Journal of Analytical and Applied Computer Sciences

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement 

The Journal of Analytical and Applied Computer Sciences is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and research integrity. The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher to follow ethical practices throughout the submission, peer-review, publication, and post-publication processes.

This policy is based on internationally accepted principles of publication ethics, including the recommendations and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The journal takes concerns relating to research misconduct, plagiarism, authorship, conflicts of interest, data integrity, and other forms of unethical publication practice seriously.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their submitted manuscript is original and has been prepared honestly and accurately.

Authors must:

• Ensure that the submitted work is their original work and has not been plagiarized from other sources.
• Ensure that the manuscript has not been published previously, either in whole or in substantial part, unless the submission is a legitimate secondary publication and this has been appropriately disclosed.
• Not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal.
• Provide accurate information about the research, methods, results, data, and sources used in the study.
• Ensure that all individuals who made a substantial contribution to the research are appropriately recognised as authors or contributors.
• Obtain agreement from all listed authors before submitting the manuscript.
• Ensure that all authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission and publication.
• Properly acknowledge the contributions of individuals who do not qualify for authorship.
• Obtain permission for the use of copyrighted material, figures, tables, photographs, or other material belonging to third parties where required.
• Declare any financial, personal, professional, or other relationships that could influence the research or its interpretation.
• Correct the record promptly if a significant error is identified in a published article.

Authors must not fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or selectively report research data or results.

2. Originality and Plagiarism

All manuscripts submitted to the journal may be checked for plagiarism and substantial textual similarity using appropriate plagiarism-detection tools.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

• copying text, ideas, data, figures, or other material without appropriate acknowledgement;
• presenting another person's work as one's own;
• substantial unattributed reuse of an author's own previously published material;
• inappropriate paraphrasing without proper citation; and
• submitting substantially similar manuscripts to multiple journals.

Where plagiarism or substantial duplication is identified, the journal may reject the manuscript. If the problem is discovered after publication, the journal may take appropriate corrective action, including issuing a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on the circumstances.

3. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors must not submit or publish substantially the same research in more than one journal.

If related work has already been published or submitted elsewhere, authors must disclose this information to the editor at the time of submission.

The journal may contact the relevant authors, institutions, or editors of other journals when duplicate or redundant publication is suspected.

4. Research Misconduct

The journal does not accept fabrication, falsification, manipulation, or deliberate misrepresentation of research findings.

Research misconduct may include:

• fabrication of data or results;
• falsification or manipulation of data, images, or experimental procedures;
• inappropriate alteration or removal of research observations;
• manipulation of images or figures in a misleading manner;
• deliberate misrepresentation of research findings;
• inappropriate manipulation of citations; and
• other practices intended to mislead readers or the editorial process.

When credible concerns are raised, the journal may request explanations, supporting information, original data, or other relevant documentation from the authors. Where necessary, the journal may refer the matter to the authors' institution or another appropriate authority.

5. Authorship and Contributions

Authorship should be based on substantial contributions to the research and manuscript.

All listed authors should have made a meaningful contribution to the work and should have participated sufficiently in the preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript.

The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal and confirming that:

• all authors have approved the manuscript;
• all authors agree to its submission;
• the author list is accurate; and
• any changes in authorship are agreed upon by all affected authors.

Requests to add, remove, or change the order of authors after submission or acceptance must be supported by an explanation and written agreement from all authors concerned. The journal may request additional confirmation before approving such changes.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

6. Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, personal, institutional, professional, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research or its interpretation.

Reviewers and editors must also disclose potential conflicts of interest.

A reviewer should decline an invitation if they:

• have a close personal or professional relationship with an author;
• have recently collaborated with an author;
• have a direct financial or professional interest in the outcome of the manuscript;
• are working on closely related research that could create a conflict; or
• have another relationship that could affect their impartiality.

Where a significant conflict exists, the editor may assign another reviewer or editor.

7. Peer-Review Ethics

The journal follows a double-blind peer-review process.

Manuscripts are evaluated by independent reviewers with appropriate subject expertise. Normally, at least two independent reviewers are invited to evaluate a research manuscript.

Reviewers are expected to:

• provide objective and constructive comments;
• evaluate the manuscript based on its scientific and academic merits;
• maintain confidentiality;
• identify relevant published work that has not been cited where appropriate;
• disclose any potential conflict of interest;
• avoid using unpublished information obtained during peer review for personal advantage; and
• inform the editor if they believe that the manuscript contains plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other serious ethical concerns.

Reviewers should not contact authors directly about a manuscript under review unless authorised by the journal.

The identity and comments of reviewers are treated confidentially in accordance with the journal's peer-review policy.

8. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts are handled fairly, confidentially, and according to the journal's editorial policies.

Editorial decisions should be based on the manuscript's academic quality, relevance, originality, methodological soundness, and contribution to the field.

Editors must not make decisions based on an author's:

• nationality;
• race or ethnicity;
• gender;
• religion;
• institutional affiliation;
• political views; or
• other unrelated personal characteristics.

Editors must maintain confidentiality regarding submitted manuscripts and must not use unpublished information for personal research or advantage.

Editors should not participate in decisions involving manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest. Such manuscripts should, where possible, be handled by another independent editor.

9. Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted to the journal are treated as confidential documents.

Editors, reviewers, and other individuals involved in the editorial process must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone outside the appropriate editorial process.

Unpublished material contained in a manuscript must not be used for personal or professional advantage without the author's permission.

10. Ethical Approval and Research Participants

Authors conducting research involving human participants, personal data, or other ethically sensitive information must comply with applicable ethical requirements and obtain approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review body where required.

Where applicable, manuscripts should clearly state:

• the name of the ethics committee or institutional review body;
• approval or reference number;
• relevant ethical standards followed; and
• whether informed consent was obtained.

Authors must protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

11. Animal Research

Research involving animals must comply with relevant institutional, national, and international ethical requirements.

Where applicable, authors should provide information regarding:

• ethical approval;
• the institution or committee responsible for approval;
• animal welfare procedures;
• relevant regulations or guidelines followed; and
• measures taken to minimise animal suffering.

The journal may request evidence of ethical approval when appropriate.

12. Data Integrity and Availability

Authors are responsible for maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the data supporting their manuscript.

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to make datasets, source code, software, algorithms, supplementary materials, and other supporting research outputs available through suitable repositories.

When data cannot be publicly shared because of privacy, confidentiality, legal, ethical, security, licensing, or other legitimate restrictions, authors should provide a suitable data availability statement explaining the restriction.

The journal may request supporting data or other research materials when questions arise concerning the validity or integrity of published findings.

13. Use of Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools

The journal recognises that artificial intelligence and other automated tools may be used in certain stages of research and manuscript preparation.

Authors remain fully responsible for the content, accuracy, originality, integrity, and validity of their manuscripts.

Where generative AI or other automated tools have materially contributed to the preparation, analysis, generation, or modification of the manuscript or research, authors should disclose the use appropriately.

AI tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the work.

Routine use of AI-assisted tools for spelling, grammar, language editing, formatting, or readability improvement does not normally require disclosure unless the use goes beyond such assistance.

Authors must independently verify AI-assisted content and remain responsible for checking factual accuracy, citations, originality, and potential bias.

Reviewers and editors must not use generative AI tools to prepare peer-review reports or editorial decisions when doing so could compromise manuscript confidentiality or the integrity of the review process.

14. Citation and Reference Integrity

Authors must accurately cite sources that have contributed to their work.

The journal does not permit:

• fabricated references;
• manipulated citations;
• excessive self-citation intended to artificially increase citation counts;
• coercive citation practices; or
• citation of sources that have not been consulted or used.

Editors and reviewers should not request citations solely to increase the journal's, editor's, reviewer's, or author's citation metrics.

15. Corrections to Published Articles

If an author or reader identifies a significant error in a published article, the journal should be informed as soon as possible.

Depending on the nature of the error, the journal may publish:

• a correction;
• an erratum;
• a corrigendum;
• an expression of concern; or
• another appropriate editorial notice.

Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect the scientific meaning of an article may be corrected without a formal correction notice.

16. Retraction of Published Articles

An article may be considered for retraction when there is reliable evidence of serious problems affecting the integrity, validity, or reliability of the published work.

Possible reasons include:

• major fabrication or falsification of data;
• serious plagiarism;
• duplicate publication;
• unethical research;
• major undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• substantial errors that invalidate the main findings; or
• other serious breaches of publication ethics.

When an article is retracted, the journal will preserve the scholarly record. The article will normally remain accessible with a clear retraction notice or equivalent indication, together with an explanation of the reason for retraction.

Retraction decisions will be handled in accordance with established publication-ethics principles.

17. Expressions of Concern

Where serious concerns have been raised about a published article but the available information is insufficient to make an immediate correction or retraction decision, the journal may publish an Expression of Concern.

The notice will explain the nature of the concern and may remain associated with the article until the matter has been resolved.

18. Appeals Against Editorial Decisions

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that the decision resulted from a significant misunderstanding, factual error, procedural problem, or inappropriate handling of the manuscript.

An appeal should provide a clear explanation and relevant evidence supporting the request.

Appeals will be considered by the editor or another appropriate editorial authority who was not directly responsible for the original decision where reasonably possible.

An appeal does not guarantee reversal of the original decision.

19. Complaints and Allegations of Misconduct

The journal welcomes legitimate concerns regarding its editorial or publication practices.

Complaints relating to:

• editorial decisions;
• peer review;
• authorship;
• plagiarism;
• research misconduct;
• conflicts of interest;
• publication ethics; or
• other journal practices

should be submitted to the journal's editorial office through the official contact details provided on the journal website.

The journal will review complaints fairly and confidentially and will take appropriate action based on the available evidence.

Where necessary, the journal may seek information from authors, reviewers, editors, institutions, or other relevant parties.

20. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made independently of advertising, commercial interests, sponsorship, or other financial considerations.

Payment of an article processing charge, where applicable, does not guarantee acceptance or influence the peer-review or editorial decision.

The decision to accept or reject a manuscript is based on the journal's editorial criteria and peer-review process.

21. Advertising and Commercial Content

Any advertising or commercial activity associated with the journal must remain separate from editorial decision-making.

Advertising or sponsorship must not influence the selection, review, acceptance, rejection, or publication of manuscripts.

The journal does not accept advertisements or commercial content that could compromise editorial independence or the academic integrity of the journal.

22. Ethical Handling of Post-Publication Concerns

The journal recognises that issues may occasionally become apparent after publication.

When a credible concern is received, the journal will assess the available information and, where appropriate, contact the authors for clarification or supporting documentation.

Depending on the seriousness of the issue, the journal may publish a correction, clarification, expression of concern, or retraction.

The journal may also consult the authors' institution, ethics committee, publisher, or other appropriate authority when necessary.

23. Publisher's Responsibility

The publisher supports the editors in maintaining editorial independence and publication integrity.

The publisher is responsible for providing the infrastructure necessary for the secure submission, peer review, publication, preservation, and accessibility of journal content.

The publisher will cooperate with editors and relevant institutions in addressing credible allegations of research or publication misconduct.

24. Commitment to Publication Integrity

The Journal of Analytical and Applied Computer Sciences is committed to maintaining a transparent, fair, and responsible scholarly publishing process.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher share responsibility for protecting the integrity of the academic record. When ethical concerns arise, the journal will investigate them carefully and take proportionate action based on the available evidence and recognised publication-ethics principles.

This policy may be updated periodically to reflect developments in scholarly publishing, research ethics, and international publication-ethics standards.