Publication Ethics & Misconduct Policy

• Submit original work that has not been published previously and is not under consideration by another journal.
• Present research methods, data, analysis, and results honestly, accurately, and transparently.
• Retain supporting data and provide reasonable access when requested for editorial assessment or investigation.
• Cite all relevant sources accurately and clearly identify material reproduced from other works.
• Obtain permission for copyrighted materials when required.
• Identify all funding sources, institutional support, and financial or non-financial conflicts of interest.
• Obtain ethical approval and informed consent where research involves humans, animals, confidential data, or other regulated activities.
• Inform the editor promptly when a significant error or ethical concern is discovered before or after publication.

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work, participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final version, and agreed to be accountable for the work.

Plagiarism includes presenting another person's words, ideas, images, data, methods, or results as one's own without proper acknowledgment. Self-plagiarism or inappropriate text recycling includes substantial reuse of an author's previously published content without transparent citation or justification.

• Direct copying without quotation and citation
• Close paraphrasing without acknowledgment
• Unauthorized reuse of tables, figures, or images
• Translation plagiarism
• Data or idea plagiarism
• Substantial duplicate or redundant publication

Authors must not fabricate data, alter results dishonestly, omit relevant observations deceptively, or manipulate images in ways that misrepresent the original information.

• Fabrication means inventing data, participants, observations, experiments, or results.
• Falsification means manipulating research materials, equipment, methods, images, or data so that the research record is inaccurately represented.
• Selective reporting intended to conceal contradictory or unfavorable findings may constitute misconduct.
• Image enhancement is acceptable only when applied consistently and when it does not obscure, remove, introduce, or misrepresent information.

Authors must not submit substantially the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal. Previously published material, conference papers, preprints, theses, datasets, or related manuscripts must be disclosed to the editor when they overlap materially with the submission.

• Legitimate secondary publication must be approved, transparent, and appropriately referenced.
• Salami publication or artificial fragmentation of one study into multiple minimally different papers is not acceptable.
• Authors must provide copies of closely related manuscripts when requested by the editor.

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose any financial, professional, academic, institutional, personal, or intellectual relationship that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their work or judgment.

• Research grants and institutional funding
• Consultancies, employment, and advisory roles
• Patents, royalties, shares, or commercial interests
• Personal relationships or professional rivalries
• Academic competition or institutional interests

Funding statements must identify the funder and clarify its role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, and the decision to submit the article.

• Research involving human participants must state the name of the approving ethics committee, approval number where applicable, and informed-consent procedures.
• Personal identities, images, medical details, and confidential information must not be published without valid consent or a lawful ethical basis.
• Animal research must comply with applicable welfare standards and institutional or national regulations.
• Authors must explain any waiver of ethical approval or consent when such a waiver is relevant.

JuVoTek applies a double-blind peer-review process. Reviewers must assess manuscripts objectively, respectfully, promptly, and confidentially.

• Reviewers must not disclose, copy, distribute, or use unpublished manuscript content for personal benefit.
• Reviewers must decline assignments when they lack suitable expertise or have a conflict of interest.
• Personal criticism, discriminatory comments, abusive language, or unsupported accusations are prohibited.
• Reviewers must identify relevant uncited work and report suspected ethical concerns confidentially to the editor.
• Reviewers must not require citations primarily to increase citations to themselves, colleagues, or a particular journal.

• Editors evaluate submissions independently and without improper commercial, institutional, or personal influence.
• Editors maintain confidentiality and protect the identities of reviewers where applicable.
• Editors must recuse themselves from manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest.
• Allegations are assessed consistently and authors are normally given a reasonable opportunity to respond.
• Editorial decisions and corrective actions are based on available evidence and the reliability of the scholarly record.

• Artificial intelligence tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for the work.
• Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, citations, data protection, and integrity of AI-assisted content.
• Material use of generative AI in writing, analysis, image production, translation, coding, or data processing must be disclosed transparently where relevant.
• Authors must not upload confidential manuscripts, personal data, or protected research information to external AI systems without appropriate authorization.
• AI-generated references, facts, images, and analyses must be independently checked before submission.

Complaints or allegations should contain sufficient information and supporting evidence to permit an initial assessment. Anonymous complaints may be considered when they present credible and verifiable evidence.

The journal may contact authors, reviewers, editors, institutions, ethics committees, funders, or other journals when necessary to verify evidence or coordinate an investigation. The journal does not determine legal guilt but may take editorial action to protect the integrity of the publication record.

Retraction and correction notices will be clearly identified, linked to the affected article, and will state the reason for the action while avoiding defamatory or unnecessarily accusatory language. Retracted articles will normally remain accessible and be clearly marked to preserve the scholarly record.

• Request for clarification or supporting evidence
• Requirement to revise or correct the manuscript
• Rejection of the manuscript
• Temporary suspension of editorial processing
• Publication of a correction or clarification
• Publication of an expression of concern
• Retraction of a published article
• Notification of relevant institutions or funders
• Notification of other journals when appropriate
• Restriction on future submissions for a defined period

Authors may appeal an editorial or misconduct decision by submitting a reasoned written request supported by relevant evidence. Appeals based solely on disagreement with reviewer judgment, without demonstrating a material error, procedural irregularity, conflict of interest, or ethical concern, may not be reconsidered.

Where appropriate, the appeal may be assessed by an editor or adviser who was not directly responsible for the original decision. The outcome of the appeal will be communicated in writing and may constitute the journal's final decision.

Misconduct inquiries will be handled confidentially to the extent reasonably possible. Information will be shared only with persons or organizations that have a legitimate role in evaluating or resolving the matter.

The journal may retain correspondence, reviewer reports, submitted files, evidence, decisions, and corrective records for editorial, legal, and integrity purposes in accordance with applicable policies and regulations.