Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice Statement

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The Asian Journal of Engineering and Applied Technology (AJEAT) is committed to integrity, transparency, fairness, accountability, and editorial independence in scholarly publishing. Authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, and the publisher are expected to follow recognised standards of responsible research and publication practice. The journal’s ethical framework operates together with its Author Guidelines, Peer Review Process, Copyright & Licensing Policy, Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy, and Post-Publication and Accountability Policy.

Ethical concerns are considered fairly and proportionately with reference, where relevant, to guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This statement is AJEAT’s principal publication-ethics and publication-malpractice policy.

1. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship is limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions, participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final version, and accept accountability for the integrity of the work. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately. Authors should also follow the authorship requirements stated in the Author Guidelines.

AJEAT supports the CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy for transparent reporting of individual contributions. Guest, gift, honorary, purchased, ghost, or otherwise misleading authorship is not acceptable. Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors should normally be made before acceptance, supported by a clear reason and written agreement from all affected authors. Changes after acceptance are considered only in exceptional circumstances and may require a formal correction.

2. Duplicate, Redundant, and Concurrent Publication

Manuscripts submitted to AJEAT must be original and must not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal. Authors must disclose relevant prior publications, preprints, conference abstracts, datasets, or closely related manuscripts when they may affect the assessment of originality or overlap. These requirements also apply at submission under the Author Guidelines.

Duplicate publication, redundant publication, inappropriate fragmentation of one study into multiple papers, and simultaneous submission to more than one journal are not permitted. Legitimate secondary publication may be considered only when ethically justified, transparently disclosed, appropriately cited, and permitted by the relevant editors and rights holders.

3. Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

AJEAT does not permit plagiarism, including unattributed use of another person’s words, ideas, data, figures, tables, methods, or other intellectual work. Substantial reuse of an author’s own previously published material without appropriate citation or disclosure may constitute self-plagiarism or redundant publication.

The journal uses TURNITIN similarity-detection software and other editorial checks before or during peer review. Similarity reports are interpreted by editors in context and are not treated as an automatic acceptance or rejection threshold. Suspected plagiarism is assessed through the journal’s research-misconduct procedures.

4. Fabrication, Falsification, and Data Integrity

Fabrication of data or results, falsification or selective alteration of research records, misrepresentation of methods or findings, and any manipulation that creates a misleading scholarly record are prohibited. Authors must report methods, data, results, limitations, and conclusions accurately and transparently.

Images, figures, and other visual research outputs must accurately represent the underlying data. Adjustments for clarity are acceptable only when they do not selectively enhance, obscure, remove, move, or introduce information in a misleading way. When integrity concerns arise, editors may request original data, image files, analysis records, or other supporting documentation.

5. Citation Manipulation

Citations must be relevant to the scholarly content and used to acknowledge sources, support claims, and place the work in context. Authors, reviewers, and editors must not request or add citations primarily to inflate citation counts, journal metrics, personal metrics, or the standing of a particular author, journal, institution, or group.

Coercive citation, citation cartels, fabricated references, irrelevant citation padding, and other forms of citation manipulation are considered publication malpractice.

6. Peer-Review Manipulation and Reviewer Integrity

AJEAT applies a double-blind review model to manuscripts that pass initial editorial screening. Manuscripts suitable for external review are normally evaluated by at least two independent external reviewers with relevant expertise. Full workflow and reviewer requirements are described in the Peer Review Process.

Peer-review manipulation is prohibited. This includes fabricated reviewer identities, false contact information, impersonation, undisclosed relationships, coordinated review rings, inappropriate interference with reviewer selection, coercion, or any attempt to influence the review process improperly.

Reviewers must maintain confidentiality, disclose conflicts of interest, provide objective and evidence-based assessments, and must not use unpublished manuscript information for personal or professional advantage. Reviewers and editors must also follow AJEAT’s Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy when handling confidential manuscript material.

7. Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors, reviewers, editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose financial, professional, personal, institutional, academic, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived to influence their work, review, or editorial judgement. Relevant declarations should be provided in accordance with the Author Guidelines.

Authors must disclose all funding sources and, where applicable, describe the funder’s role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or the decision to submit. Reviewers and editors must decline or recuse themselves when a conflict could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, impartiality.

8. Data Sharing and Reproducibility

Authors should provide sufficient methodological detail to permit critical evaluation and, where reasonably possible, reproducibility of the reported work. Manuscripts should include a Data Availability Statement explaining whether supporting data are openly available, available on reasonable request, subject to ethical, legal, commercial, or privacy restrictions, or not applicable. Relevant submission declarations are described in the Author Guidelines.

The editorial office may request underlying data, methodological details, analysis files, or other documentation when needed to evaluate the validity, reproducibility, or integrity of a submission. Authors should retain research records for a period appropriate to their discipline, institutional requirements, funder requirements, and applicable law.

9. Ethical Oversight

Research involving human participants, personal or sensitive data, vulnerable groups, animals, or other activities requiring ethical oversight must comply with applicable institutional, national, legal, and disciplinary requirements.

Where ethics committee, institutional review, or other formal approval is required, the manuscript must identify the approving body and provide the approval or reference number where available. Where informed consent is required, authors must confirm that it was obtained and that privacy, confidentiality, and participant rights have been protected. Where prospective research registration is required by the study design, discipline, funder, institution, or reporting standard, the registry name and registration identifier should be provided.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that submitted material does not infringe copyright, database rights, trademarks, privacy rights, confidentiality obligations, or other intellectual-property rights. Third-party material must be cited appropriately and, where required, supported by written permission from the rights holder. Detailed requirements are provided in AJEAT’s Copyright & Licensing Policy and Copyright Form.

Following acceptance, copyright and licensing are governed by AJEAT’s stated copyright arrangements. The published Version of Record is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), subject to AJEAT’s copyright arrangements and author reuse rights. See also the Open Access Policy.

11. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders may submit complaints or appeals in writing to the editorial office. The submission should identify the relevant manuscript or article, describe the issue, explain the grounds for the complaint or appeal, and provide supporting information. Related post-publication procedures are set out in the Post-Publication and Accountability Policy.

Complaints and appeals are considered fairly, confidentially, and without unnecessary delay. An appeal against an editorial decision should identify a material error in the review or decision process and does not guarantee reconsideration or acceptance. Where a complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief or another editor directly involved in the matter, it should be assigned to an independent senior editor or publisher representative who was not involved in the original decision.

12. Corrections

AJEAT may publish a correction when an error affects the accuracy, interpretation, attribution, or integrity of the scholarly record but does not invalidate the article as a whole. Correction notices should be linked to the original article and clearly identify the nature of the change. Detailed procedures appear in the Post-Publication and Accountability Policy.

Minor typographical or formatting errors that do not affect meaning may be corrected without a formal notice where appropriate. Corrections must not be used to conceal significant errors or misconduct.

13. Expressions of Concern

AJEAT may issue an Expression of Concern when substantial questions about the integrity or reliability of a published article remain unresolved and an investigation is incomplete, inconclusive, delayed, or dependent on information from another institution or responsible body. The notice should be linked to the article and updated when the matter is resolved. See the Post-Publication and Accountability Policy for the journal’s post-publication framework.

14. Retractions

An article may be retracted when its findings are unreliable because of major error or misconduct, or when evidence of plagiarism, redundant publication, fabricated or falsified data, serious ethical non-compliance, manipulated peer review, or another issue materially undermines the integrity of the article. AJEAT’s detailed process is described in the Post-Publication and Accountability Policy, with relevant reference to COPE retraction guidance where applicable.

Retraction notices should explain the reason for retraction and, where appropriate, identify who initiated it. The original article will normally remain part of the scholarly record and be clearly marked as retracted. Silent removal is avoided except where removal is necessary for compelling legal, privacy, or safety reasons.

15. Research Misconduct Allegations and Investigation

AJEAT takes reasonable steps to identify, prevent, and address research and publication misconduct. Allegations may involve plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, fabricated or falsified data, image manipulation, citation manipulation, unethical authorship, undisclosed conflicts of interest, peer-review manipulation, misuse of confidential information, or other serious breaches of publication ethics.

Concerns are assessed objectively, fairly, and as confidentially as reasonably possible. Depending on the allegation, AJEAT may request explanations or supporting records, obtain independent expert advice, review editorial or peer-review records, consult relevant COPE guidance, or contact an institution, employer, funder, ethics body, or other responsible organisation where appropriate.

The journal will distinguish, where possible, between honest error and deliberate misconduct. If a concern is substantiated, proportionate action may include rejection, correction, Expression of Concern, retraction, withdrawal where appropriate, removal of a compromised reviewer, notification to relevant institutions or responsible bodies, or another action necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record. Decisions should be documented and conflicts of interest managed.

16. Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-Assisted Tools

AJEAT requires transparency, human accountability, confidentiality, and research integrity when generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) or AI-assisted tools are used. AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because authorship requires human accountability. Full requirements are provided in AJEAT’s Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy.

Authors may use GenAI or AI-assisted tools for limited assistive purposes such as language refinement, text organisation, coding assistance, data-visualisation support, or other research-support tasks, provided that such use does not replace scholarly judgement, verification, interpretation, or responsibility. Substantive use must be disclosed in the manuscript or accompanying declarations. Routine spelling or grammar checking that does not generate substantive content need not be disclosed unless required by the submission system.

AI must not be used to fabricate or falsify data, images, references, quotations, or evidence. AI-generated references and factual claims must be verified against reliable original sources. Authors remain responsible for accuracy, originality, citations, permissions, analysis, interpretation, bias, confidentiality, and conclusions. Peer review and editorial decisions remain human responsibilities, and confidential unpublished material must not be uploaded to public AI systems or services whose terms could compromise confidentiality.

17. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made independently by the Editor-in-Chief and authorised editors on the basis of scholarly merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to AJEAT’s Aims and Scope. Decisions must not be influenced by Article Processing Charges & Waivers, an author’s ability to pay, Advertising, sponsorship, ownership interests, institutional relationships, Direct Marketing, Revenue Sources, or other commercial considerations.

Editors must protect manuscript confidentiality, disclose and manage conflicts of interest, recuse themselves where impartiality may reasonably be questioned, and avoid using unpublished material for personal advantage. The publisher supports editorial independence and does not override editorial decisions for financial or promotional reasons.

18. Responsibilities of the Publisher

The Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI), as publisher of AJEAT, supports the integrity and independence of the editorial process. Publisher and journal information is described in the Journal Overview. The publisher maintains public policies covering ownership and contact information, access conditions, fees, copyright and licensing, privacy, revenue, advertising, marketing, and preservation arrangements.

The publisher supports investigations into publication misconduct and the publication of corrections, Expressions of Concern, retractions, or other notices when necessary. Revenue, advertising, marketing, and administrative considerations are kept separate from editorial decision-making. Related transparency pages include the Revenue Sources Statement, Advertising Policy, Direct Marketing Policy, and Privacy Policy.

19. Reporting an Ethical Concern

Ethical concerns relating to a submitted manuscript, published article, peer review, authorship, editorial conduct, or another matter covered by this statement should be submitted in writing to the AJEAT editorial office with sufficient information and supporting evidence for appropriate assessment. The AJEAT Contact page provides the journal’s current contact details.

Editorial Office: Centre for Research and Innovation (CRI), 9/865, Maruthi Nagar, Rakkipalayam Post, Coimbatore - 641031, Tamil Nadu, India. Email: editorial@crijournals.org.