Responsibilities

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Inspire Science and Tech Publisher (ISTP) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice. Authors, editors, reviewers, and members of the editorial team are expected to uphold the principles of honesty, transparency, integrity, and accountability in all stages of the publication process. The ethical responsibilities outlined below apply to all parties involved in the submission, review, editing, and publication of manuscripts in ISTP journals.

Authors’ Responsibilities

Authors must ensure that the manuscripts they submit are original, have not been published previously, and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submitting the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Manuscripts that have already been published, in whole or in substantial part, are not eligible for publication in ISTP journals.

Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscripts. They must ensure that their work does not contain fabricated, falsified, misleading, defamatory, or otherwise unlawful material, and that it does not infringe the rights of any third party.

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made a significant scholarly contribution to the conception, design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the study. All those who have made such contributions should be listed as authors, and no individual who does not meet the criteria for authorship should be included. Contributors who do not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.

Authors should properly acknowledge the work of others and cite all sources that have significantly influenced the reported research. Any use of text, figures, tables, equations, or ideas from other works must be clearly indicated and appropriately referenced. Plagiarism in any form, including verbatim copying, paraphrasing without attribution, or misappropriation of others’ work, is unethical and unacceptable.

Where applicable, authors must disclose relevant details concerning research funding, project support, institutional affiliations, and prior presentation of the work at conferences or academic meetings. All sources of financial support should be identified clearly in the manuscript.

Authors are required to disclose any financial, institutional, personal, or other substantive conflicts of interest that could have influenced the results, interpretation, or presentation of their work.

If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in a published article, it is the author’s responsibility to promptly notify the Editor-in-Chief or publisher and cooperate fully in correcting, retracting, or clarifying the record when necessary.

By submitting a manuscript to an ISTP journal, authors confirm that they agree to comply with the journal’s editorial policies and publication ethics requirements.

Funding Disclosure

All ISTP journals require authors to disclose any sources of financial support related to the work reported in their manuscript, including institutional, governmental, private, and corporate funding. Funding information should be provided at the time of submission and included in the published article under a clearly labeled Funding section.

The disclosure should include the full name of the funding body and the relevant grant number, where applicable. If no specific funding was received, authors should state:

“This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.”

Where relevant, suppliers of materials, equipment, or services should also be identified, together with their location.

Editors’ Responsibilities

The Editor-in-Chief of each journal has primary responsibility for deciding which submitted manuscripts will be published. Editorial decisions must be based solely on the academic merit, originality, clarity, and relevance of the manuscript to the journal’s scope. Such decisions must not be influenced by the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, ethnicity, institutional affiliation, or political beliefs.

Editors must ensure that all submissions are handled fairly, objectively, and confidentially. They must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Editors and editorial board members must avoid conflicts of interest in relation to manuscripts under consideration. If an editor has a competing interest or any involvement that could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, impartial judgment, that editor must withdraw from the editorial process for that manuscript.

Editors must also take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of manuscripts involving research misconduct, including plagiarism, duplicate submission, redundant publication, fabricated data, falsified data, or unethical research practices. Where concerns are raised, editors should follow appropriate procedures for investigation and resolution.

Editors are responsible for preserving the integrity of the peer-review process and, where the journal uses anonymous review, for protecting the confidentiality and anonymity of both authors and reviewers.

Reviewers’ Responsibilities

Peer reviewers play an essential role in supporting editorial decision-making and in improving the quality of published research. Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluations of manuscripts based on scholarly merit.

Reviewers should assess whether the manuscript is original, scientifically sound, relevant to the journal’s scope, and presented clearly and appropriately. Comments should be expressed respectfully and supported by reasoned arguments. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.

A reviewer should decline to review a manuscript if it falls outside his or her area of expertise or if a conflict of interest exists involving the authors, institutions, or funding bodies associated with the work. Any such conflict should be disclosed promptly to the Editor-in-Chief.

Reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential documents. They must not share, discuss, or use unpublished materials or information obtained through peer review for personal advantage or for the benefit of others without the explicit written consent of the authors and the journal.

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited where such references are necessary to place the study in proper scholarly context. However, reviewers must not require authors to cite the reviewer’s own work, or papers from a particular journal, unless there is a clear academic justification.

If reviewers become aware of possible ethical concerns, including plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, or substantial overlap with previously published work, they should report these concerns to the Editor-in-Chief.

Editorial Confidentiality

All manuscripts submitted to ISTP journals must be treated as confidential documents. Editors, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose, discuss, or use unpublished material from submitted manuscripts except as necessary for legitimate editorial and peer-review purposes.

Conflicts of Interest

All participants in the publication process, including authors, editors, and reviewers, must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that may influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment or actions. These may include financial relationships, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, academic competition, or intellectual bias.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

When a significant error, inaccuracy, or ethical issue is identified in a published article, ISTP journals will take appropriate action to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record. Depending on the nature and seriousness of the issue, this may include publication of a correction, retraction, or expression of concern.

Corrections will be issued where honest errors do not invalidate the overall findings of the article. Retractions may be issued in cases involving serious errors, research misconduct, plagiarism, duplicate publication, or unreliable findings. Expressions of concern may be published where an investigation is ongoing or where concerns have been raised but not yet fully resolved.

Plagiarism and Misconduct

ISTP does not tolerate plagiarism, duplicate submission, redundant publication, citation manipulation, data fabrication, data falsification, or any other form of publication misconduct. Manuscripts may be checked using plagiarism-detection software and other editorial screening procedures. Where misconduct is suspected, the journal reserves the right to investigate the matter and take appropriate action, including rejection of the manuscript, retraction of the published article, notification of relevant institutions, or other corrective measures.

Commitment to Ethical Publishing

ISTP is committed to promoting ethical publishing practices and to safeguarding the integrity of the academic record. The publisher expects all parties involved in the publication process to act responsibly, transparently, and professionally. Through rigorous editorial standards, fair peer review, and ethical oversight, ISTP seeks to ensure that the research it publishes contributes meaningfully and credibly to scientific knowledge.