Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

ZIJEn: Zabags International Journal of Engagement is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice. This statement is based on the principles and best practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

All parties involved in the publication process including authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher must agree to and comply with the ethical standards outlined in this statement.

Duties of Editors

Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for deciding which submitted manuscripts should be published. Editorial decisions are based on the manuscript's originality, scholarly significance, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal's scope, and reviewers' recommendations.

Fair Play

Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on their intellectual content without discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information regarding submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher as appropriate.

Conflict of Interest

Editors must not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research without the author's explicit written consent. Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and helps authors improve the quality of their manuscripts.

Promptness

Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review a manuscript or knows that timely review will be impossible should notify the editor and decline the review invitation.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and must not be shared or discussed with others without authorization from the editor.

Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly and support them with arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited by the authors and inform editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript and other published works.

Conflict of Interest

Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist due to competitive, collaborative, institutional, financial, or personal relationships with any of the authors.

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards

Authors should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. If the work or words of others have been used, they must be appropriately cited or quoted.

All submitted manuscripts will undergo plagiarism screening. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism, self-plagiarism, or significant similarity to previously published work may be rejected.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal or publish substantially the same research in more than one journal.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Authors must properly acknowledge the work of others and cite publications that have influenced the reported research.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All contributors who meet authorship criteria should be listed as authors.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate in correcting or retracting the paper.

Research Integrity

Authors must ensure that research involving human participants, communities, institutions, or vulnerable groups has been conducted ethically and, where applicable, approved by the appropriate ethics committee or institutional review board.

Informed consent must be obtained from participants when required.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy

Authors must disclose the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of manuscripts.

AI tools may be used for language editing, grammar correction, or formatting assistance; however:

  • AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

  • Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript.

  • Authors must disclose AI-assisted content generation in the manuscript when applicable.

Failure to disclose substantial AI-generated content may constitute publication misconduct.

Data Availability and Reproducibility

Authors are encouraged to make research data available whenever possible and in accordance with ethical, legal, and privacy considerations.

Authors should provide a Data Availability Statement indicating where supporting data can be accessed or explaining restrictions where applicable.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors may appeal editorial decisions by submitting a written justification to the Editor-in-Chief.

Complaints regarding editorial processes, ethical concerns, conflicts of interest, or publication misconduct will be investigated fairly, transparently, and confidentially.

Publication Malpractice

Publication malpractice includes, but is not limited to:

  • Plagiarism

  • Data fabrication

  • Data falsification

  • Citation manipulation

  • Authorship manipulation

  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest

  • Duplicate publication

  • Peer review manipulation

Any suspected misconduct will be investigated following COPE guidelines. Appropriate actions may include manuscript rejection, publication correction, retraction, notification of authors' institutions, or other necessary measures.

Retraction, Correction, and Withdrawal Policy

Retraction

Published articles may be retracted if:

  • Clear evidence of unreliable findings exists.

  • Research misconduct is identified.

  • Plagiarism is confirmed.

  • Ethical standards have been seriously violated.

Retraction notices will remain permanently linked to the retracted article.

Corrections

Minor errors that do not affect the scientific integrity of the article may be corrected through formal correction notices.

Withdrawal

Authors may request withdrawal before publication. Withdrawal requests after acceptance must be accompanied by a valid justification and are subject to editorial approval.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright of their work.

Articles published in ZIJEn are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Ethical Oversight

The journal reserves the right to investigate allegations of misconduct before or after publication. Ethical concerns may be reported to the editorial office at any time and will be handled according to established ethical procedures and COPE recommendations.