Editorial Board’s Ethical Responsibilities

The Editor-in-Chief, Assistant Editors, and Editorial Board of IJCOMAR collaborate to ensure publication quality and adherence to ethical standards. Based on COPE’s Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, they hold the following responsibilities:

  1. Impartiality and Independence:
  • Editorial decisions are based solely on scientific merit and originality without regard to authors’ personal attributes (gender, ethnicity, religion, political views, etc.).
  • Editors must prevent personal or institutional interests from influencing the review and publication process.
  1. Management of the Publication Process:
  • Editors appoint qualified reviewers and ensure a fair double-blind peer review process.
  • The entire review process is confidential; manuscript information is shared only with reviewers and relevant editors. No information is disclosed to third parties without author consent prior to publication.
  • In cases of suspected plagiarism, data manipulation, or ethical violations, editors must intervene promptly and initiate investigations per COPE guidelines.
  1. Conflict of Interest Management:
  • Editors must identify and manage any personal or institutional conflicts of interest. If a conflict arises, the editor must recuse themselves and delegate responsibility to another editor.
  1. Relations with Reviewers and Authors:
  • Editors maintain transparent communication with authors throughout the process, providing reasoned feedback on acceptance or rejection decisions.
  • Editors provide clear guidance to reviewers to ensure unbiased and constructive scientific evaluations.
  1. Publication Decisions:
  • Final publication decisions are made after careful consideration of reviewer reports, based on scientific quality, originality, and compliance with journal policies. Reviews must be objective and prioritize the manuscript’s scientific contribution.
  • Editors ensure revision requests and acceptance decisions are fair and scientifically justified.
  1. Maintaining Scientific Quality and Ethical Standards:
  • Editors promote scientific contribution and freedom of expression; manuscripts presenting differing viewpoints or critiques should not be rejected if they meet quality standards.
  • In cases of serious errors or ethical violations post-publication, editors must promptly initiate correction or retraction procedures transparently and publicly.
  1. Support for Editorial and Scientific Development:
  • Editors continually work to enhance the journal’s academic quality, align with international standards, and uphold the journal’s scientific reputation.