The Journal follows a well-defined ethics policy, mainly based on the Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (Committee on Publication Ethics, 2011).
General Duties and Responsibilities
Editor’s Responsibilities
- Publication Decisions
The editor is responsible for deciding which papers submitted to the journal will be published. Manuscripts will be evaluated based on importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope, irrespective of the author’s race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. The editor must also consider legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. - Confidentiality
The editor and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. - Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper must not be used by the editor or editorial board members for their research without the author’s explicit written consent.
Reviewer’s Responsibilities
- Contribution to Editorial Decisions
The peer-reviewing process assists the editor and editorial board in making editorial decisions and may help the author improve their paper. - Promptness
Any reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research or knows that a timely review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process. - Confidentiality
Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential. They must not be disclosed or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor. - Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments. - Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers should identify instances where relevant work is not cited. They should also point out substantial similarities between the manuscript under consideration and any other known work. - Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should avoid manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest due to competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with the authors or associated institutions.
Author’s Duties
- Reporting Standards
Authors should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are unethical and unacceptable. - Data Access and Retention
Authors may be asked to provide raw data for editorial review and should ensure its accessibility to other professionals for at least ten years after publication, provided confidentiality can be maintained. - Originality, Plagiarism, and Acknowledgement of Sources
Authors must submit original work and appropriately cite others’ work. Publications that influenced the research must also be cited. - Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication
Papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submitting the same paper to multiple journals constitutes unethical behavior. Manuscripts under review by one journal should not be submitted to copyrighted publications. - Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should include those who made significant contributions to the study. The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors approve the final version and agree to its submission. - Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Authors must disclose any financial or substantive conflicts of interest that may influence their manuscript’s results or interpretation. Sources of financial support must be disclosed. - Fundamental Errors in Published Works
If an author discovers a significant error in their published work, they must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher to retract or correct the paper.
Plagiarism Screening Policy
The publisher and editor of Adilok use a web-based software program that compares documents for similarities to detect potential instances of plagiarism. This program is used during the editorial process when necessary. The journal follows the plagiarism guidelines set by UGC (University Grants Commission, Government of India).