Publication Ethics

Charter and Standards of Research Ethics

Code of Ethics for Publication of PAYAM-E BASTANSHENAS Journal, Islamic Azad University, Abhar Branch

To prevent the occurrence of research violations knowingly or unknowingly by the authors of the articles, this bylaw is a charter or commitment letter that outlines some ethical limits and responsibilities related to carrying out scientific research activities and publishing them in journals, which will be referred to as journals from now on. This regulation is derived from the “Charter and Standards of Research Ethics” approved by the Vice-Chancellor of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran, internationally accepted publishing standards and experiences in this journal and some other scientific research journals, and also the Charter of Research Ethics of Islamic Azad University. The list of references for preparing this regulation is given at the end.

1. Introduction

Authors, reviewers, the editorial board, and the journal editor must know and commit to all the principles of research ethics and related responsibilities in the publishing field. Submitting an article by the authors, reviewing the article by the reviewers, and deciding on the acceptance or rejection of the article by the editorial board and the editor means knowing and obeying these rights; if it is found that any of these people do not adhere to these principles and responsibilities, any legal action is reserved for this journal. The charter and standards of research ethics approved by the Vice-Chancellor of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology should guide the journal's authors and reviewers.

2. Authors’ Responsibilities

• The submitted articles must be prepared in the specialized field of PAYAM-E BASTANSHENAS Journal, and in a scientific and coherent manner, according to the standard of this journal.
• Observing the principle of truth-seeking, trying to find the truth, being loyal to it, and avoiding concealment of fact.
• Compliance with the principle of rights and commitment to fully comply with the rights of researchers and researched (human, animal, and plant) and other rights holders.
• Respecting the principle of material and intellectual property and commitment to respect all researchers' material and intellectual rights fully.
• The submitted articles must be the original research of the authors presenting the article, and any use of other people's research must be mentioned in the article by mentioning the source. The research must be done accurately and objectively, and the data must be reported correctly.
• The authors are responsible for the correctness and accuracy of the content of the articles, and the authors are obliged to ensure the correctness and accuracy of the content of the articles. The article's publication does not mean the approval of its content by the journal.
• The author will be responsible for respecting and maintaining all material and intellectual rights of the owners of the works, findings, and data that have been used in the preparation and editing of the articles.
• Authors are required to refrain from “Research and Publication Misconduct,” as explained in Section 3.
• Authors do not have the right to “Duplicate Submission” an article; In other words, the article or part of it should not be published in any other journal inside or outside the country or in the process of being reviewed and published; But there is no obstacle to presenting it in domestic or foreign conferences or congresses.
• Authors are not allowed to “Overlapping Publication.” The meaning of overlapping publication is to print the data and findings of previous articles with a little change in an article as a new one.
• If there is a need to use the materials of others, the authors are obliged to use them with accurate Citation, if necessary, after obtaining written and explicit permission from the required sources. When the same writings of another researcher are used, direct quotation methods and signs should be used, such as putting it inside quotation marks (“”).
• The responsible author of the article must ensure the existence of names and information of all authors and the absence of names other than researchers involved in conducting research and preparing the article; In other words, adding “Gift Authorship” and removing “Ghost Authorship” should be avoided.
• The responsible author of the article is obliged to ensure that all the authors of the article have read it and have agreed on its presentation and their place in the article.
• Suppose the main structure of an article is derived from archaeological field research (archaeological survey, archaeological exploration, sondage, right-of-way determination, etc.); in that case, If the field researcher with a license from the Research Institute of Cultural Heritage and Tourism is not the author of the article, his level of consent must be officially announced to the competent authorities and mentioned in the text of the article.
• The author(s) will be responsible for all the actions that are taken in the course of conducting research, compiling data and preparing the article.
• Submitting the article means that the authors have obtained the consent of all the financial or physical supporters of the article and have introduced all the financial or physical supporters of the article.
• Authors are obliged to notify the journal of any errors or inaccuracies in their articles, take action to correct them, or withdraw the article.
• The authors are expected to keep samples and basic information used in the preparation of the article for at least one year after publication in the journal to respond to possible criticisms and questions from the journal readers.
• Any risks that occur to humans or the environment due to research should be clearly mentioned in the article.
• The authors of the articles are expected to cooperate with the journal in reviewing the articles of other researchers in the relevant specialized fields.

3. Research and Publication Misconduct

• It will be considered Research and Publication Misconduct, and the journal has the right to deal with it legally if, in any of the stages of submitting, reviewing, editing, or publishing the article in the journals or after, it is ensured that one of the following occurs.
• Fabrication consists of reporting unreal content and presenting fictitious data or results as laboratory results, experimental studies, or personal findings. Falsely recording what did not happen or shifting the results of different studies are examples of this violation.
• Falsification consists of recording and presenting the research results in such a way that the details of the research implementation or the data collection process are manipulated, some data are deleted or changed, and some minor effects are magnified to hide more significant facts (Juicy Quotes) so that research results are followed in line with specific goals, or the presented results are not doubted.
• Academic plagiarism includes a close adaptation of the thoughts and expressions of other authors, copying in the face of views, structural similarities in the writing or attribution of ideas and results of others without proper reference, or presenting it as original scientific research.
• Scientific rent means that the author(s) hires another person to do the research; after the end of the study, he publishes it in their name with little interference.
• Unreal attribution means the unreal attribution of the author(s) to an institution, center or educational, or research group that had no role in the original research.
• Duplicate Submission an article, Overlapping Publication, add “Gift Authorship” or remove “Ghost Authorship”

4. Reviewers’ Responsibility

• The reviewers help the editor and the editorial board members of the journal in the quality, content, and scientific review of the articles and help improve the quality and scope of the authors' articles through the journal office.
• After reviewing the summary of the article, the selected reviewer must immediately inform the editor of the publication about his decision to accept or not accept the reviewer (due to the article not being in the reviewer's field of work, lack of time, etc.)
• Professionally, the reviewer must be an expert in the subject area of the article. The reviewer should not accept articles that are far from their field of expertise. It is also appropriate for the reviewer to avoid accepting the reviewing of articles with which he/she has a fundamental disagreement and may not be able to conduct a fair review on them.
• The reviewer should not accept for review the articles in which the interests of certain persons, institutions and companies are obtained or personal relationships are observed in it.
• The reviewer should not accept the review of articles that he/she participated in conducting, analyzing or writing.
• In case of acceptance of the reviewing of the article, the reviewer is obliged to present their expert and corrective opinions clearly and if necessary by providing the necessary documents to the editor of the journal and the authors. Detailed review of references, tables, images and other appendices of the article is one of the duties of the reviewer.
• Articles should be reviewed based on scientific documentation and sufficient reasoning, and the application of taste, personal, trade, racial, religious opinion, etc., in reviewing articles should be avoided.
• The reviewer is expected to present their assessment of the article's strengths and weaknesses in a constructive, clear and educational manner along with analyzing the strengths and weaknesses and providing suggestions for the article's correction to the editor of the journal and the author(s).
• Reviewer(s) are expected to be responsible, responsive, punctual, truth-seeking, interested and adhere to professional ethics and respecting the rights of others.
• Citing valid and appropriate evidence, fairness, politeness, avoiding prejudice and precipitancy, and a clear statement to the editor about the article's suitability for publication in the journal are other characteristics of reviewers.
• The reviewers are expected to avoid rewriting and modifying the article based on their preferences and tastes if it is written clearly and flawlessly. Reviewers should remember that the journal needs their scientific expertise, not their editorial services.
• The reviewer is responsible for ensuring that the article is fully referenced to all research, topics, and quotes used in the article. The reviewer is also expected to remind authors of relevant published research that is not referenced in the article.
• The reviewer should consider all the information in the articles confidential and refrain from sharing and discussing its details with others.
• The reviewer does not have the right to use the data or its new concepts in favor of or against their or others' research or to criticize or discredit the authors before publishing the article. After the publication of the article, the reviewer is also not allowed to publish details beyond what is printed by the journal.
• The reviewer has no right to entrust the review of an article to another person, including their faculty colleagues or graduate students, except with the permission of the journal editor.
• The reviewer cannot contact the authors directly regarding the articles under review. Any contact with the authors of the articles will be done only through the journal office.
• The reviewers are expected to be serious and diligent in reporting “Research and Publication Misconduct” and sending relevant documents to the editor of the journal.

5. Editorial Board Responsibilities

• The authority and responsibility of selecting reviewers and accepting or rejecting an article after obtaining the reviewers' opinion is the responsibility of the editor and the editorial board members of the journal.
• The editor and the members of the editorial board of the journal must be professional experts, experts and have numerous publications, as well as have the spirit of responsibility, accountability, truth-seeking, fairness and impartiality, adhering to professional ethics, and respecting the rights of others, and to contribute thoughtfully and responsibly to achieve the goals of the journal and its continuous improvement.
• The editor and editorial board members are expected to prepare a database of suitable reviewers for the journal and update it regularly based on the performance of the reviewers.
• The editor and editorial board members should diligently select competent reviewers for their expertise, excellence, scientific and work experience, and moral commitment. It is also expected that, if possible, the reasoned and reasonable requests of the authors regarding the non-review of the article by specific reviewers will be respected.
• The editor of the journal should welcome in-depth and well-reasoned reviews, avoid superficial and weak reviews, and deal with biased, baseless, or humiliating reviews.
• The editor and the members of the editorial board of the journal should take the necessary measures to record and archive the review documents of the articles as scientific documents and to keep the names of the reviewers of each article confidential.
• Deciding on the acceptance or rejection of articles should be based on evaluating the expert opinions of the reviewers and their correctness, as well as sufficient scientific documentation and reasoning, and the application of taste, personal, professional, racial, religious, etc.
• The editor and the members of the editorial board of the journal are obliged to quickly announce the result of the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the article to the responsible author.
• The editor and the members of the editorial board of the journal should consider all the information contained in the articles as confidential and refrain from giving it to others and discussing its details with others.
• The editor and the members of the editorial board of the journal do not have the right to use its data or new concepts for the benefit of or against their own or others' research or to criticize or discredit the authors before publishing the article. Additionally, after the article's publication, the editor and the editorial board of the journal are not allowed to publish details beyond what is printed in the journal. The only exception in this regard is the examination of cases related to “Research and Publication Misconduct” by the authors if there are acceptable reasons.
• The editor and the members of the editorial board of the journal are obliged to avoid conflicts of interest in the review process, considering any personal, commercial, academic, and financial relationships that may potentially affect the acceptance and publication of the submitted articles.
• The editor and members of the editorial board of the journal should encourage the reviewers to be careful and comment on the originality and absence of publishing and research violations in the submitted articles.
• The editor of the journal is obliged to carefully and seriously examine the works accused of deviating from publishing and research ethics, which are reported by reviewers or in any other way, and if necessary, based on the paragraph “Procedures for dealing with Research and Publication Misconduct” contained in this act by law.
• The editor should not consider the issue over by rejecting the accused articles or the articles that have been found to be in violation, and he is obliged to follow up the cases to the last stage. At the same time, the authors who are accused of “Research and Publication Misconduct” should be given the opportunity to respond.
• The editor of the journal is obliged to quickly remove the published articles in which it is found that “Research and Publication Misconduct” has occurred, and to provide clear information to the readers and relevant indexing authorities.
• The editor and the members of the editorial board of the journal are obliged to review and print the corrections quickly and provide clear information to the readers for the published articles in which errors have been found.
• The editor and members of the journal editorial board are expected to welcome the publication of reasonable and acceptable criticisms of the published articles.
• The editor and members of the editorial board of the journal should continuously ask the authors, readers, and reviewers' opinions regarding improving publishing policies and the quality of the form and content of the journal.

6. Duties of PAYAM-E BASTANSHENAS Publication Office, Islamic Azad University, Abhar Branch

This office is responsible for editing and pagination of accepted articles and publishing the printed and electronic versions of the journals.

Duties include the following:

• Determining and clearly announcing its publishing policies, especially about the independence of editorial board decision-making, publishing ethics, protection of intellectual property and copyright, conflict of interest, duties of authors, reviewers, editor and editorial board, review and decision-making process, demands appeals and complaints, maintaining the scientific documents of the decision-making process, maintaining the information of authors and reviewers, correcting or deleting accepted articles, and resolving disputes between plaintiffs and those accused of “Research and Publication Misconduct.”
• Efforts to edit, paginate, and print the journal with the highest accuracy and quality and in the shortest possible time.
• Protection of the authors' personal information and the contents and details of the articles during the judging and after the decision on the articles, except what is published after the acceptance of the articles in the journal. The only exception in this regard is the investigation of cases related to “Research and Publication Misconduct” by the authors if there are acceptable reasons.

7. Maintaining the Independence of the Editor and Editorial Board of the Journal

• Providing necessary training to the editor, members of the editorial board and reviewers of the journal to perform their responsibilities properly.
• Efforts to provide the necessary training to the journal authors to improve the quality of the form and content of the articles and to properly comply with the principles of publishing and research ethics.
• Cooperation with the journal editor in maintaining the highest level of publishing and research ethics in the journal and ensuring that the journal's contents are free from errors and mistakes in form and content.
• Cooperating with the journal's editor in reviewing “Research and Publication Misconduct” reports and providing expert advice to plaintiffs and defendants if necessary.
• Examining requests related to using materials printed in the journal in other publications, citing the source.

8. Steps to deal with “Research and Publication Misconduct”

• Receiving a letter of accusation from an organization or a real person by the journal office.
• Convening a meeting of the editorial board of the journal with the presence of a representative of the university publication center and the initial investigation of the accusation.
• Collecting documents and evaluating them, if necessary, and preparing the minutes of the meeting on whether or not charges have been filed.
• Sending charges to the accused authors and requesting a response within the specified time.
• Examining the answer of the defendants in the meeting of the editorial board of the journal with the presence of the representative of the university publishing center and making the final decision.
• Sending the decision to the plaintiff and the accused along with the punishment suggestions if the charge is found.
• Notifying the highest research authority of the organization where the offenders operate.

References

• “Charter and Standards of Research Ethics” approved by the Deputy of Research and Technology of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology.
• Ethical Code of scientific publications, first edition, Research Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies.
• Code of Scientific Ethics of the Iranian Physics Society.
• Islamic Azad University Research Ethics Charter
• Ethical principles of article publishing, city landscape research, specialized journal of landscape architecture and urban design
• Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE Code of Conduct, publicationethics.org.
• Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, publicationethics.org.
• Rockwell, Ethics of Peer Review: A Guide for Manuscript Reviewers, http://www.wame.org/ethical_issues_in_peer_review.pdf/view.
• Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors, publicationethics.org.
• Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers, publicationethics.org.