Code of Ethics and Misconduct Instances in Publishing

The Code of Ethics and policies of this publication are based on the principles of the International Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE), to which Shahid University publications are committed. Authors, reviewers, editors, and editors working with this publication must observe these principles and code of ethics. Furthermore, this publication is committed to complying with the "Instructions on studying research violations and its instances" approved on March 23, 2013, by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology. Therefore, respected authors must read and consider the mentioned instructions before submitting the article to the journal. Obviously, in case of revealing any research violations of the aforementioned guidelines by the respected authors since submitting to publishing, the journal will be obliged to send a violation report to the relevant legal authorities.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Publisher, Editor, Scientific Editors, Reviewers, Authors

The Publisher's Duties and Responsibilities:

1. This publication is committed that the decisions taken about the submitted articles are only based on expert and professional judgments and are far from personal interests.
2. This publication is committed to protecting academic and research records.
3. This publication controls the observance of the code of ethics by the editor, scientific editors, editorial board, and reviewers.
4. This publication is constantly analyzing articles in terms of plagiarism, fraud, and possible misconduct.
5. This publication will make necessary corrections, explanations, and withdrawals when required.
6. This publication will deal with any misconduct if it is proven.

The Editor's and Scientific Editors' Duties and responsibilities:

1. The scientific editors must keep the submitted articles confidential until they are published.
2. The editor, scientific editors, and reviewers make the preferred decisions regarding the publishing or non-publishing of an article.
3. The scientific editors must sustain the principle of anonymity of reviewers.
4. Scientific editors must avoid conflict of interest.
5. The scientific editors are required to observe scientific safety and try to meet the scientific needs of their readers.
6. The scientific editors should identify possible plagiarism, fabrication, and falsification, and provide corrections, explanations, retractions, and apologies if necessary.
7. Scientific editors should focus and limit their minds only to rational content.
8. The scientific editors should not disclose the information of the articles to people other than the authors, the corresponding author, and the reviewer.
9. Unpublished articles will not be used by scientific editors or other members for personal purposes.

Violations of the Code of Ethics of Publishing by Authors:

1. Plagiarism (scientific): Plagiarism means deliberately using another person's articles or ideas in your name. Even using another person's sentence or your previous sentences without mentioning the source is considered plagiarism. All articles sent to this publication are reviewed by software and plagiarism detection systems.
2. Data fabrication and distortion: Data fabrication is when the researcher does not conduct a study but presents data and conclusions. Distortion also occurs when a researcher conducts research but changes the data and results.
3. Simultaneous submission: When an article is submitted to two publications.
4. Duplicate Submission: This occurs when two or more papers have the same assumptions, data, and results.
5. Repetitive (additional) submission: It means dividing a study into multiple articles and sending them.
6. Improper attribution of another author (guest author): All authors listed in the article must contribute.
7. Improper removal of one of the authors: None of the authors contributing to the article should have been removed from the list of authors of the article.
8. Manipulation of sources: When several sources are mentioned in the final part of an article, while they are not mentioned in the content of the text.

Examples of Research violations, and instructions on studying research violations approved by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology

A - Research misconduct

B - Lack of commitment and responsibility toward the beneficiaries

C - Failure to respect the rights of subjects

D - Data falsification

E- Distortion of data

F - Plagiarism

G - Scientific rent

H - Failure to observe intellectual property rights and responsibility for the research done

I - Republishing

Y - Overlapping publications

K - Buying and selling research works

L - Impersonation

 

Description of Examples:

A - Research misconduct

1) Lack of specialized knowledge and scientific qualification in the research subject

2) Failure to observe honesty in presenting the report of one's scientific works to obtain scientific and administrative privileges and promotion

3) Partiality in the process of conducting research by involving one's assumptions and inclinations, others, or the institution ordering the research

4) Failure to present the real results due to the fear and influence of pressures and misdirections around the researcher

5) Failure to adhere to the element of time (deadline) in the publication of research results (refusal to publish the results of the research in a certain period, due to profit-seeking interests intentionally or accidentally)

• The publication of research results can be postponed to another time only for security reasons.

6) Ambiguity and inaccuracy in compiling the research report, with the lack of clarity between the scientific achievements of the researcher and the findings taken from the work of others.

7) Rewriting what others said, recreating with words, exaggerating, generalizing, dogmatism, and consumerism.

8) Prejudice, jealousy, hatred and anger, emotional intent, insults and boldness, humiliation and disparagement of others, disrespect, self-aggrandizement and subject, passivity in attitudes and beliefs due to other beliefs, deception, harassment, exploitation Unpleasant removal of words and people

9) Using and quoting dubious and uncredited scientific sources (journal, website sponsoring the article, and author of the article)

10) Non-observance of national interests in all stages of research

11) Untrue use of titles such as doctor, senior expert, professor, associate professor, assistant professor, etc. in research works.

12) Any deletion and change in the main address of the author or authors of scientific articles

13) Not using words appropriate to the work done, such as translation, compilation, composition, research

B - Lack of Commitment and Responsibility Toward the Beneficiaries

14) Failure to respect the interests of the beneficiaries in the entire research phase

15) Unreal attribution of research to people without real identity and person or people who have no role in the research and removing the real author (person or people who played a significant role in the scientific aspects of research) from the list of authors.

• In all collaborative written works, the names of all those who have participated in the research, data collection, etc. should be mentioned as authors. If they do not agree, one or more authors are not allowed to use their data.

16) Failure to comply with the order of inserting names based on the contribution of each author in writing the research and their creative participation

17) Abuse of financial resources allocated for research

18) Hiding specific results of the research in exchange for receiving funds from the research trustees or preparing multiple reports that will distort the research results and confuse the readers.

19) Failure to disclose information related to the budget, supporting individuals or institutions related to research, or making untrue statements in this regard.

20) Failure to announce the name of the center where the research was conducted

21) Preparing and sending the article by mentioning the names of colleagues and without informing them about the content of the article and the place of sending it

1. C) Failure to Respect the Rights of Subjects

22) Failure to properly introduce the researcher to the subjects and provide them with false information about themselves

23) Lack of initial clarification regarding the research (the type of research questions, the degree of sensitivity of these questions, and the possible effects of the research on them) to the subjects.

24) Forcing subjects to participate in research

25) Failure to respect the subjects' privacy

26) The use and application of information related to subjects in conditions outside of research purposes or for personal purposes

27) Non-observance of confidentiality and anonymity of the subjects in the research (identity disclosure)

28) Disclosing the titles and results of research results that are confidential

29) Dissemination of secrets and information of persons or institutions, without the knowledge and permission of the right holders

30) Failure to comply with health, safety, rules, and standards necessary for the protection and comfort of subjects (humans, animals, plants, objects, documents, ancient and local artifacts) during research under the pretext of advancing science and the interests of society.

D - Data falsification

31) Creating, registering, and publishing data or results of a research or scientific product in such a way that all or part of the said data or results do not exist at all or are unreal. As:

• Providing fictitious results as test results or output of measuring devices or software
• Replacing the results of one survey with the results of another survey
• Making false data or giving false reports or false records of what did not happen
• Providing fictitious information that was not collected
• Data creation and use of similar data from other research communities

E- Distortion of data

32) Intentional manipulation or deletion of all or part of the data, procedures, methods, equipment, and materials used in the study and research in a way that is different from the actual data or findings. As:

• Presentation of laboratory procedures or unrealistic analysis processes, to reach the results given in the article
• Manipulation of results obtained from simulation or experimental tests
• Omitting part of the data, laboratory results, or part of the theoretical analysis, whose presentation casts doubt on the obtained results.
• Using different software to create unrealistic desired changes in figures or charts
• Manipulation of laboratory conditions to achieve desired results
• Pretending or exaggerating small things to hide big facts
• Tampering with the data, deleting, modifying, or adding to the data in such a way that what is presented is new or a particular theory appears to be true.
• Deliberate manipulation of devices and the process of research and testing in such a way that a particular theory appears to be true or false
• Statement of a claim or phenomenon that is not true

 

F - Plagiarism

33) Full or partial copying of research findings or scientific products without proper citation and reference to the author. Included:

• Close adaptation of other author's thoughts and words
• One-to-one correspondence in expressing ideas and structural similarities in writing
• Attributing the ideas, theories, processes, results, or words of others to oneself, without proper reference and to present it as one's work.
• Using other people's ideas or work and presenting it as your work without mentioning their names or crediting them
• Using or imitating the language, thought, or writing of another author and presenting it under his name
• Using another person's work in the form of words, products, or ideas for personal gain, without reference to the original work
• Translating all or part of other people's works without obtaining permission from the relevant authorities, and introducing it as original scientific research
• Taking an original article and registering it under your name in another place, such as translating an ISI article and publishing it in domestic scientific journals.
• Presenting others' printed articles in domestic or foreign seminars
• Full or partial use of articles, theses, and books published by others without referring to the authors of the article, theses, books, or works.
• Illegal copying of others' thesis results
• Failure to comply with all ethical standards related to printed sources and works when using electronic sources and works
• Failure to comply with citations according to the traditions of APA or Chicago and other customary citation systems
• Copying or direct translation often consists of a paragraph or more from the source in the form of "word for word" or "sentence for the sentence" (without footnotes).
• Illegal copying of the article's results: Using figures, diagrams, tables, curves, photos, methods, developed questionnaires, and anything else that is not directly achieved by the author, without referring to the original text and obtaining written permission from its intellectual owner.
• Copying sentences "word for word" or assembling paragraphs "sentence for sentence" from various sources, despite referring to their source at the end of each sentence or paragraph.

Note: Direct expression from another source by mentioning the reference only in quotation marks is not prohibited.

• Copying the structure or writing algorithm of others, in other words, following the pattern of others' writing framework in the same form

Explanation: The meaning of writing structure or algorithm is the research methodology in the theory format or the method of conducting research experiments. In other words, it is possible to use the theoretical or laboratory research method of others when it is clearly stated from which source or reference it is taken.

G - Scientific rent

34) It means that the researcher, instead of doing the research himself, employs people for this purpose and does not put much effort into the research activity himself, then, after handing over the work, with little interference in the research, publishes it under his name.

H - Failure to Consider Intellectual Property Rights and Responsibility in the Conducted Research

35) Publishing the article by the student (after graduation) while the supervisor(s) or scientific colleagues are not aware of its contents.

36) Not accepting the responsibility of content in the article (correctness of the content contained in the article), by its authors

37) Lack of acceptance of the responsibility from the research group and the accuracy of the whole research by the corresponding author

38) Lack of gratitude to natural and legal persons participating in the research whose names were required to mention based on the documentation by the author or authors in the Acknowledgment section.

39) Unrealistic attribution of the research to an institution that had no role in the original research or in the professional activity of the author.

40) Failure to consider the order of names in the articles extracted from the thesis i.e. the student's name, supervisor(s), and advisor(s)

41) Failure in the supervisor's response to the content of the thesis (correctness/incorrectness) as a corresponding person

42) Adding people's names in the article to improve the credibility of the article without their knowledge

43) Giving the thesis information of a defending or graduating student by the supervisor(s) or advisor to others and publishing it in the form of an article, even if the student's name is mentioned or it is published as the thesis of other people.

44) Confiscation or misuse of ideas or information of a work under review by the editors and reviewers of these works that have been sent to magazines, conferences, etc.

45) Publishing the results of research projects, theses, and dissertations by students and faculty members in the form of books, articles, etc., without coordination and obtaining permission from the vice-chancellor of the university as the owner of the intellectual and material rights of such research.

46) Publishing articles using the student's thesis by the supervisor or advisor without including the name of the student or the thesis and dissertation collaborator.

47) Illegal uses of materials, contents, trademarks, trade secrets, or intellectual property covered by copyright law

48) Using the names, titles, and logos of institutions and organizations on books, articles, etc. without obtaining permission

49) Translation of scientific and literary texts without obtaining permission from the main author of the work

I - Republishing

50) Reprinting of a book, article, and literary and scientific works or parts of them that have already been published in a printed or electronic publication.

• If an author has an article under consideration for publication in this journal and decides, for any reason, to send it to another journal, he must first notify the first journal about his request for withdrawal. This work is possible, at most, before the announcement of acceptance of the article for publication in the first publication.
• If the results of a research have been published as a summary in the collection of scientific conference articles, sending it to be reviewed and published in full in a publication is permissible.

J - Overlapping publications

51) The researcher published the data from his previous article with a slight change in the text in an article with a new title.

52) Full publication of an article or an article with high similarity in another journal

• The owner of a scientific idea can publish an article published in one language in another language provided that he refers to the first article.
• Repetition of parts of the materials and methods section in subsequent articles by the same author(s), if necessary, is not prohibited, but in any case, reference must be mentioned.

K - Buying and selling research works

53) Buying and selling research works (articles, theses, etc.) in such a way that the buyer uses the research in his name as a researcher or creator and owner of the work.

54) Recording, buying, selling, and abusing speeches of people without permission

L - Impersonation

55) Misrepresenting one's identity or the identity of other people in the scientific/academic context

56) Publishing works with fake names or with the names of other people without their permission

57) Forging a signature and preparing a fake acceptance certificate to obtain the relevant privileges