PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

Publication Ethics & Peer Review Policy—IJSER

IJSER is committed to the highest standards of publishing ethics and paper quality. All stakeholders (authors, editors, reviewers, and publishers) are expected to follow recognized ethical conduct guidelines.

Peer-Reviewed Double-Blind Review Integrity & Transparency Retraction & Corrections Anti-Plagiarism/Similarity Check

Guided by COPE — publicationethics.org

 
Publication Malpractice Statement

Editor’s Responsibilities

  1. The editor selects manuscripts submitted to IJSER for publication.
  2. Decisions consider quality, originality, relevance, and readability, aligned with the journal scope and objectives.
  3. Authors receive clear instructions for manuscript preparation (available on the journal website).
  4. The editor ensures confidentiality of the review process and protects reviewer identities.
  5. The editor and editorial board follow applicable legal texts regarding defamation and copyright and respond to suspected ethical violations in published/unpublished work.
  6. Any conflict of interest is managed transparently; the editorial board may appoint reviewers and decide accordingly.
Fairness Principle: Editorial decisions are based on academic merit and journal scope—not personal or financial interests.

Authors’ Responsibilities

  1. Authors confirm submissions are original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.
  2. All individuals with significant contributions must be listed as authors.
  3. Authors must not violate third-party rights and must protect the publisher from legal claims.
  4. Authors bear responsibility for content accuracy and data disclosure permissions.
  5. Reuse of figures/tables/text requires permission and documentation before submission.
  6. Authors must avoid plagiarism and unlawful/defamatory content.
  7. Any significant error discovered post-publication must be reported promptly for correction/retraction procedures.
Integrity Reminder: Proper citation, honest reporting of results, and ethical authorship are mandatory.
 
Protocols for Dealing with Unethical Behavior

Reporting & Investigation

We encourage reporting suspected unethical behavior to the editors/editorial board with evidence sufficient to initiate investigation.

Investigation

The Editor-in-Chief may request information from section editors. Access to evidence is limited to those directly involved. Accused parties are given the opportunity to respond. Misconduct is classified as minor or serious.

Minor Misconduct

Minor cases are handled directly and confidentially. The editorial board may issue a warning letter for misunderstanding or misapplication of academic standards.

Serious Misconduct

The Editor-in-Chief decides next steps in consultation with section editors and/or specialists. Actions may include:

Formal notice of violation Notifying author’s affiliation Retraction announcement Referral to professional/legal bodies

In all cases, the editorial team follows COPE guidance: publicationethics.org

Disclaimer: Views expressed in published works are those of the authors. Authors bear legal and ethical responsibility.
 
Peer Review Process

Double-Blind Peer Review

IJSER follows a double-blind peer review. The editorial board performs an initial screening and may accept or reject submissions at this stage.

Reviewer Selection

Manuscripts that match scope and quality criteria are sent to two expert reviewers. Reviewers are selected for reputation and expertise and must declare conflicts of interest. Reviewers should confirm they can evaluate within time.

Review Timeline & Conduct

Reviews are expected within three weeks. Reviews must be objective, respectful, and supported by clear arguments. Suspected plagiarism or ethical issues must be reported immediately.

Reviewer Conclusions (3 Options)

  1. Publish without changes.
  2. Publish after appropriate revisions with rationale.
  3. Do not publish, with sufficient justification.

Revision Policy

Authors receiving conditional acceptance should address reviewer comments or may withdraw and notify the editor. Revised manuscripts must be submitted within 15 days. If reviews conflict, an additional reviewer may be assigned.

 
Publication Frequency

Quarterly Issues

The IJSER Journal is published quarterly (4 issues per year).

 
For Authors

Submission Process

  1. Read the Author Guidelines before submitting to IJSER.
  2. Create an account and complete the submission in five simple steps.

The Editorial Board will notify authors about comments and final decisions based on the peer review process.

Authorship, Citation & Plagiarism

Authorship

Only contributors with significant input should be listed as authors. Other contributions should be acknowledged appropriately.

Citation

Cite sources that influenced your work. Written permission is required before using private correspondence or conversations.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes copying/paraphrasing without credit and unauthorized reuse of figures/tables. Submissions are screened and may be rejected.

 
Retraction & Self-Archiving

Article Retraction Policy

Retraction may occur to correct serious errors or ethical/legal violations (duplicate submission, false authorship claims, plagiarism, misleading data). The original article remains accessible with a linked retraction notice and a PDF watermark indicating “withdrawn.”

Self-Archiving Policy

Authors may deposit the final version in institutional or non-commercial repositories and share it on personal websites and platforms (e.g., ResearchGate, Academia.edu) in accordance with CC BY-SA 4.0, with proper acknowledgement and a link to the article DOI.

 
Copyright & Rights

©️Authorship Rights

The author(s) maintain copyright over all research articles published by IJSER.

Authors grant the publisher permissions for publication, distribution, translation, reproduction, and digital archiving, while retaining rights to share and reuse the work with full citation and acknowledgement of first publication in IJSER.

Archive: https://ijser.aliraqia.edu.iq/index.php/IJSER/issue/archive
 
Archiving & Indexing

Digital Archiving Policy

Al-Iraqia Journal for Scientific Engineering Research uses electronic backup archiving methods to ensure continuous access to content.

Similarity Check

Our originality (similarity) checks support editors in preventing plagiarism and maintaining academic integrity.

Abstracting & Indexing

Resources may include: CrossRef, Google Scholar, ROAD, Bielefeld University Library, Directory of International Research Journals Indexing, and DOAJ.

 
Generative AI Use

Generative Artificial Intelligence in Writing

The use of generative AI is limited to language and formatting support during writing. It must not replace the author’s scientific responsibility, methodology, conclusions, or ethical obligations.

If authors use AI tools in preparing the manuscript, they must disclose this clearly in the article to ensure transparency and trust.

 
Sponsor

College of Engineering, Al-Iraqia University, Baghdad, Iraq.