Publication Ethics

Ethical standards and responsibilities for authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher of the International Journal of Education and Vocational Studies (IJEVS).

Commitment to Publication Integrity

IJEVS is committed to maintaining high standards of research and publication ethics and to protecting the integrity of the scholarly record. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and publishing staff to act honestly, transparently, fairly, and responsibly throughout the publication process.

1. Ethical Framework

IJEVS follows recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing, including guidance developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.

These principles guide the journal's approach to authorship, peer review, conflicts of interest, research misconduct, ethical oversight, corrections, retractions, intellectual property, and post-publication issues.

2. Core Principles

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should reflect substantial intellectual or scholarly contributions to the work. All listed authors should have made meaningful contributions to the research and should be able to take responsibility for their contribution.

• All authors should approve the final version of the manuscript.
• All authors should agree to the submission and publication of the manuscript.
• Individuals who made substantial contributions should be appropriately acknowledged or included as authors according to accepted authorship standards.
• Honorary, guest, or gift authorship is not acceptable.
• Individuals who do not qualify for authorship should not be listed as authors.
• Changes to authorship after submission require a clear justification and approval from all affected authors and the editorial office.

4. Originality and Duplicate Submission

Manuscripts submitted to IJEVS must be original and must not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal.

• Duplicate or simultaneous submission is not permitted.
• Redundant or overlapping publication must be disclosed to the editor.
• Previously published material must be clearly identified and appropriately referenced where reuse is legitimate.
• Authors must disclose relevant related manuscripts or publications when requested by the editorial office.

5. Plagiarism and Improper Citation

IJEVS does not tolerate plagiarism, unattributed copying, inappropriate paraphrasing, or other forms of intellectual dishonesty.

• All sources must be properly cited.
• Direct quotations must be appropriately identified and attributed.
• Paraphrased ideas must be properly referenced.
• Reuse of an author's own previously published text or material must be appropriately disclosed and referenced where applicable.
• Suspected plagiarism may result in editorial investigation, rejection, correction, or other action appropriate to the circumstances.

6. Research Misconduct

IJEVS considers research misconduct to include serious breaches of research and publication integrity, including but not limited to:

7. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff should disclose any financial, personal, professional, institutional, or other interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the publication process.

• Authors should disclose relevant competing interests.
• Reviewers should decline assignments where a conflict could compromise impartiality.
• Editors should recuse themselves when they have a conflict of interest.
• Conflicts identified after publication should be assessed and addressed appropriately.

8. Peer Review Ethics

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, confidential, and evidence-based assessments of manuscripts.

• Reviewers must treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents.
• Reviewers must not use unpublished information for personal advantage.
• Reviewers should disclose conflicts of interest before accepting a review assignment.
• Reviews should focus on the scholarly quality of the manuscript and should not contain personal criticism.
• Reviewers should provide clear and constructive comments.
• Reviewers should not intentionally delay the review process.

9. Editorial Responsibilities

• Editors should make decisions based on the scholarly quality, relevance, originality, and methodological soundness of manuscripts.
• Editorial decisions should not be influenced by an author's nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political views, institutional affiliation, or personal relationships.
• Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts.
• Editors should manage conflicts of interest appropriately.
• Editors should ensure that peer review is conducted fairly and appropriately.
• Editors should respond appropriately to credible allegations of misconduct or publication-ethics concerns.
• Editors should maintain the integrity of the published scholarly record.

10. Ethical Oversight

Research involving human participants, sensitive personal information, vulnerable populations, animals, or other ethically sensitive subjects should comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

• Authors should obtain ethical approval where required by the relevant institution, jurisdiction, discipline, or research design.
• Where applicable, manuscripts should identify the approving ethics committee or institutional review body.
• Informed consent should be obtained where required.
• Confidential or personally identifiable information should be handled responsibly and protected from inappropriate disclosure.
• Authors should comply with applicable standards for research involving human participants or animals.

11. Data Availability and Reproducibility

Authors are encouraged to provide sufficient information to allow readers to understand, evaluate, and where reasonably possible reproduce the research.

• Research data should be reported accurately.
• Data availability should be stated where appropriate.
• Authors should identify restrictions on data access when applicable.
• Fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, or inappropriate manipulation of data is prohibited.
• Authors should provide sufficient methodological information to support evaluation and reproducibility of the research.

12. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical quality of their submitted manuscripts, including content produced or assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

• AI tools must not be listed as authors.
• Authors should disclose substantive use of AI tools in accordance with the journal's AI policy.
• Authors must verify facts, references, quotations, data, and other information generated or assisted by AI tools.
• AI-generated content must not be used to fabricate data, references, results, or evidence.
• Authors remain responsible for any errors, plagiarism, copyright issues, or ethical problems arising from AI-assisted content.

13. Intellectual Property and Copyright

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts respect applicable copyright and intellectual property rights. Third-party materials, including figures, tables, images, instruments, and substantial quotations, must be appropriately attributed and used with permission where required.

14. Complaints and Appeals

IJEVS provides a mechanism for authors and other stakeholders to raise legitimate concerns regarding editorial decisions, publication procedures, or ethical matters.

• Complaints should be submitted with sufficient information to allow the editorial office to assess the concern.
• Appeals concerning editorial decisions should provide clear reasons and relevant supporting information.
• Complaints and appeals will be considered fairly and confidentially where appropriate.
• A decision may be reviewed when new relevant information or evidence is presented.

15. Handling Allegations of Misconduct

Allegations of plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other serious publication-ethics violations will be taken seriously.

Where appropriate, the journal may seek information or clarification from the author's institution or other relevant authorities and may follow applicable COPE guidance.

16. Corrections, Retractions, and Post-Publication Actions

IJEVS recognizes its responsibility to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the published scholarly record.

• Minor errors that do not materially affect the scholarly record may be corrected through an appropriate correction notice.
• Significant errors or ethical concerns may require a formal correction, expression of concern, or retraction.
• Retractions will be clearly identified and linked to the affected publication where appropriate.
• Post-publication concerns will be evaluated based on available evidence and applicable publication-ethics guidance.

17. Editorial Independence and Fairness

Editorial decisions should be made independently and based on scholarly merit, relevance, originality, methodological quality, and ethical compliance. Decisions should not be influenced by commercial interests, personal relationships, institutional pressure, nationality, ethnicity, religion, gender, political views, or other irrelevant characteristics.

18. Citation Ethics

IJEVS does not encourage artificial citation practices intended to manipulate journal, author, or article metrics.

• Citations should be relevant to the manuscript.
• Authors should not add irrelevant citations merely to increase citation counts.
• Editors and reviewers should not require authors to cite unrelated articles solely to increase journal or author metrics.
• Self-citation should be appropriate, relevant, and scientifically justified.

19. Confidentiality and Privacy

Confidential information obtained during submission, peer review, editorial evaluation, and publication should be handled responsibly. Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose or use confidential manuscript information for purposes unrelated to the editorial process.

20. Publisher Responsibilities

The publisher supports the editorial team in maintaining an ethical, transparent, and sustainable publishing environment.

• Support the editorial independence of the journal.
• Provide appropriate technical infrastructure for submission, peer review, publication, and preservation.
• Support appropriate procedures for addressing publication-ethics concerns.
• Maintain transparent information about copyright, licensing, publication charges, and journal policies.

Publication Ethics Summary

Publication Ethics Reference

IJEVS refers to recognized publication-ethics guidance, including the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), when developing and applying its publication-ethics procedures.

Publication Ethics Contact

Questions or concerns regarding publication ethics may be submitted to the IJEVS editorial office.