The Journal maintains the integrity, credibility, and permanence of the scholarly record as its highest editorial responsibility. The editorial board implements a strict policy against plagiarism, data fabrication, unethical authorship practices, and redundant publication. Academic publishing relies upon transparency, accountability, and the authenticity of intellectual contributions. All manuscripts submitted to the Journal are considered formal declarations from the authors confirming that the work is original, has not been published previously, is not under consideration elsewhere, and does not violate any intellectual property rights. Submission of a manuscript constitutes the author’s explicit agreement to comply with the Journal’s ethical standards and editorial procedures. Any violation of these principles may result in editorial sanctions, manuscript rejection, or post-publication corrective actions where necessary. The Journal applies a structured editorial workflow including similarity screening, editorial assessment, independent peer review, and final verification prior to publication to ensure that every published article meets internationally recognized standards of academic integrity.

Violation Category	Description	Editorial Assessment	Editorial Sanctions
Minor Similarity	Overlap limited to common terminology, methodological expressions, or properly cited materials.	Not considered misconduct but requires correction.	Mandatory revision prior to editorial evaluation.
Moderate Plagiarism	Substantial unattributed overlap affecting specific sections of the manuscript.	Violation of ethical publication standards.	Revision request, formal warning, or editorial rejection.
Severe Plagiarism	Extensive copying of text, data, or intellectual content without attribution.	Serious academic misconduct.	Immediate rejection, prohibition of future submissions, and potential institutional notification.
Redundant / Self-Plagiarism	Reuse of significant portions of previously published work without disclosure.	Misrepresentation of originality.	Revision, rejection, or post-publication correction.

The journal maintains a comprehensive and strictly enforced Retraction–Withdrawal–Data Correction (R–W–D) Policy designed to safeguard the integrity, transparency, and reliability of the scholarly record. Academic publishing requires that all published materials represent accurate, verifiable, and ethically produced research. Nevertheless, circumstances may arise in which published or submitted works contain errors, ethical breaches, or methodological weaknesses that require editorial intervention. The R–W–D policy therefore establishes a formal framework through which manuscripts or published articles may be withdrawn, corrected, or retracted when credible concerns arise regarding the validity, originality, or ethical compliance of the research. Each mechanism operates within a clearly defined procedural structure and is supported by an investigative process conducted by the editorial board. These procedures are implemented in order to maintain the credibility of the journal, protect readers and researchers from unreliable information, and preserve the long-term integrity of the academic record.

1. Withdrawal (W): Pre-Publication Removal of Manuscripts

Withdrawal refers to the formal removal of a manuscript before its official publication. This mechanism applies exclusively to manuscripts that remain within the editorial or peer-review process and have not yet entered the permanent scholarly record. Withdrawal is intended to address situations in which authors or editors identify significant issues that prevent the manuscript from meeting the journal’s academic, methodological, or ethical standards. In principle, authors may request withdrawal when substantial methodological errors, analytical misinterpretations, authorship conflicts, or ethical concerns are discovered during the editorial process. In such cases, the request must be formally submitted to the editorial office with a clear explanation of the underlying circumstances and accompanied by written consent from all co-authors. The editorial board will evaluate the request to determine whether the withdrawal is academically justified and consistent with publication ethics. Withdrawal requests submitted before the initiation of peer review are normally processed without administrative consequences. However, when a withdrawal request is submitted after peer review has commenced, the editorial board may impose administrative measures because substantial editorial resources, reviewer time, and publication management efforts have already been invested in the manuscript. Withdrawal requests submitted after editorial acceptance are strongly discouraged and may only be granted under exceptional circumstances involving demonstrable scientific or ethical concerns. The journal strictly prohibits withdrawal requests made solely for the purpose of submitting the manuscript to another journal after receiving reviewer feedback. Such conduct is considered an abuse of the peer-review system. Authors who intentionally misuse the withdrawal process may face sanctions including temporary suspension of submission privileges, mandatory administrative fees related to editorial processing, or formal notification to their affiliated institutions in cases involving serious ethical misconduct.

2. Retraction (R): Post-Publication Removal from the Scholarly Record

Retraction constitutes the most serious editorial action and applies to articles that have already been formally published but are later determined to contain **substantial ethical violations or fundamental scientific inaccuracies. The purpose of retraction is not to punish authors but to correct the scholarly record and ensure that readers are not misled by unreliable or unethical research findings. An article may be retracted when credible evidence demonstrates that the published work contains plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, manipulated figures or images, duplicate publication in multiple journals, undisclosed conflicts of interest that compromise research integrity, or serious methodological errors that invalidate the central conclusions of the study. Retraction may also be considered when research involving human participants or experimental subjects has been conducted without appropriate ethical approval or informed consent. When allegations of misconduct arise, the editorial office initiates a formal investigation. The process begins with a preliminary assessment of the evidence, followed by formal communication with the corresponding author and co-authors requesting clarification. Where necessary, independent experts, reviewers, or institutional representatives may be consulted in order to ensure an impartial evaluation of the case. The editorial board then reviews all available documentation before issuing a final determination. If retraction is confirmed, the article will remain accessible within the journal archive in order to preserve the historical scholarly record. However, the article will be clearly marked with a visible retraction notice, and an official statement explaining the reason for retraction will be permanently linked to the publication. Retraction notices are issued transparently so that readers, researchers, and indexing services are fully informed of the editorial decision. Authors responsible for serious ethical violations may be subject to disciplinary measures including temporary or permanent submission bans, formal notification to affiliated institutions or research sponsors, and reporting to indexing databases when required by publishing standards.

3. Data Correction (D): Post-Publication Amendments

Data Correction provides a mechanism through which limited inaccuracies in published articles may be formally amended without invalidating the overall scientific contribution of the work. Academic publications occasionally contain minor errors introduced during manuscript preparation, editorial processing, or typesetting. When such errors do not compromise the validity of the research findings, the journal may issue a formal correction rather than pursue a full retraction. Corrections may take several forms. An Erratum is issued when errors originate from editorial or production processes during manuscript preparation or publication. A Corrigendum is published when authors identify and report minor inaccuracies within their own work following publication. In certain cases, the editorial board may publish an Editorial Note to clarify specific aspects of a publication or provide contextual information relevant to readers. All corrections are published as separate documents linked directly to the original article. The correction notice clearly identifies the affected sections and provides a transparent explanation of the changes made. This approach ensures that the scholarly record remains accurate while preserving the continuity and traceability of the publication history. If an error is later determined to substantially alter the interpretation of the research results, the editorial board may escalate the case from correction to full retraction in order to protect the integrity of the academic literature.

4. Reporting and Investigation Procedures

Concerns regarding potential ethical violations may be reported by authors, reviewers, readers, or academic institutions. The journal encourages responsible reporting supported by verifiable documentation. Reports may be submitted through formal written communication to the editorial office or via official correspondence with the journal's editorial management system. Upon receiving a report, the editorial office conducts an initial screening to determine whether the allegation contains sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation. If the claim appears credible, the editorial board initiates a structured review process involving evidence collection, author notification, and independent assessment when necessary. Authors are provided with an opportunity to respond to the allegations and supply relevant documentation before any editorial decision is finalized. Investigations are conducted with strict attention to fairness, confidentiality, and procedural transparency. The journal aims to resolve most cases within a reasonable period, typically involving an initial assessment phase followed by evidence evaluation and final editorial determination. Depending on the complexity of the case, the entire investigative process may require several weeks to ensure that all relevant information has been carefully considered.

5. Editorial Authority and Final Determination

The editorial board retains full authority to initiate withdrawal, correction, or retraction whenever credible evidence demonstrates that the integrity of a manuscript or published article has been compromised. All decisions are made with the primary objective of protecting the reliability of the scholarly record and maintaining the highest standards of academic publishing ethics. Through the implementation of this R–W–D Policy, the journal affirms its commitment to responsible editorial governance, rigorous peer review, and transparent publication practices that support the advancement of trustworthy scientific knowledge.

Administrative fees are applied only in limited circumstances requiring additional editorial intervention beyond the journal’s normal submission, peer-review, and publication workflow. These measures are intended to ensure responsible use of editorial resources, protect the integrity of the peer-review process, and prevent misuse of the scholarly publication system. Publication charges and optional services are described separately on the journal’s APC page. The provisions below apply exclusively to administrative situations that arise after a manuscript has entered the editorial workflow or after an article has been published. The journal distinguishes between two different situations in which administrative fees may apply.

Authors may occasionally request editorial actions that interrupt or terminate the normal editorial workflow. Examples include requests to withdraw a manuscript after submission, termination of the peer-review process, or withdrawal of a manuscript that has already reached acceptance or production stages. Because these requests require additional administrative handling and may involve reviewer time, editorial coordination, and system management, the journal may apply a limited administrative processing fee. The amount of the fee depends on the stage of the editorial process at which the request is made.

Administrative fees may also form part of corrective sanctions when serious violations of publication ethics are confirmed through the journal’s Retraction–Withdrawal–Data Correction policy and formal editorial investigation procedures. Such measures are applied only after the editorial board has reviewed the available evidence and determined that a breach of publication ethics has occurred. Situations that may lead to sanctions include plagiarism, duplicate submission, redundant publication, data fabrication or falsification, manipulation of the peer-review process, or other forms of academic misconduct. Where retraction becomes necessary as a result of confirmed ethical violations, the journal may impose an administrative fee associated with the retraction process.

Administrative fees for author-initiated requests are intended solely to cover additional editorial management and administrative work required to process actions outside the standard editorial workflow. These fees may be waived when the requested action results from verified editorial or technical errors attributable to the journal. When violations of publication ethics are confirmed, the editorial board may impose additional sanctions beyond administrative fees depending on the severity of the misconduct. Such measures may include temporary suspension of submission privileges, rejection of future submissions, formal notification to the authors’ affiliated institutions, or permanent submission restrictions in cases of serious academic misconduct. The editorial board retains full authority to determine the appropriate administrative measures necessary to safeguard the integrity, transparency, and fairness of the journal’s editorial and publication process.

No	Question	Editorial Explanation
1	What similarity percentage is acceptable?	Manuscripts should generally demonstrate a similarity index below 10% after excluding references, quotations, and standard methodological phrases. Similarity reports are interpreted through qualitative editorial evaluation rather than automatic thresholds.
2	Does the similarity score automatically determine rejection?	No. Similarity results are used as a screening tool. Editors evaluate the location, context, and nature of overlapping text before deciding whether revision, clarification, or rejection is required.
3	Is simultaneous submission to multiple journals allowed?	No. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously constitutes unethical publication practice and may result in immediate rejection and editorial sanctions.
4	Can authors withdraw a manuscript after submission?	Yes. Authors may request withdrawal before publication. However, withdrawal requests submitted after editorial screening or during peer review may incur administrative processing fees, depending on the stage of the editorial workflow.
5	Why are administrative fees applied to withdrawal requests?	Administrative fees cover additional editorial handling after reviewers and editors have already invested time in evaluating the manuscript. The fee amount varies according to the editorial stage at which the withdrawal request is submitted.
6	Can administrative fees be waived?	Yes. Administrative fees may be waived if the requested action results from verified editorial errors, technical issues, or circumstances determined by the editorial board to be outside the responsibility of the authors.
7	What is the difference between withdrawal and retraction?	Withdrawal applies to manuscripts that are still in the editorial or peer-review process before publication. Retraction applies to articles that have already been published and later require removal due to serious scientific or ethical concerns.
8	What happens if ethical violations are discovered after publication?	The journal will initiate a formal editorial investigation under its Retraction–Withdrawal–Data Correction policy. Depending on the findings, the outcome may include correction, retraction, or additional editorial sanctions.
9	Are administrative fees applied in cases of ethical misconduct?	Yes. When serious violations of publication ethics are confirmed, administrative fees may be applied as part of corrective sanctions, particularly when a formal retraction process is required.
10	What additional sanctions may apply in cases of misconduct?	Depending on the severity of the violation, sanctions may include temporary suspension of submission privileges, rejection of future manuscripts, notification to affiliated institutions, or permanent submission restrictions.
11	Are AI tools allowed during manuscript preparation?	AI tools may be used for language editing or grammar assistance. However, AI systems must not generate research data, analytical results, or core scientific arguments.
12	Is disclosure required when AI tools are used?	Yes. Authors should disclose the use of AI-assisted tools when they contribute to text editing or manuscript preparation to maintain transparency in the research process.
13	Can authors revise a manuscript after peer review?	Yes. Authors are expected to revise manuscripts according to reviewer recommendations and provide a response-to-reviewers document explaining how comments were addressed.
14	Can authors change the authorship list after submission?	Authorship changes require written consent from all listed authors and approval from the editorial office to ensure transparency and prevent authorship disputes.
15	How long does the peer-review process take?	Peer review timelines typically range between four and eight weeks depending on reviewer availability and revision requirements.
16	How long do editorial investigations take?	Editorial investigations generally require between 30 and 90 days to allow evidence review, author clarification, and editorial board evaluation.
17	Can authors appeal an editorial decision?	Yes. Authors may submit a formal appeal with supporting justification. The editorial board will review the appeal before issuing a final determination.
18	Are authors required to provide research data?	Authors may be asked to provide raw research data during editorial review or ethical investigations in order to verify the validity of reported findings.
19	Do these policies apply to all article types?	Yes. All submissions—including research articles, review articles, and short communications—must comply with the same editorial and ethical standards.