Publishing Ethics

Publishing Ethics

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Contribution to editorial decisions: Peer review plays a crucial role in assisting editors with making informed decisions about submitted manuscripts and in helping authors improve their work. Reviewers are expected to provide a thorough, honest, constructive, and impartial review of the manuscript’s scientific and literary quality, utilizing their expertise.

Timeliness: Reviewers who feel unqualified to review a manuscript or who cannot complete the review within the specified timeframe should promptly notify the editors. Reviewers should aim to complete their reviews as quickly as possible to respect deadlines and facilitate a timely publication process.

Confidentiality: Manuscripts assigned for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not discuss the manuscript with others without explicit permission from the editors.

Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate. Reviewers should substantiate their opinions with clear arguments and references. If recommending rejection, reviewers must provide detailed and justified reasons. They should also inform the editors of any significant overlap or similarity between the manuscript under review and other published works.

Acknowledgment of sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument has been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation.

Conflict of interest and disclosure: Reviewers must not use information obtained during the peer-review process for personal gain. They should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Responsibilities of Editors

Publication decisions: Editors are responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published. They are guided by the journal’s editorial board policies and constrained by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fair play: Editors evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

Confidentiality: The editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.

Ethical Standards for Publication

To ensure high-quality scientific publications, public trust in scientific findings, and proper credit for scholarly work, it is crucial to avoid:

Data fabrication and falsification: Data fabrication involves making up research data, whereas data falsification involves altering or omitting data to mislead. Both practices are unethical and undermine the credibility of science.

Plagiarism: Using others’ work or ideas without proper attribution is unethical. Even reusing one’s previously published work without citation is considered self-plagiarism. Always use your own words and cite sources appropriately.

Multiple submissions: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is unethical. It wastes the time of editors and reviewers and can damage the reputation of journals if the manuscript is published in more than one place.

Redundant publications (or ‘salami’ publications): Publishing several very similar manuscripts based on the same research is unethical and can dilute the significance of the findings. Each manuscript should provide a unique and significant contribution to the literature.

Improper author contribution or attribution: All authors listed on a manuscript should have made a significant scientific contribution to the research and have approved all its claims. Ensure that all contributors are appropriately acknowledged.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The International Journal of Media and Information Literacy is committed to maintaining the integrity and accuracy of the scientific record. The Editorial Board will take decisive action in cases of proven misconduct, serious errors, or ethical concerns, following COPE guidelines.

Corrections: When factual errors, ambiguities, or outdated information are identified in published articles, the Editorial Board will promptly publish corrections. Corrections are made to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record and ensure that the research community and the public are not misled by erroneous information. These corrections will be clearly marked and linked to the original article.

Retractions: Retractions are issued for articles that involve research misconduct, such as plagiarism, fraudulent data, or other serious ethical violations. The retraction process aims to remove invalid research findings from the scientific record, thereby preserving the integrity of the literature. Retractions will be clearly identified and explained, including the reasons for retraction, to maintain transparency and trust with readers and the academic community. Retraction notices will be linked to the original articles, and the articles will be marked as retracted.

Expressions of Concern: In cases where there are well-founded suspicions of misconduct, unresolved issues, or uncertainties regarding the integrity of a published article, the Editorial Board will issue an Expression of Concern. This serves to alert the readership to potential issues with the research while a thorough investigation is conducted. Expressions of Concern will be clearly linked to the original article and will include information about the nature of the concerns and the status of any investigations. This measure ensures that the academic community is informed and that the integrity of the scholarly record is safeguarded during the investigation process.

Conflicts of Interest

Editors, reviewers, and authors are expected to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence their objectivity or decision-making process. Conflicts of interest may include financial relationships, professional collaborations, personal connections, or other circumstances that could compromise impartiality. Such conflicts will be transparently managed, disclosed, and considered during the editorial and peer review processes to ensure fairness and avoid bias.

Complaints and Appeals

The journal values feedback and encourages open communication from authors, reviewers, and readers with concerns or complaints. All parties are encouraged to contact the Editor-in-Chief, Anastasia Levitskaya, via email at , providing detailed information about the issue. The Editorial Board will promptly, thoroughly, and impartially address complaints and appeals. Concerns will be carefully investigated, and appropriate actions will be taken to resolve matters satisfactorily. If an internal resolution is not possible, complainants may seek external assistance or appeal to relevant professional bodies or organizations.