Policy on Research Ethics, Scientific Integrity, and Procedures for Handling Violations

Introduction & Ethical Compliance

The Journal of Economic and Political Sciences is committed to upholding the highest standards of research ethics and scientific integrity. This policy defines ethical principles, good research practices, and standardized procedures for dealing with violations. It aligns with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and the requirements of major international indexing databases, including Scopus.

Plagiarism Detection:

The iThenticate tool is used to screen all manuscripts. A similarity index of below 20% is mandatory for acceptance.

1. General Principles

  • Honesty & Integrity: Conduct and report research honestly without fabrication.
  • Transparency: Full disclosure of all contributions, funding, and conflicts of interest.
  • Fairness & Objectivity: Impartial peer review based solely on scholarly merit.
  • Accountability: Authors, reviewers, and editors must fulfill their ethical roles.
  • Confidentiality & Privacy: Protecting manuscripts and personal data.

2. Ethical Conduct Guidelines

For Authors:

Reflect actual contributions, prohibit plagiarism/data fabrication/double submission.

For Reviewers:

Maintain confidentiality, provide objective reviews, and decline when conflicts exist.

For Editors:

Make unbiased decisions, investigate issues transparently, and refrain from using position for gain.

3. Definitions of Misconduct

  • Plagiarism: Using others' work without proper attribution.
  • Double Submission: Concurrent submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal.
  • Data Fabrication: Inventing or falsifying results.
  • Bias: Unethical manipulation of the peer review process.

4. Investigation Mechanism

Reporting: Any individual can report suspected misconduct.

Committee Formation: Formed by Editor-in-Chief (for Author/Reviewer) or Vice President (for Editor).

Duties: Gather evidence, interview parties, review plagiarism reports, and ensure confidentiality and impartiality.

Procedures: Prepare a detailed report with recommendations and submit it for final decision.

5. Possible Sanctions

For Authors: Rejection, temporary ban, public retraction, institutional notification.
For Reviewers: Permanent removal from reviewer database, institutional notification.
For Editors: Formal warning, internal investigation, removal from position.
For Articles: Retraction of the published paper, public statement, notification of indexing bodies.

6. Appeals and Review Mechanism

Appeals must be submitted within 30 days via the journal’s official email with justifications. An independent appeal committee will re-examine the case and provide a final, binding decision.

7. Transparency, Communication & Education

Policies and sanctions are public. Retraction notices are detailed. The university conducts regular training on publishing ethics and integrity for authors, editors, and reviewers.

8. Implementation and Review

Effective immediately upon website publication. Submission signifies agreement to these rules. The policy is regularly reviewed to match academic and indexing standards.

 
Journal Contact: [email protected]
Publisher Information:
  • Publisher: Alasmarya Islamic University
  • Publisher Website: https://asmarya.edu.ly
  • Location: Al-Be'ah Street, Zliten, Libya