1 Duties of Authors

Originality: Authors must ensure that their submitted manuscript is entirely original work. Any use of another’s ideas, data, or language must be appropriately cited. Submission of previously published work or work under consideration elsewhere constitutes a serious ethical violation.

Authorship: Only individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research should be listed as authors. All co-authors must have reviewed, approved, and consented to the submission of the final version. Any changes to authorship after submission must be approved by all co-authors and the Editor-in-Chief.

Accuracy: Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all data, findings, and conclusions presented in their manuscript. Fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting of data constitutes research misconduct.

Multiple submission: Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously. Concurrent submission is grounds for immediate rejection.

Acknowledgement: All sources of funding and any support received must be disclosed in the manuscript. The contributions of individuals not listed as authors should be acknowledged.

Errors: If authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work, they are obligated to notify the Editor-in-Chief promptly and cooperate in issuing a correction or retraction.

2 Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to editorial decisions: Peer review assists the Editor-in-Chief in making publication decisions and helps authors improve their manuscripts. Reviewers are expected to provide objective, substantive, and constructive feedback.

Promptness: Any reviewer who feels unable to review a manuscript within the stipulated timeframe must notify the editorial office immediately so that an alternative reviewer can be appointed.

Confidentiality: Manuscripts submitted for review are confidential documents. Reviewers must not share, discuss, or disclose any aspect of a manuscript to anyone other than the Editor-in-Chief without prior authorisation.

Objectivity: Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly and support them with evidence.

Conflict of interest: Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest — including competitive, collaborative, or financial relationships with any of the authors, institutions, or companies involved.

Identification of unacknowledged sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that is not cited by the authors. They should also alert the Editor-in-Chief to any substantial similarity between the manuscript under review and any other published paper of which they are aware.

3 Duties of Editors

Fair evaluation: The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts should be published, based solely on academic merit, originality, clarity, and relevance. Decisions are not influenced by race, gender, nationality, religion, political beliefs, or institutional affiliation.

Confidentiality: The Editor-in-Chief and editorial staff must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, or other editorial advisors.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in the editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author. The Editor-in-Chief recuses themselves from decisions on manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.

Handling complaints: The Editor-in-Chief will take reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints are raised. Such measures include contacting the authors, pursuing institutional inquiries, and publishing corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern where necessary.

4 Plagiarism Policy

IJEAE takes plagiarism extremely seriously. All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism using iThenticate or equivalent software before peer review is initiated.

Any manuscript found to contain unoriginal or plagiarised content will be immediately rejected. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, the article will be retracted and the authors’ institution notified. Types of misconduct addressed include verbatim copying, paraphrasing without attribution, self-plagiarism, and data fabrication.

5 Retraction and Correction Policy

IJEAE maintains the integrity of the academic record. When errors or misconduct are identified in published articles, the following actions may be taken:

• Correction (Erratum): Issued for minor factual errors that do not affect the main findings. The original article is updated with a notice of correction.
• Expression of Concern: Published when an investigation is pending and readers should be alerted to possible unreliability.
• Retraction: Issued when an article contains major errors, fabricated data, or plagiarism that invalidates the findings. Retracted articles remain accessible online with a clear retraction notice.

Retraction decisions follow COPE retraction guidelines. Authors are notified and given an opportunity to respond before a retraction is finalised.

6 Conflict of Interest

All authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence their work. This includes employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, expert testimony, patent applications, and travel grants. Where no conflict exists, a declaration to that effect must be included in the manuscript.

Reviewers and editors must also disclose and recuse themselves from any situation involving a conflict of interest.

7 Human and Animal Rights

Studies involving human participants must have been approved by an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee, and informed consent must have been obtained from participants. This must be stated in the methods section. Where human subjects are involved, authors must confirm that the study was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Studies involving animals must comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and be carried out in accordance with applicable national guidelines for animal care and use.

8 Data Integrity and Reproducibility

Authors are encouraged to make their raw data, research instruments, and analysis code available upon reasonable request. Data must be presented accurately and must not be manipulated in ways that mislead readers. Image manipulation that misrepresents experimental results is prohibited.

9 Authorship Criteria

IJEAE follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship criteria. To qualify as an author, an individual must have:

• Made substantial contributions to conception, design, data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation; AND
• Participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript; AND
• Approved the final version to be published; AND
• Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section rather than listed as authors.

10 Generative AI Policies

IJEAE expects intellectual ownership to be 100% yours, not machine-assisted.

• AI use is mostly restricted: You cannot use generative AI (like ChatGPT) to create research content.
• Allowed use is very limited: Only for language improvement (grammar, readability).
• No AI-generated writing: Ideas, analysis, arguments, and structure must be fully human-produced.
• Transparency matters: Ethical concerns like authorship, originality, and accountability are central.
• Strict consequences: Misuse (plagiarism or AI dependency) can lead to rejection, retraction, or blacklisting.

11 Reporting Suspected Misconduct

Authors, reviewers, editors, or readers who suspect research or publication misconduct are encouraged to contact the Editor-in-Chief at editor@ijeae.com. All complaints will be handled confidentially and investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines.

For guidance on handling misconduct, IJEAE refers to the COPE flowcharts available at publicationethics.org.