Publication Ethics

The Journal of Applied Digital Systems and Interactive Computing (JADSIC) is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. All parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher, are expected to adhere to ethical principles that support transparency, fairness, accountability, originality, and responsible scholarly communication.

This publication ethics statement applies to all manuscripts submitted to JADSIC and is intended to ensure that the editorial and publication process is conducted professionally, objectively, and ethically.

1. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts submitted to JADSIC represent original and valid scholarly work.

Authors must:

Submit original work that has not been previously published and is not under consideration by another journal.
Present research results accurately, objectively, and honestly.
Avoid fabrication, falsification, manipulation, or intentional misrepresentation of data.
Clearly describe the research methodology so that the study can be understood and, where appropriate, reproduced.
Properly acknowledge all sources, previous studies, software, datasets, frameworks, methods, and other intellectual contributions used in the research.
Obtain necessary permissions for copyrighted materials included in the manuscript.
Ensure that all listed authors have made meaningful contributions to the research and manuscript.
Disclose any potential conflicts of interest.
Correct or retract published work if significant errors or ethical problems are identified after publication.
Respect applicable ethical requirements related to research participants, privacy, confidentiality, and data protection.

2. Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are entirely original.

Any work, ideas, data, text, figures, tables, algorithms, software, or other materials originating from other sources must be properly cited and acknowledged.

JADSIC considers the following practices unethical:

plagiarism;
self-plagiarism without proper disclosure;
unattributed copying;
inappropriate paraphrasing;
duplicate publication;
redundant publication;
data fabrication;
data falsification;
image manipulation intended to misrepresent research findings.

Manuscripts may be evaluated using plagiarism detection or similarity-checking tools before entering or during the review process.

A similarity score alone does not automatically determine plagiarism. Editors will evaluate the nature, location, and context of identified similarities before making an editorial decision.

3. Multiple, Redundant, and Concurrent Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal.

Submission of substantially similar manuscripts to multiple journals at the same time is considered unethical publishing behavior.

Authors must also disclose if substantial parts of the submitted manuscript have previously appeared in:

conference proceedings;
preprints;
institutional repositories;
theses or dissertations;
technical reports;
other publications.

Where prior dissemination is permitted, it must be transparently disclosed to the editor.

4. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant intellectual contributions to the research.

All authors should have participated substantially in activities such as:

conception or design of the study;
system, software, model, or framework development;
data acquisition;
data analysis or interpretation;
drafting the manuscript;
substantial revision of the manuscript;
approval of the final version.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

all legitimate authors are included;
no inappropriate authors are added;
all authors approve the submitted version;
all authors agree to the order of authorship.

Changes in authorship after submission must be properly justified and approved by the editorial team.

5. Conflict of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any relationships or circumstances that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the publication process.

Potential conflicts may include:

financial relationships;
employment relationships;
institutional relationships;
personal relationships;
academic competition;
intellectual property interests;
commercial interests;
research funding relationships.

Disclosure of a conflict does not necessarily result in rejection. However, transparency is required to maintain the integrity of the editorial process.

6. Data Integrity and Research Records

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all data presented in the manuscript.

Research data must not be fabricated, falsified, selectively manipulated, or intentionally misrepresented.

Where appropriate, authors should retain research records and supporting data for verification.

Editors may request supporting information, datasets, analysis results, or other relevant research materials when necessary to evaluate the validity of a manuscript.

7. Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence

JADSIC recognizes the increasing use of artificial intelligence tools in research and academic writing.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of all submitted content, regardless of whether AI-based tools were used.

AI tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for scholarly work.

Where AI tools have materially contributed to activities such as:

language assistance;
code generation;
data analysis;
image generation;
literature processing;
research assistance;

authors should disclose their use where relevant and appropriate.

Authors must independently verify AI-generated outputs and ensure that such tools are not used to fabricate references, data, results, or research findings.

8. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining the integrity and quality of the editorial process.

Editors must:

evaluate manuscripts fairly and objectively;
base editorial decisions on scholarly merit, originality, relevance, methodological quality, and alignment with the journal scope;
avoid discrimination based on nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion, institutional affiliation, or other unrelated personal characteristics;
maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts;
protect confidential information obtained during peer review;
avoid using unpublished materials for personal research without permission;
disclose and manage conflicts of interest;
ensure that appropriate peer reviewers are selected;
investigate credible allegations of research or publication misconduct;
take appropriate corrective action when ethical problems are identified.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by commercial, institutional, or personal interests.

9. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made independently based on scholarly considerations.

The publisher or sponsoring institution must not interfere with decisions regarding:

manuscript acceptance;
manuscript rejection;
reviewer selection;
editorial assessment;
correction;
retraction.

JADSIC is committed to preserving editorial independence and the integrity of the scholarly publication process.

10. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Peer reviewers play an important role in maintaining the scientific quality of JADSIC.

Reviewers are expected to:

provide objective, constructive, and professional evaluations;
assess manuscripts based on scientific quality and relevance;
maintain confidentiality;
avoid sharing manuscript content with unauthorized persons;
disclose conflicts of interest;
decline review assignments when appropriate expertise is lacking;
identify relevant published work that may not have been cited;
report suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, or ethical misconduct to the editor;
avoid personal criticism of authors;
submit review reports within the agreed period.

Reviewers must not use unpublished information from manuscripts for personal or professional advantage.

11. Confidentiality

All manuscripts submitted to JADSIC are treated as confidential documents.

Editors and reviewers must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to individuals who are not directly involved in the editorial process.

Confidential materials submitted for review must not be used for personal research or other purposes without the author's explicit permission.

12. Peer Review Integrity

JADSIC applies an independent peer-review process to manuscripts that pass the initial editorial assessment.

Reviewers must provide evaluations based on:

originality;
relevance;
methodological rigor;
clarity;
validity of results;
quality of analysis;
significance of contribution;
alignment with the journal's focus and scope.

Editors are responsible for ensuring that peer review is conducted fairly and without inappropriate influence.

13. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and regulations.

Where required, authors should obtain approval from an appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board.

Authors must also ensure that:

informed consent is obtained where applicable;
participant privacy is protected;
personally identifiable information is not disclosed without appropriate authorization;
sensitive information is handled responsibly.

Relevant ethical approval or consent information should be included in the manuscript where appropriate.

14. Privacy and Personal Data

Authors must protect personal and confidential information collected during research.

Personal data should only be collected, processed, stored, and reported for legitimate research purposes.

Authors are responsible for complying with applicable privacy and data protection requirements.

15. Intellectual Property and Copyright

Authors must respect intellectual property rights.

Materials protected by copyright, including:

figures;
images;
tables;
questionnaires;
software;
datasets;
code;
multimedia materials;

must not be reproduced without appropriate authorization when permission is required.

Proper attribution must always be provided.

16. Citation and Reference Ethics

References should be selected based on their relevance to the research.

Authors must avoid:

citation manipulation;
excessive self-citation;
irrelevant citation;
coercive citation;
intentionally misleading citation.

References must accurately represent the sources used in the manuscript.

17. Research Misconduct

JADSIC takes allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously.

Potential misconduct includes:

plagiarism;
fabrication;
falsification;
duplicate publication;
authorship manipulation;
citation manipulation;
peer-review manipulation;
undisclosed conflicts of interest;
unethical research practices.

When credible concerns arise, the editorial team may request clarification, evidence, raw data, institutional information, or other supporting materials.

Depending on the findings, actions may include:

rejection;
correction;
expression of concern;
retraction;
notification of authors' institutions where appropriate.

18. Corrections and Retractions

JADSIC is committed to maintaining an accurate scholarly record.

Corrections may be issued when a published article contains an error that does not invalidate its overall findings.

Retraction may be considered when there is evidence of serious problems such as:

unreliable findings;
fabricated or falsified data;
plagiarism;
duplicate publication;
serious ethical violations;
fraudulent peer review.

Retraction decisions will be handled transparently and appropriately.

19. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may submit a formal appeal regarding editorial decisions where they believe that significant errors occurred during the review or decision-making process.

Complaints concerning:

editorial conduct;
peer review;
publication ethics;
conflicts of interest;
published content;

will be reviewed objectively by the editorial team.

Appeals do not guarantee reversal of editorial decisions.

20. Post-Publication Discussion

JADSIC supports responsible scholarly discussion after publication.

Readers, authors, and researchers may notify the editorial team regarding significant concerns, errors, or ethical issues identified in published articles.

Where justified, the journal may publish:

corrections;
clarifications;
expressions of concern;
retractions.

21. Publisher Responsibilities

The publisher of JADSIC supports the editorial team in maintaining ethical standards and academic integrity.

The publisher is expected to:

support editorial independence;
preserve published scholarly content;
support corrections and retractions;
provide appropriate publication infrastructure;
protect the integrity of journal records;
prevent commercial interests from influencing editorial decisions.

22. Commitment to Publication Integrity

JADSIC is committed to maintaining a transparent, fair, responsible, and academically rigorous publication process.

All authors, reviewers, editors, and other parties involved in the journal are expected to uphold the principles of:

originality, transparency, accountability, confidentiality, fairness, research integrity, and responsible scholarly communication.

Any suspected violation of these principles may be investigated by the editorial team and handled in accordance with the seriousness of the issue.