Publication Ethics

Ethical Standards and Editorial Responsibilities

The Journal of Engineering Research and its editorial board are committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in scholarly publishing. Adhering to principles outlined by organizations such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the journal ensures transparency, fairness, and integrity throughout the publication process.

Editorial Responsibilities

The editorial board evaluates all submitted manuscripts based on scholarly merit, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Decisions are made impartially without bias toward authors' nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, or religion. Editors ensure confidentiality, disclose manuscript information only to those directly involved, and avoid using unpublished content for personal research without explicit consent. Financial support sources must be transparently disclosed. The journal maintains an unbiased peer-review process, preventing conflicts of interest, especially for submissions from editorial board members. Reviewers assist in identifying ethical concerns, and editors address intellectual property issues, issuing corrections or retractions when necessary to uphold credibility.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers provide objective evaluations to enhance manuscript quality while avoiding personal criticism. They must decline assignments if unqualified or conflicted due to affiliations, collaborations, or personal relationships with the authors. All reviewed materials must remain confidential and cannot be used for personal advantage. Proper citation of prior research is essential, and any instances of uncredited sources, overlapping content, or suspected plagiarism must be reported to the editor for further investigation.

Author Responsibilities

Authors must ensure the accuracy and transparency of their research, presenting data truthfully and retaining raw data for at least two years post-publication. Manuscripts must be original, properly attribute all sources, and adhere to ethical publishing practices. Plagiarism in any form is prohibited, and simultaneous submission to multiple journals constitutes a breach of ethics. Authors must disclose financial or institutional conflicts of interest, reserve authorship for significant contributors, and acknowledge others appropriately. In the event of errors, authors must promptly inform the editorial team and cooperate in issuing corrections or retractions.

Peer Review Process

All submitted manuscripts undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process, ensuring confidentiality of both authors and reviewers. The final decision on acceptance or rejection rests with the editorial board, based on reviewers’ evaluations. For submissions involving complex ethical, security, or societal concerns, additional expert input may be sought beyond standard peer review.

Plagiarism

The journal enforces a zero-tolerance policy on plagiarism, prohibiting the use of others’ ideas, words, or work without proper attribution. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism, duplicate submissions, redundant publication, or self-plagiarism will be rejected. All submissions undergo plagiarism screening using professional detection software, and those with unacceptable similarity indices will be immediately rejected.

Preprints Policy

Authors are free to share preprints on any platform. Upon acceptance, they are encouraged to link their preprint to the final published version using its Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Authors may also update preprints on repositories like arXiv or RePEc with the accepted manuscript version.

Research Ethics and Consent

All original research involving humans, animals, plants, biological material, or protected datasets must include a written statement under an Ethics Approval section, detailing the ethics committee(s) involved, approval numbers, and informed consent from participants.

Special Issues

Special Issue topics are determined by the editorial team, and submissions follow the same process and guidelines as regular issues. Calls for submissions are typically included in the current year’s special issue release.

Appointment of Guest Editors

Guest Editors are selected based on expertise, academic reputation, and editorial experience. They define the scope, draft calls for papers, manage submissions, oversee peer review, and make final decisions in consultation with the Editor-in-Chief.

Setup of Special Issues

A detailed proposal, including theme, objectives, target audience, potential Guest Editors, and timeline, must be submitted and approved by the editorial board. Once approved, a call for papers is announced and promoted through various channels.

Editorial and Review Process for Special Issues

Manuscripts for special issues are submitted through the online system, undergo initial screening by Guest Editors, and proceed to double-blind peer review. Authors revise based on feedback, and Guest Editors recommend acceptance or rejection with final approval from the Editor-in-Chief.

Publication Timing & Review Process

Submissions are accepted on an ongoing basis and considered for publication once ready. The journal publishes twice annually, and all issues, including special ones, follow the same editorial and review process.

Standards of Reporting

Authors are encouraged to present research transparently to facilitate verification and reproducibility. Detailed accounts of research rationale, protocols, methodologies, and analyses should be provided.

Use of Third-Party Material

Authors must obtain necessary permissions to reuse third-party materials, including text, images, tables, data, or audio. Short excerpts may be used without permission for purposes like criticism or review, adhering to fair use guidelines.

Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

AI tools may be used to improve readability and language clarity but not to replace intellectual tasks. Human oversight is mandatory, and authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their work. Use of AI must be explicitly disclosed, and AI cannot be credited as an author. Authors must ensure originality, verify authorship criteria, and avoid infringing third-party rights.