Ethical Policies

Ethics in Scientific Publishing

Ethics in scientific publishing is essential to ensure the integrity, transparency, and credibility of research. All parties involved in the editorial process must adhere to rigorous ethical principles to guarantee that published results are reliable, the peer review process is fair, and authors' rights are respected. Below are the main ethical guidelines that guide editors, reviewers, and authors throughout the publishing process.

Editorial Ethics

CISAI editors play a key role in maintaining academic integrity. Their responsibility goes beyond managing the editorial workflow—they must make decisions based on the scientific quality and ethics of the submitted works. Key ethical guidelines for editors include:

  • Impartiality and Fairness: Editors must evaluate manuscripts objectively, without external influence. Decisions must be based solely on the work’s relevance, scientific merit, and methodological rigor.
  • Confidentiality: Editors must ensure the confidentiality of manuscripts throughout the editorial process. No data related to submissions should be disclosed to third parties unless required for peer review or by law.
  • Conflicts of Interest: Editors must disclose any potential conflict of interest that could influence their decisions, including financial, professional, or personal connections to the authors or content.
  • Integrity in Decision-Making: Editors must make transparent, evidence-based decisions and promptly correct any errors or biases in the editorial process.
  • Error Correction: If errors are found in published articles, editors must act swiftly to correct the record and preserve scientific integrity. This includes issuing corrections, retractions, or clarifications as necessary.

Reviewer Ethics

CISAI reviewers play a crucial role in the scientific publication process by ensuring that articles are critically and objectively assessed. The main ethical responsibilities of reviewers include:

  • Confidentiality: Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of the manuscripts they are assigned to review. Submissions must not be discussed or shared outside the review process.
  • Impartiality: Reviews must be objective and based solely on the merits of the work. Reviewers should evaluate manuscripts without bias or favoritism, regardless of the authors' identity, affiliation, or background.
  • Detection of Plagiarism and Misconduct: Reviewers have an ethical duty to report to the editor any suspicion of plagiarism, data falsification, or other forms of scientific misconduct.
  • Conflicts of Interest: If a reviewer has a conflict of interest that could influence their judgment, they must disclose it and, if necessary, decline to review the manuscript.
  • Constructive Feedback: Reviewers must provide detailed and constructive feedback to help improve the quality of the article. Criticism should be respectful and aimed at enhancing the work—not demeaning the author.

Author Ethics

Authors are responsible for the originality of the research, accurate presentation of results, and interpretation of data. Ethical authorship is fundamental to the quality and credibility of scientific publications. The ethical principles authors must follow include:

  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure their work is original and free from plagiarism. Plagiarism of ideas, text, or data is a serious violation of scientific ethics. All cited material must be properly referenced.
  • Data Authenticity: Authors must ensure that the data presented in their articles are authentic, verifiable, and accurately represent the results obtained during research. Data manipulation or fabrication is strictly prohibited.
  • Proper Contribution to Authorship: Authorship should reflect significant contributions to the design, execution, analysis, and writing of the work. Only those who made substantial contributions should be listed as authors. Secondary contributions should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section.
  • Conflicts of Interest: Authors must declare any financial, personal, or professional conflicts of interest that may affect the interpretation of results or the editorial process.
  • Ethical Research Review: Authors must ensure their research adheres to ethical principles in data collection, especially involving human or animal subjects. Proper permissions must be obtained, and all ethical and legal guidelines followed.
  • Transparency and Error Correction: Authors must be willing to correct any errors or inaccuracies found in their work after publication. This includes issuing corrections or retractions when necessary.
  • Authenticity in AI Contributions: Authors are advised not to use AI tools. If language models such as LLMs are used in research or writing, this must be explicitly stated in the manuscript, with clear descriptions of how they were used and the implications. LLMs must not be used for analysis or results generation without proper human oversight and interpretation. Authors must ensure that AI-generated content does not compromise the originality or ethical standards of the work. AI-assisted writing reports (e.g., from Turnitin) must not exceed 20%; otherwise, the manuscript will be rejected or returned for revision.