Publication Ethics

Our Ethical Framework

GIR-Press is a member of and fully adheres to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Our publication ethics policy applies to all parties involved in the publishing process: authors, peer reviewers, editors, and the publisher. We expect all stakeholders to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of academic integrity.

Duties of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their submitted work is entirely original. Any use of the work or words of others must be properly cited and acknowledged. Plagiarism in any form — including self-plagiarism (duplicate or redundant publication) — is considered unethical and is unacceptable.

Authorship Criteria

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All authors must:

• Have made substantial contributions to the work
• Have participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript
• Have approved the final version of the manuscript
• Have agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work

Guest, gift, or ghost authorship is not permitted. All contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section.

Data Integrity and Fabrication

Authors must present their findings accurately and without fabrication, falsification, or selective omission of data. Raw data should be retained and made available upon reasonable request by editors or reviewers.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

All authors must disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived to influence their work. This includes funding sources, employment relationships, stock ownership, honoraria, and expert testimony.

Ethical Approval

Research involving human subjects, animals, or sensitive data must have received appropriate ethical clearance from a recognised Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent body. Authors must disclose this in the manuscript.

Duties of Reviewers

• Treat all manuscripts as confidential documents
• Conduct objective and unbiased review
• Disclose and recuse themselves from reviewing manuscripts with conflicts of interest
• Report any suspected ethical violations to the editor
• Not use or disclose unpublished information from a manuscript under review

Duties of Editors

• Evaluate manuscripts solely on academic merit, without regard to authors' race, gender, religion, nationality, or institutional affiliation
• Maintain confidentiality of submitted manuscripts
• Disclose and manage their own conflicts of interest
• Investigate and act upon reports of ethical misconduct
• Publish corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern as warranted

Handling Misconduct

If an allegation of research or publication misconduct is received — before or after publication — GIR-Press will follow COPE flowcharts and guidelines. This may include:

• Contacting the authors' institution for investigation
• Issuing an expression of concern pending investigation
• Retracting the article if misconduct is confirmed
• Banning authors from future submission to GIR-Press journals
• Notifying relevant funding bodies or regulatory authorities

Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously (duplicate submission) or publishing substantially similar research across multiple journals (redundant publication) is prohibited. Authors must confirm that their manuscript is not under review elsewhere at the time of submission.

Corrections and Retractions

GIR-Press is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scientific record. Corrections (errata), retractions, and expressions of concern are published when errors or misconduct are identified. For full details, see our Retraction Policy.

Reporting Concerns

Anyone wishing to report a suspected breach of publication ethics should contact the Editor-in-Chief at editor@girpress.com. All concerns are treated confidentially and investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines.