Publication Ethics and Policies
Authors must conduct their research in accordance with professional academic practices and codes of conduct related to academic expert associations as well as national and universal administrative bodies. The JITC patterned and followed the guidelines available from COPE (COPE resources, COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines). This publication’s ethics and policies will provide practical guidance to journal editors in dealing with the repercussions arising from distributing work that could infringe on the codes of conduct.
General Publication Policies
Duplicate Publication: The papers already published in other scientific journals or periodicals are not considered for publication. In addition, published papers in this journal must not be submitted elsewhere and must be withdrawn before being submitted to other scientific journals.
Authorship: Authors who meet all of the following conditions can be listed:
1) Substantial contributions to the conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data;
2) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3) Responsible for the final approval of the version to be published;
4) Accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Conflict-of-Interest Statement: Any conflicts of interest related to the individual author’s commitments or project support should be clarified and described in the manuscript.
Original Paper Submission and Plagiarism Policy: The submission of manuscripts containing original contents is expected from all authors. Only submitted manuscripts that were not simultaneously submitted to or published elsewhere can be accepted; otherwise, the manuscript will be automatically rejected. The authors must indicate how the new manuscript submission offers substantial novel contributions beyond those of the previously published paper(s). The Journal strictly prohibits plagiarism and self-plagiarism. If plagiarism is found during the manuscript review or in the publication, the Editorial Board of JITC will immediately investigate the case, and severe penalties will be imposed on the author(s) related to the plagiarism.
Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement: For the policies on the research and publication ethics not stated in these guidelines, the International Standards for Editors and Authors Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (https://publicationethics.org/) and the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers can be applied. Any ethical issues in the manuscripts will be reviewed by the Editorial Board, and the recommendations should be processed by the Research Ethics Committee.
Duties of Editors
Fair Play and Editorial Freedom: Manuscripts are entirely evaluated on the basis of their academic and intellectual merit, without regard to the author's’ race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation, or social class. The journal’s editorial policies should reassure transparent, comprehensive, and authentic reporting, and the Editor should warrant that peer reviewers and authors have a clear understanding of what is expected of them. The Editor shall create, together with the Publisher, a transparent mechanism for the petition contrary to the editorial decisions.
Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff will 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 applicable. The Editor may share partial information with editors of other journals where considered needed to scrutinize suspected research transgressions, in exceptional situations, and in consultation with the Publisher.
Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished information must not be disclosed by the Editors and Editorial Board Members for their own research purposes without the authors’ written consent. Any information or ideas acquired by the editors handling the manuscript will be kept confidential and not used for their personal benefit. In any conflicts of interest ensuing from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers, the Editors must disqualify themselves automatically, and as an alternative, they will ask another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript.
Publication Decisions: All the submitted manuscripts being considered for publication must be ensured by the Editors to undergo a double blind peer-review by at least two reviewers who are experts in the field. The editor can accept, reject, or request modifications to the manuscript based on the review results. The Editor-in-Chief on the other hand, is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published, based on the validation of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the reviewers’ comments, and such other legal requirements as are currently in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Recommendations from a peer review will help editors make editorial decisions about whether a manuscript is accepted for publication and may assist authors in improving their manuscripts for revisions.
Promptness: Reviewers are required to submit their reviews within the allotted time given to them; otherwise, they need to notify the editors for an extension, or they may decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.
Confidentiality: Reviewers must consider any manuscript that they receive as strictly confidential documents and must be treated as such; they must not be shown to or discussed with anyone other than persons authorized by the Editor-in-Chief (who would only do so under exceptional and specific circumstances). This applies also to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.
Standards of Objectivity: Fair and unbiased reviews should be conducted, and the observations must be formulated clearly with supporting arguments to help the authors improve their manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors is prohibited.
Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers ought to identify significant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Relevant citations should accompany reports of statements, observations, or arguments that have been noted elsewhere. A reviewer should also notify the editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other manuscript (published or unpublished) of which they have personal knowledge.
Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers should decline to review the manuscript in which they have a conflict of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the manuscript and the work described therein. Reviewers are not allowed to use any material in a submitted manuscript for their personal advantage without prior written consent from the authors. This also applies to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.
Duties of Authors
Submission Standards: Authors are only allowed to submit original research that presents an accurate account of the work performed, reliable results, and an objective discussion of the significance of the work. Sufficient detail and references must be included in the manuscript to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Data Access and Retention: Authors are required to provide all necessary data relevant to support the ideas and conclusions of the research. The Authors should be prepared to retain this data during the review process.
Originality and Plagiarism: The Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original work,; otherwise, they need to properly cite the works of other Author(s). If a plagiarism issue is found after the paper is published, the Publisher will directly contact the Author(s) in response to the allegations. In cases of proven plagiarism or non-response/non-adequate response, the offending manuscript will be retracted, and a statement indicating that the manuscript has been plagiarized by the Publisher will be issued.
Multiple, Duplicate, Redundant or Concurrent Submission/Publication: The submission of the same manuscript to more than one publication channel concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Every manuscript must be peer-reviewed by only one Publisher at a time.
Authorship of the manuscript: Only persons who meet the authorship criteria described in the general publication policies should be listed as Authors in the manuscript, as they must be able to take public responsibility for the content. All other persons who made substantial contributions to the work reported in the manuscript but did not meet the criteria for authorship can be recognized in the "Acknowledgements" section of the manuscript. The Corresponding Author will be responsible for ensuring that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the author list and verify that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.
Disclosures and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest that might influence the results or their interpretation of the manuscript. All sources of financial support, including research grant numbers or reference numbers for the work, should be disclosed.
Acknowledgment of Sources: Authors must ensure that they have properly acknowledged and cited the work of others who have been influential in the contents of their manuscript.
Peer Review: Authors must participate and fully cooperate in the peer-review process by promptly responding to the requests of Editors for raw data, clarifications, proof of ethics approval, patient or subject consents, and copyright permissions. Authors must also provide for necessary manuscript revisions and should timely, point-by-point, and systematically respond to the comments of the reviewers.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works: Authors must promptly notify the Journal Editors or Publisher whenever significant errors in their own published manuscript are discovered. They are obliged to cooperate on the correction or retraction of the published manuscript.
Duties of the Publisher
Handling of Unethical Publishing Behavior: The Publisher, in collaboration with the Editors, will be responsible for taking all appropriate actions and measures to investigate and clarify cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification, or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected published work. The Publisher and the Editors must take sensible measures to identify and prevent the publication of manuscripts where research misconduct has transpired, prohibit such misconduct, or knowingly permit such misconduct to take place.
Access to Journal Content: The Publisher must ensure the permanent availability and preservation of published manuscripts and guarantee accessibility by partnering with organizations and maintaining its own digital archive.
