Acts of plagiarism are violations of Ehical Statement and will not be tolerated. Cases of suspected misconduct will be investigated by editors according to best practices of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). If a malpractice is documented, even after the article is published, the article may be retracted, and authors may be banned from submitting additional manuscripts forever.
The Centre for Continental Network in Eco-Innovation and Research (CCNEIR) and its affiliated journals are committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity, transparency, and ethical responsibility in scholarly publishing. The credibility of academic research depends fundamentally on honesty in data generation, originality in intellectual contribution, and fairness in authorship and peer review. Any form of publication misconduct compromises the scientific record and the trust placed in scholarly communication. Therefore, CCNEIR adopts a zero-tolerance approach toward research and publication misconduct.
This policy applies to all stakeholders involved in the publication process, including authors, co-authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and guest editors. It covers misconduct occurring at any stage of the publication lifecycle, including submission, peer review, revision, acceptance, publication, and post-publication.
Academic misconduct includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, selective reporting of results, duplicate or redundant publication, salami slicing of research outputs, improper authorship practices, citation manipulation, and misrepresentation of research scope or findings. Misconduct may be intentional or unintentional; however, lack of intent does not exempt authors from responsibility.
Plagiarism is defined as the presentation of another individual’s work, ideas, language, data, figures, or creative expressions as one’s own without appropriate acknowledgment. This includes direct copying, close paraphrasing, translation plagiarism, and mosaic plagiarism. Plagiarism also extends to the unauthorized reuse of figures, tables, datasets, algorithms, software code, or multimedia elements.
Self-plagiarism occurs when authors reuse substantial portions of their previously published work without proper citation, disclosure, or justification. While limited reuse of methods or background sections may be acceptable in some cases, excessive overlap that misrepresents the novelty of the manuscript is considered unethical.
All submitted manuscripts may undergo similarity checks using plagiarism detection software at the discretion of the editorial office. Similarity scores are interpreted qualitatively, not mechanically. Context, intent, citation quality, and disciplinary norms are considered during assessment. Manuscripts exhibiting unacceptable similarity will be rejected or returned for clarification, depending on severity.
Authors must not submit the same manuscript, or substantially similar work, to more than one journal simultaneously. Redundant publication, where overlapping results or analyses are published across multiple papers without proper cross-referencing or justification, is considered misconduct. Authors must clearly disclose related manuscripts, preprints, or prior publications at the time of submission.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all data reported in their manuscripts are accurate, complete, and honestly obtained. Data fabrication (making up data) and data falsification (manipulating or selectively omitting data) constitute serious ethical violations. Graphical manipulation that alters or exaggerates findings is also unacceptable.
Where applicable, authors should provide sufficient methodological detail, simulation parameters, experimental conditions, and data descriptions to allow reproducibility and independent verification. If datasets, software, or models are subject to restrictions, authors must clearly state the limitations and rationale.
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis, or interpretation of the study. All listed authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission. Practices such as gift authorship, honorary authorship, ghost authorship, or omission of legitimate contributors are unethical.
Changes to authorship after submission or acceptance are permitted only with written consent from all authors and must be justified to the editorial office. Disputes regarding authorship are the responsibility of the authors and their institutions, not the journal.
Authors must cite sources accurately and responsibly. Citation manipulation, including excessive self-citation, coercive citation, or citation padding intended to artificially inflate metrics, is unacceptable. References should be directly relevant to the work and reflect genuine scholarly engagement rather than strategic placement.
The use of artificial intelligence tools for language editing, grammar correction, or code assistance must not replace human intellectual contribution. AI tools must not be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, and integrity of the content, including any errors or biases introduced by automated tools. The use of AI for data generation, image fabrication, or result manipulation without disclosure constitutes misconduct.
Reviewers are expected to maintain confidentiality, objectivity, and professional conduct. Any misuse of confidential information, personal bias, or conflict of interest during peer review is considered misconduct. Editors must make publication decisions based solely on scholarly merit, relevance, and ethical compliance, without discrimination or undue influence.
Allegations of misconduct are taken seriously and handled confidentially. The editorial office may conduct preliminary assessments and, where necessary, request explanations, raw data, or documentation from authors. In complex cases, the matter may be referred to the authors’ institutions or relevant authorities for formal investigation.
If misconduct is confirmed, appropriate actions will be taken depending on the nature and severity of the violation. These actions may include rejection of the manuscript, withdrawal of accepted articles, publication of corrections or retractions, notification of indexing services, and temporary or permanent bans on future submissions. Post-publication issues may result in expressions of concern or retractions to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.
By submitting a manuscript to a CCNEIR-affiliated journal, authors affirm that their work is original, ethically conducted, and compliant with this policy. Responsibility for ethical compliance rests entirely with the authors. CCNEIR reserves the right to update this policy periodically to reflect evolving best practices in scholarly publishing.
CCNEIR remains dedicated to fostering a rigorous, transparent, and trustworthy academic publishing environment that advances knowledge while safeguarding the integrity of the scientific record.