Publication Ethics
Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal
Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement
ASSRJ’s publication-ethics standards for editors, authors, reviewers and the publisher, aligned with COPE Core Practices.
ASSRJ is committed to upholding high standards of publication ethics. As a COPE member, the journal follows the COPE Core Practices and expects all parties — editors, authors, reviewers and the publisher — to meet the responsibilities below. This statement is guided by COPE’s principles and by recognised standards such as those of DOAJ and OASPA.
Duties of editors
| ▸ | Decision-making: decisions to accept or reject are based on importance, originality, validity and relevance to scope, free from discrimination or commercial influence. |
| ▸ | Confidentiality: editors must not disclose information about a submission to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers and the publisher, as appropriate. |
| ▸ | Conflicts of interest: editors recuse themselves from manuscripts in which they have a competing interest, which are handled by another editor. |
| ▸ | Integrity: editors act promptly on credible concerns and are willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed. |
Duties of authors
| ▸ | Originality and acknowledgement: work must be original; the work and words of others must be properly cited. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. |
| ▸ | Multiple or concurrent submission: manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal at a time, nor describe work already published. |
| ▸ | Data integrity: authors must present accurate results and retain their data; fabrication, falsification and inappropriate data or image manipulation are serious misconduct. |
| ▸ | Authorship: all and only those who qualify must be listed (see Authorship & Contributorship). |
| ▸ | Disclosure: authors must declare conflicts of interest, funding and any use of generative AI. |
| ▸ | Errors: authors must promptly notify the journal of any significant error in their published work and cooperate in issuing a correction or retraction. |
Duties of reviewers
Reviewers must maintain confidentiality, declare conflicts of interest, review objectively and constructively, and report suspected ethical breaches (see the Peer Review Policy).
Duties of the publisher
Scholar Publishing supports the journal’s editorial independence, ensures sound archiving and access, and assists editors in handling allegations of misconduct.
Handling misconduct
Allegations of misconduct — including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, authorship disputes, undisclosed conflicts, redundant or duplicate publication and citation manipulation — are investigated following the relevant COPE flowcharts, whether the article is at submission or already published. Authors are given the opportunity to respond. Outcomes may include rejection, correction, an expression of concern, retraction and notification of the authors’ institutions or funders.
