Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology (EAST) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and to ensuring that all stages of its publishing process comply with recognized ethical principles. These standards are based on the Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in 2011 and revised in 2018. This statement outlines the ethical behavior expected from all parties involved in the act of publishing: the publisher, editors, peer reviewers, and authors.

Responsibilities of the Publisher

As the publisher of EAST, we pledge to uphold editorial independence and ethical publication practices. Our responsibilities include:

Editorial Independence: The publisher ensures that editorial decisions are made without interference from commercial interests such as advertising revenue, reprints, or other financial incentives. Editors operate with full autonomy in selecting content based on its academic merit.
Promotion of Ethical Standards: The publisher is committed to promoting ethical conduct in all aspects of publishing. Editors are provided with access to COPE’s ethical guidelines and tools, such as plagiarism detection systems, to support the decision-making process.
Support and Oversight: Technical, legal, and procedural assistance is made available to editors to aid them in handling suspected cases of misconduct, appeals, or disputes.
Education and Awareness: We take proactive steps to educate authors, especially early-career researchers, about ethical publishing practices, responsible authorship, and research integrity.

Responsibilities of Editors

Editors play a pivotal role in safeguarding the integrity of the academic record. They are expected to:

Make Independent and Fair Decisions: Editors are responsible for deciding which articles should be published based on the manuscript’s scientific merit, originality, clarity, and relevance. These decisions are guided by journal policy and reviewer feedback.
Supervise the Peer Review Process: Editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer review by at least two qualified external reviewers. Reviewers are selected based on their expertise and must have no conflicts of interest.
Ensure Objectivity and Non-Discrimination: Editors must evaluate manuscripts solely based on their intellectual content, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political ideology.
Maintain Confidentiality: Editors must treat all manuscript-related information as confidential. It should not be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and other editorial staff, unless required by legal circumstances.
Manage Conflicts of Interest: Editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. In such cases, another editor will handle the manuscript. Manuscripts authored by editors or their close collaborators must be reviewed by independent editors to ensure transparency.
Correct the Academic Record: Editors are responsible for investigating and acting on ethical complaints. If required, they should publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are essential to the peer review process. Their ethical responsibilities include:

Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Reviewers assist editors in making decisions and provide authors with constructive feedback to improve their work.
Maintaining Confidentiality: All information received during the review process must be treated as confidential and not shared with anyone outside the process.
Providing Objective Feedback: Reviews should be conducted objectively, avoiding personal criticism. Reviewers must support their opinions with clear and reasonable arguments.
Identifying Ethical Concerns: Reviewers should alert the editor to any suspected ethical violations such as plagiarism, duplicate submission, data fabrication, or conflicts of interest.
Declaring Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers must decline to review a manuscript if they have a conflict of interest due to financial, institutional, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors.

Responsibilities of Authors

Authors bear primary responsibility for the integrity of their published work. They are expected to:

Submit Original Work: Authors must ensure their manuscripts are original, unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere. All sources and previous work must be appropriately cited.
Avoid Plagiarism and Redundant Publication: Plagiarism in all forms is unethical and unacceptable. EAST uses plagiarism detection tools to screen submissions. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals is considered unethical behavior.
Acknowledge Authorship Accurately: Only individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research should be listed as authors. All co-authors must approve the final version of the manuscript.
Disclose Data and Methods Transparently: Authors should provide sufficient detail in their manuscripts to allow reproducibility. When required, they must be prepared to share raw data for verification purposes.
Ensure Ethical Conduct in Research: For research involving human or animal subjects, authors must confirm that all procedures were approved by the relevant institutional review board and carried out in accordance with appropriate ethical standards, such as the Declaration of Helsinki or the ARRIVE guidelines.
Declare Conflicts of Interest and Funding Sources: All financial support, institutional affiliations, and potential conflicts of interest must be clearly disclosed.
Report Errors Promptly: If an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in a published work, they must inform the editor promptly and cooperate in correcting or retracting the article.

Generative AI Use and AI-Assisted Technologies

EAST recognizes the increasing use of generative AI tools in research and publishing. To ensure transparency and uphold scholarly integrity, we have adopted the following policies, in alignment with global best practices including those of Elsevier:

AI Tools Cannot Be Authors: AI tools, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or other generative technologies, cannot be credited as authors. Authorship must reflect individual accountability and the ability to take responsibility for the work.
Disclosure of AI Use: Authors must clearly disclose any use of AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation. This includes text editing, image generation, data analysis, or translation. Such disclosures must be included in a dedicated section of the manuscript (e.g., Acknowledgements or Methods).
Human Oversight Required: Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the content generated with AI tools. Any use of AI must be accompanied by critical human oversight and verification.
Misuse Prohibited: AI must not be used to fabricate data, manipulate images, or generate fake citations. Any such practices will result in immediate rejection or retraction, depending on the stage of discovery.
Reviewer Guidelines for AI: Peer reviewers must not use generative AI tools to prepare reviews, unless the editor gives explicit permission and confidentiality can be maintained.

For more guidance, authors are encouraged to consult:
Elsevier Generative AI Policies for Journals

Corrections, Retractions, and Editorial Concerns

In accordance with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines (2019), EAST may issue the following:

Erratum: Correction of an error introduced by the publisher.
Corrigendum: Correction of an author’s error.
Retraction: Withdrawal of a published paper due to significant ethical or scientific issues.
Expression of Concern: Issued when potential issues are under investigation but not yet resolved.

All authors retain copyright to their work while granting EAST the right of first publication. Articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, allowing others to share and adapt the work, provided the original authors and source are properly cited.

Advertising and Marketing

EAST may include limited advertising in its publications or on its website. All advertisements must:

Be independent of editorial decision-making.
Be clearly distinguishable from editorial content.
Comply with relevant ethical and legal standards.

Social media promotion is permitted and encouraged but must be accurate and respectful of the scholarly record. EAST adheres to best practices as outlined by international advertising authorities and institutional policies.

Raising Ethical Concerns

Any person who believes that a published work in EAST has not adhered to these ethical principles is encouraged to report their concern confidentially. Concerns should be directed to the Editor-in-Chief or sent via email to:

publishingethics@edelweiss-ast.org

All reports will be reviewed and investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines.

References