Publication Ethics

While publishing a journal, the Journal of Holistic and Scientific Studies (JHSS) is committed to the principles of honesty, integrity and fairness during the entire publication process. We expect all authors, reviewers and editors to uphold the same standard of good science, which is based upon ethical behaviour and responsible research.

This statement provides the major duties and ethical requirements of all participants of the journal.

1. Authors’ Responsibilities

Authors are expected to:

  • Send original work which has never been published elsewhere as well as has not been reviewed by some other journal.
  • Report the present data, methods, and results without any fabrication, falsification or misleading interpretation.
  • There should be proper citing of all the sources, ideas and data which were not created by the authors themselves.
  • Only include authors who actually participated in the any of the following stages of the study plans, implementation or analysis. There are others who assisted in a supporting manner and should be noted.
  • Report any type of financial or personal conflict of interest that could have affected the study.

In the event that authors recognize a major mistake in the published piece, he or she is supposed to call the editorial office in order to correct or withdraw the article.

2. Reviewers’ Ethics

Reviewers are also important in protecting quality. They are expected to:

  • Manuscripts should be treated as confidential documents.
  • Give constructive criticism in a friendly manner that assists in making the work better.
  • There should be no bias and the manuscripts should not be evaluated with respect to their academic merit.
  • Report any conflicts of interest and recuse in case they cannot do an impartial review.
  • Do not utilize information in the manuscript to personal benefit.

Reviewers are expected to make the appropriate reviews within a reasonable time and the concerns expressed in the right editorial channels.

3. Editors’ Responsibilities

  • Assess submissions without prejudice.
  • Use relevant reviewers who are not conflicting.
  • Ethics in the review – respect confidentiality.
  • Make editorial choices grounded on the opinions of reviewers and the quality of work.
  • Make sure that the ethical standards are met on all levels.

The complaints or concerns that are raised concerning ethical issues should also be addressed by the editors in a timely and just manner.

4. Handling Misconduct

Unethical practices are not acceptable at JHSS. Examples include:

  • Plagiarism – Theft of others work without giving credit to the original work.
  • Duplicate Publication – sending the same research to different outlets.
  • Fabrication or falsification – the manipulation of data or results in order to deceive the students.
  • Peer review manipulation – trying to either influence or evade a fair review.

In case of any misconduct being suspected, the editorial team will enquire and determine the action to be taken, which can be rejection, correction, retraction, or alerting the concerned institutions.

5. Encouraging a Healthy Research Culture

Ethical publishing does not mean not to make mistakes, but to take the responsibility when they occur. JHSS advocates transparency, equitable examination and respecting communication among the academic community.

Adhering to these guidelines, the authors, reviewers, and editors ensure that JHSS is a reliable source to communicate good research.