Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

Nexa: Journal of Visionary Social Empowerment (NEXA) is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and research integrity. This publication ethics statement applies to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher.

The ethical policy of NEXA is based on internationally recognized principles of scholarly publishing, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices. The journal is committed to preventing publication misconduct, including plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, unethical research practices, and manipulation of the peer review process.

All manuscripts submitted to NEXA must be original, accurate, transparent, and ethically accountable. The editorial team reserves the right to reject or withdraw manuscripts that violate the journal’s publication ethics policy.

Duties of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that the submitted manuscript is original and has not been previously published or submitted simultaneously to another journal. All sources used in the manuscript must be properly cited. Any form of plagiarism, including copying text, ideas, data, images, or other materials without proper acknowledgment, is considered unethical and unacceptable.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Authors must also avoid redundant publication, duplicate publication, or publishing substantially similar work in more than one publication without proper justification and acknowledgment.

Accuracy and Reporting Standards

Authors are responsible for presenting their work honestly, accurately, and objectively. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail regarding the background, objectives, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions so that readers can understand the process and contribution of the work. Fabrication, falsification, selective reporting, or inappropriate manipulation of data is strictly prohibited.

Authorship and Author Contribution

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made significant contributions to the conception, design, implementation, analysis, interpretation, writing, or revision of the manuscript. All listed authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission for publication.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately in the acknowledgment section. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all author information, author order, affiliations, and contributions are accurate and approved by all authors.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must properly acknowledge all sources of data, information, theories, methods, instruments, funding, and other contributions used in the manuscript. Publications that have influenced the work must be cited accurately and completely.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, personal, academic, or other relationships that may influence or be perceived to influence the results, interpretation, or presentation of the manuscript. All sources of funding, sponsorship, or institutional support must be clearly stated.

Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

Manuscripts involving human participants, communities, institutions, personal data, interviews, photographs, or other identifiable information must comply with relevant ethical standards. Where applicable, authors must obtain ethical approval, institutional permission, and informed consent before conducting and publishing the work.

For community service and social empowerment activities, authors must ensure that the rights, privacy, dignity, safety, and welfare of participants and communities are protected.

Use of Images, Data, and Third-Party Materials

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to use and publish photographs, figures, tables, instruments, datasets, or other copyrighted materials. Personal or identifiable information must not be published without appropriate consent.

Errors in Published Works

If authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their submitted or published manuscript, they must immediately notify the editor. Authors are expected to cooperate with the editorial team in issuing corrections, clarifications, retractions, or other necessary actions.

Duties of Editors

Editorial Decision

Editors are responsible for making publication decisions based on the manuscript’s relevance to the journal’s focus and scope, originality, scientific quality, methodological clarity, ethical compliance, reviewer recommendations, and contribution to the field.

Editors may accept, reject, or request revisions to a manuscript. The final decision must be made fairly, objectively, and independently.

Initial Screening and Peer Review

Editors must ensure that all submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal’s requirements will be processed through a double-blind peer review involving qualified reviewers. Manuscripts that do not meet the minimum standards may be returned to the authors or rejected without external review.

Fairness and Editorial Independence

Editors must evaluate manuscripts based on academic merit without discrimination based on gender, religion, ethnicity, nationality, institutional affiliation, political view, or other personal characteristics of the authors. Editorial decisions must be free from commercial, institutional, or personal influence.

Confidentiality

Editors must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, author information, editorial discussions, and review results. Information related to submitted manuscripts must not be disclosed to unauthorized parties.

Conflict of Interest

Editors must not handle manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest. If a conflict of interest exists, the manuscript should be assigned to another editor or editorial board member who can manage the review process objectively.

Publication Integrity

Editors are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the published record. When ethical concerns, errors, plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other forms of misconduct are identified, editors must take appropriate action, including investigation, correction, retraction, or notification to relevant parties.

Duties of Reviewers

Confidentiality

Reviewers must treat all manuscripts received for review as confidential documents. Manuscripts must not be shared, discussed, copied, or used for personal advantage without permission from the editor.

Objectivity and Constructive Review

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively and provide clear, constructive, and evidence-based comments. Reviewer feedback should help authors improve the quality, clarity, and scholarly contribution of the manuscript.

Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate. Reviewers should focus on the content, method, results, discussion, originality, relevance, and ethical aspects of the manuscript.

Reviewer Expertise and Promptness

Reviewers should only accept review assignments if they have relevant expertise and are able to complete the review within the agreed timeframe. If reviewers are unable to complete the review on time, they should immediately inform the editor.

Acknowledgment of Sources and Ethical Concerns

Reviewers should identify relevant works that have not been cited by the authors where appropriate. Reviewers should also notify the editor if they suspect plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, ethical violations, or significant similarity with other published or submitted works.

Reviewers should not investigate suspected misconduct independently but should report their concerns confidentially to the editor.

Conflict of Interest

Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts if they have conflicts of interest related to the authors, institutions, research topic, funding source, or other relevant parties. Any potential conflict of interest must be disclosed to the editor.

Duties of the Publisher

The publisher of NEXA supports the editorial team in maintaining publication ethics, editorial independence, transparency, and the integrity of the published record. The publisher does not interfere with editorial decisions and is committed to ensuring that all published content follows ethical publishing standards.

The publisher works with the editorial team to address complaints, corrections, retractions, copyright issues, and publication misconduct in accordance with the journal’s policies.

Plagiarism and Similarity Check

All manuscripts submitted to NEXA may be screened for similarity using plagiarism detection tools. Manuscripts with indications of plagiarism, excessive similarity, duplicate publication, or improper citation may be returned to the authors for revision or rejected by the editorial team.

Corrections, Retractions, and Withdrawal

NEXA may issue corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or withdrawal notices when necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

A correction may be issued when a published article contains an error that does not invalidate the overall findings. A retraction may be issued when there is evidence of major error, plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, unethical research, or other serious publication misconduct.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors, readers, reviewers, or other parties may submit complaints or appeals related to editorial decisions, peer review, publication ethics, or published content. All complaints and appeals will be handled fairly, objectively, and confidentially by the editorial team.

Research Misconduct

NEXA does not tolerate any form of research or publication misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, citation manipulation, peer review manipulation, inappropriate authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and unethical treatment of research participants or communities.

When misconduct is suspected, the editorial team will conduct an appropriate investigation and take necessary actions in accordance with the journal’s ethical policy.