify the author. By contacting the editor@shodhpatra.org official SPIJSSH email address, the author may convey the circumstances. Upon confirmation of plagiarism, SPIJSSH will initiate communication with the author’s institute and funding agencies. Additionally, SPIJSSH will annotate the PDF of the plagiarized paper with a clear indication of plagiarism or formally retract the paper.
• Concurrent, redundant, or multiple publications: It is generally not advisable for an author to submit manuscripts that fundamentally describe the same research to multiple journals or primary publications. Engaging in the practice of simultaneously submitting identical manuscripts to multiple journals is considered unethical and detrimental to the publishing industry.
• Acknowledgment of Sources: Constant recognition of the efforts of others is required. Authors must include citations for seminal works that have significantly impacted the understanding of the subject matter they are reporting.
• Co-Authorship of the Article: The reported study should reflect the contributions of only those individuals who have significantly contributed to its conception, design, execution, or interpretation. It is necessary to include as co-authors all individuals who have provided substantial contributions. It is appropriate to acknowledge or list as contributors any individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research undertaking. The responsibility of confirming that the paper contains all suitable co-authors and excludes any inappropriate co-authors, as well as that all co-authors have reviewed, approved, and consented to the final version of the paper prior to its publication, lies with the corresponding author.
• Disclosure and Interest Conflicts: It is imperative that all authors include in their manuscript any financial or other significant conflict of interest that could potentially affect the findings or analysis of the manuscript. It is imperative to disclose all sources of financial support for the endeavor.
• Fundamental errors in published works: It is the author’s responsibility to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher of any substantial errors or inaccuracies found in a self-published work and to work with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
• Hazards and Human/Animal Subjects: The author is required to specifically label in the manuscript any chemicals, procedures, or equipment that present unusual risks during use.

Duties of Editors

• Fair Play: An editor may evaluate manuscripts at any time on the basis of their intellectual content, irrespective of the authors’ ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial personnel are prohibited from disclosing any information regarding a manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as applicable.
• Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure: Without the author’s clear written approval, an editor may not use unpublished materials described in a submitted manuscript in their own study.
• Precipitation of Publication: The determination of article acceptance for publication within the journal rests with the editor board. Always base such decisions on the validity of the work in question and its significance to researchers and consumers. The policies of the journal’s editorial board and specific legal obligations pertaining to plagiarism, libel, and copyright infringement that will be in effect at that time may serve as guidelines for the editors. When reaching this conclusion, the editors might seek input from other editors or reviewers.
• Review of Manuscripts: The editor is responsible for making sure that each manuscript is first assessed for originality. The editor ought to judiciously and equitably organize and implement peer review. In the information for authors, editors should describe their peer review procedures and specify which sections of the journal are subject to peer review. By selecting individuals with adequate expertise and excluding those with potential conflicts of interest, the editor ought to appoint suitable peer reviewers for papers under consideration for publication.

Duties of reviewers

• Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review aids the editor in formulating editorial decisions and may also provide the author with constructive feedback on the paper via editorial communications.
• Promptness: Any chosen referee who doesn’t think they can review the research in a paper or knows they won’t be able to do so quickly should let the editor know and quit the review process.
• Standards of Objectivity: It is important to perform reviews in an impartial manner. It is improper to offer personal criticism of the author. Referees ought to articulate their perspectives with substantiating arguments.
• Confidentiality: Confidentiality is a requirement for all manuscripts submitted for assessment. The editor must grant permission before disclosing or discussing them with others.
• Conflict of Interest and Disclosure: Confidentiality and non-utilization for personal gain of privileged information or ideas acquired through peer review are imperative. It is imperative that reviewers refrain from evaluating manuscripts that involve any form of conflict of interest, including but not limited to collaborative, competitive, or other affiliations or connections with authors, corporations, or institutions associated with the papers.
• Source Acknowledgment: It is the responsibility of the reviewers to identify pertinent published materials that the authors have neglected to cite. Accompanied by the appropriate citation should be any assertion that a prior report documented an observation, derivation, or argument. Additionally, the reviewer should bring to the editor’s attention any substantive similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and another published paper of which they have personal knowledge.