Plagiarism & Publication Ethics Policy

Plagiarism & Publication Ethics Policy

Publication Ethics and Research Integrity Policy

The Asian Journal of Public Health and Nursing (AJPHN) is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, research integrity, transparency, and accountability. The journal follows the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applies internationally recognized standards of responsible scholarly publishing.

These policies apply to authors, reviewers, editors, and all parties involved in the publication process.

1. Plagiarism and Similarity Screening

All manuscripts submitted to AJPHN are screened for originality using plagiarism-detection software, such as Turnitin, before or during the editorial review process.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  • copying text, ideas, data, images, or other materials from another source without appropriate attribution;

  • presenting another person's work as one's own;

  • inappropriate paraphrasing without proper citation;

  • substantial unattributed reuse of previously published material; and

  • self-plagiarism or inappropriate text recycling.

A similarity score is used as a screening indicator and not as the sole criterion for determining plagiarism. Similarity reports are evaluated by the editorial team in context, taking into account appropriately cited material, references, standard methodological descriptions, and the nature and extent of the overlapping content.

When significant plagiarism or inappropriate text overlap is identified before publication, the manuscript may be returned to the authors for clarification or correction or may be rejected. If plagiarism is identified after publication, AJPHN will investigate the matter and may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, as appropriate.

2. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work and who are willing to take responsibility for its content.

All listed authors should have:

  • made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work; acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or another substantial scholarly contribution;

  • participated in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content;

  • approved the final version to be published; and

  • agreed to be accountable for the integrity and accuracy of the work.

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

AJPHN does not permit guest, gift, honorary, or ghost authorship.

Authors are encouraged to describe individual contributions using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) where appropriate.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be accompanied by a clear explanation and agreement from all authors. Changes to authorship after publication will be considered only in exceptional circumstances and may require a formal correction.

3. Research Misconduct

AJPHN does not tolerate research or publication misconduct, including:

  • fabrication of data or results;

  • falsification or inappropriate manipulation of data;

  • plagiarism;

  • manipulation or fabrication of images;

  • fraudulent or fabricated citations;

  • deliberate misrepresentation of research methods or findings;

  • undisclosed manipulation of the publication or peer review process; and

  • other practices that compromise the integrity of the scholarly record.

Allegations of misconduct will be assessed fairly and confidentially. When necessary, AJPHN may request supporting documentation, original data, ethical approval documents, or other relevant information from the authors.

Where serious concerns cannot be resolved by the journal alone, AJPHN may contact the authors' institution, ethics committee, research integrity office, funder, or other appropriate authority in accordance with established publication ethics procedures.

4. Duplicate, Redundant, and Concurrent Publication

Manuscripts submitted to AJPHN must not have been previously published in substantially the same form and must not be under consideration by another journal at the same time.

Authors must disclose any closely related manuscripts, preprints, conference abstracts, datasets, or previous publications that may overlap with the submitted work.

Secondary publication may be considered only when scientifically and ethically justified, transparently disclosed, appropriately referenced, and consistent with accepted publication standards.

Submission of substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously is considered unethical publishing practice.

5. Citation and Reference Integrity

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all references are accurate, relevant, and appropriately cited.

Citations should be used to support scholarly arguments and acknowledge relevant prior work. AJPHN does not permit:

  • fabricated or non-existent references;

  • citation manipulation intended primarily to increase citations to particular authors, journals, or articles;

  • excessive self-citation without scholarly justification; or

  • coercive citation practices.

Editors and reviewers must not require authors to add citations solely for the purpose of increasing citation metrics.

6. Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose financial and non-financial relationships or activities that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the submitted work.

Potential conflicts may include, but are not limited to:

  • employment or institutional relationships;

  • research funding;

  • consultancy;

  • honoraria;

  • stock ownership or other financial interests;

  • personal or professional relationships; and

  • intellectual or academic conflicts.

Authors should explicitly state when no conflicts of interest exist.

Reviewers and editors must also disclose relevant conflicts of interest and must decline or recuse themselves from handling manuscripts when their objectivity may reasonably be questioned.

7. Funding and Sponsorship

All sources of financial and material support for the research must be clearly disclosed in the manuscript, including the name of the funding organization and grant number, where applicable.

Authors should describe the role of the funder, if any, in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the work for publication.

Funding or commercial sponsorship must not compromise editorial independence. Editorial decisions are based on scientific merit, relevance, methodological quality, and ethical standards rather than financial or commercial considerations.

8. Human Research and Ethical Approval

Research involving human participants must comply with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable national, institutional, and international ethical standards.

Authors must state:

  • the name of the institutional review board or ethics committee that approved the study;

  • the ethical approval or reference number, where applicable; and

  • how informed consent was obtained from participants.

If ethical approval or informed consent was waived, the manuscript must identify the authority granting the waiver and provide an appropriate explanation.

AJPHN reserves the right to request documentation of ethical approval when necessary.

9. Informed Consent and Participant Privacy

Authors must protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

For case descriptions, photographs, videos, pedigrees, or other materials in which an individual could potentially be identified, authors must obtain appropriate written consent for publication.

Identifying information should not be published unless it is essential for scholarly purposes and explicit consent for publication has been obtained.

10. Animal Research

Research involving animals must comply with applicable institutional, national, and internationally recognized standards for animal welfare.

Authors must state the name of the approving animal ethics or institutional animal care committee and the approval number, where applicable. The manuscript should describe appropriate measures taken to minimize animal pain, suffering, and distress.

11. Data Integrity, Availability, and Reproducibility

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the data reported in their manuscripts.

AJPHN encourages authors to retain original research data and, where ethically and legally appropriate, make data available through recognized repositories or upon reasonable request.

Authors should provide sufficient methodological information to allow readers to understand and, where feasible, reproduce the research.

Any restrictions on data availability due to participant confidentiality, ethical requirements, legal restrictions, or third-party ownership should be clearly stated.

Fabrication, selective manipulation, inappropriate deletion, or intentional misrepresentation of data is considered research misconduct.

12. Image Integrity

Figures and images must accurately represent the original data.

Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color are acceptable only when applied appropriately and when they do not obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent information.

Selective enhancement, removal, duplication, relocation, or fabrication of features within an image is not permitted.

Editors may request original, unprocessed image files when concerns regarding image integrity arise.

13. Use of Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies

Authors must disclose the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted technologies, including large language models, chatbots, or generative AI tools, when such technologies have materially contributed to manuscript preparation, data analysis, image generation, or other aspects of the research.

AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors, because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for the work.

Authors remain fully responsible for:

  • the accuracy and integrity of all submitted content;

  • verifying AI-generated information;

  • ensuring that citations and references are genuine and accurate;

  • preventing plagiarism or copyright infringement; and

  • transparently describing relevant AI use.

Routine tools used solely for spelling, grammar, or basic language correction generally do not require detailed disclosure unless their use materially affects the content.

Reviewers and editors must maintain manuscript confidentiality and must not upload submitted manuscripts or confidential peer-review materials to external AI systems when confidentiality and data protection cannot be assured.

14. Peer Review Integrity and Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted to AJPHN are confidential documents.

Reviewers and editors must not disclose, share, or use unpublished information obtained through the peer-review process for personal, academic, financial, or other advantage.

AJPHN does not tolerate manipulation of the peer-review process, including:

  • fabricated reviewer identities;

  • false reviewer contact information;

  • undisclosed conflicts of interest;

  • inappropriate author involvement in reviewer reports; or

  • attempts to influence editorial decisions through unethical means.

Suspected peer-review manipulation will be investigated and may result in rejection, retraction, or other appropriate action.

15. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions at AJPHN are based on the scientific quality, originality, methodological rigor, ethical standards, and relevance of manuscripts to the journal's scope.

Decisions must not be influenced by authors' nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, personal relationships, commercial interests, or other irrelevant considerations.

The publisher, sponsors, advertisers, or other external parties must not interfere with individual editorial decisions.

Manuscripts submitted by editors or Editorial Board members are handled independently in accordance with AJPHN's Peer Review Policy. An editor who is an author or has another conflict of interest with a manuscript will not participate in reviewer selection, peer review, or the editorial decision for that manuscript.

16. Corrections and Errata

AJPHN is committed to maintaining the accuracy of the scholarly record.

When an error is identified in a published article that does not invalidate the main findings or conclusions, the journal may publish a correction or erratum.

Corrections will:

  • clearly identify the article being corrected;

  • describe the nature of the error and the correction;

  • be linked electronically to the original article where possible; and

  • preserve transparency regarding changes to the published record.

Minor typographical errors that do not affect the meaning, interpretation, or scientific integrity of an article may be corrected without a formal notice when appropriate.

17. Retractions

AJPHN may retract a published article when there is clear evidence that its findings are unreliable or when serious publication or research misconduct has occurred.

Reasons for retraction may include, but are not limited to:

  • fabrication or falsification of data;

  • plagiarism;

  • serious methodological or analytical errors that invalidate the findings;

  • unethical research;

  • unauthorized or duplicate publication;

  • compromised or manipulated peer review; or

  • other serious breaches of publication ethics.

Retraction decisions will follow established COPE guidance.

A retraction notice will clearly identify the retracted article, explain the reason for the retraction, and remain publicly accessible. The original article will normally remain part of the scholarly record but will be clearly marked as retracted.

18. Expressions of Concern

AJPHN may publish an Expression of Concern when serious questions have been raised about a published article but the available evidence is inconclusive or an investigation is ongoing.

An Expression of Concern may be replaced or supplemented by a correction, retraction, or other notice once sufficient information becomes available.

19. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, or other parties may submit complaints regarding editorial procedures, publication ethics, or published content to the journal.

Authors may also appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant error occurred during the review or decision-making process. Appeals must provide a clear scholarly justification and should address the reasons provided in the editorial decision.

Complaints and appeals will be considered objectively and, where appropriate, by an editor who was not directly involved in the original decision.

Appeals do not guarantee reversal of an editorial decision.

20. Post-Publication Concerns

AJPHN welcomes responsible communication regarding potential errors or ethical concerns in published articles.

Concerns should be supported by specific evidence whenever possible. The journal will assess credible concerns and may seek clarification from the authors, reviewers, institutions, ethics committees, or other relevant parties.

Depending on the outcome, AJPHN may take no further action or may publish a correction, Expression of Concern, retraction, or other appropriate notice.

21. Investigation of Ethical Concerns

AJPHN will handle allegations of publication or research misconduct fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with the principles and flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The journal will not normally make a finding of institutional research misconduct itself when such a determination falls within the responsibility of an author's institution or another competent authority. However, AJPHN will take appropriate editorial action to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to cooperate with legitimate investigations.

22. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for ensuring that:

  • their work is original and accurately reported;

  • all authors meet appropriate authorship criteria;

  • all sources are properly cited;

  • ethical approval and informed consent have been obtained where required;

  • funding and conflicts of interest are disclosed;

  • data and images have not been fabricated, falsified, or inappropriately manipulated;

  • the manuscript is not simultaneously submitted elsewhere; and

  • any significant errors discovered after publication are promptly reported to the journal.

23. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must:

  • maintain confidentiality;

  • provide objective, constructive, and evidence-based assessments;

  • disclose conflicts of interest;

  • avoid using unpublished information for personal benefit;

  • alert editors to suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, ethical concerns, or other serious problems; and

  • conduct reviews professionally and without discrimination.

24. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for:

  • ensuring fair and independent editorial decisions;

  • protecting the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts;

  • managing conflicts of interest;

  • selecting appropriately qualified reviewers;

  • responding appropriately to credible allegations of misconduct;

  • safeguarding the integrity of the scholarly record; and

  • issuing corrections, Expressions of Concern, or retractions when warranted.

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit and relevance to AJPHN and are independent of commercial considerations.

25. Adherence to Publication Ethics Standards

AJPHN follows the principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and relevant international standards of biomedical and health-sciences publishing.

Where an ethical situation is not explicitly addressed in this policy, the editorial team will refer to relevant COPE guidance and established scholarly publishing best practices.

Questions or concerns regarding publication ethics may be directed to the AJPHN editorial office at ajphn@qvjournal.com.