Idakiri follows the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing as stated by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The publication ethics and malpractice statement of Idakiri (“Eastern Bulletin”) is based on COPE’s Guidelines on Good Publication Practice and Elsevier’s Publishing Ethics Resource Kit for editors (PERK). It is important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behaviour for all parties involved in the process of publishing (the authors, the editors, the peer reviewers and the publisher).

1. Duties of authors

1.1 Reporting standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed, an objective discussion of its significance and sufficient details and references. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.

1.2 Data access and retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review and should be prepared to provide public access to such data, if practicable, and should in any case be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

1.3 Originality and plagiarism

The authors should ensure that their work is entirely original and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited/quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

1.4 Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. In general, an author should also not submit for consideration in another journal a previously published paper. Publication of certain kinds of articles (e.g., translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.

1.5 Acknowledgement of sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately (from conversation, correspondence or discussion with third parties) must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Authors should not use information obtained in the course of providing confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, unless they have obtained the explicit written permission of the author(s) of the work involved in these services.

1.6 Authorship of the paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper and that there is a full consensus of all co-authors in approving the final version of the paper and its submission for publication.

1.7 Copyright and licensing

The intellectual property and copyright on the original content of all scientific contributions shall remain with the authors. Authors grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work’s authorship and initial publication in this journal. Provided they are the owners of the copyright to their work, authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal’s published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository, in a journal or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal. Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories, disciplinary repositories, or on their website) prior to and during the submission process

1.8 Author fees and royalties

No fees or charges are required for manuscript processing and/or publishing materials in the journal. Authors will not receive royalties for their publications.

1.9 Disclosure and conflicts of interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any actual or potential financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include financial ones such as honoraria, educational grants or other funding, participation in speakers’ bureaus, membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest, and paid expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements, as well as non-financial ones such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs in the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed (including the grant number or other reference number if any).

1.10 Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers significant errors or inaccuracies in his/her published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal’s editors and work with them to either correct the paper in the form of an erratum or to retract the paper. If the editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error or inaccuracy, then it is the authors’ obligation to promptly correct or retract the paper or provide evidence to the journal editors of the correctness of the paper.

2. Duties of editors

 2.1 Publication decisions

The managing editor ensures that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers who are expert in the field. The Editor-in-Chief 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 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.

2.2 Fairness

Editors should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the author(s).

2.3 Confidentiality

Editors must not disclose any information about a manuscript under consideration to anyone other than the author(s), reviewers and potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and in some cases the editorial board members, as appropriate.

2.4 Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained by editors as a result of handling the manuscript will be kept confidential and not used for their personal advantage.

2.5 Involvement and cooperation in investigations

Editors (in conjunction with the publisher and/or society) will take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regard to a submitted manuscript or published paper. Every reported act of unethical publishing behaviour will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication. If, on investigation, the ethical concern is well-founded, a correction, retraction, expression of concern or other note as may be relevant, will be published in the journal.

3. Duties of peer reviewers

3.1 Contribution to editorial decisions

Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and through editorial communications with the author may also assist authors in improving their manuscripts.

3.2 Promptness

Any invited referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its timely review will be impossible should immediately notify the editor so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.

3.3 Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review are confidential documents and must be treated as such; they must not be shown to or discussed with others except if 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.

3.4 Standards of objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments, so that authors can use them for improving the paper.

3.5 Acknowledgement of sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that is an observation, derivation or argument that has been reported in previous publications should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editors’ attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published data of which they have personal knowledge.

3.6 Disclosure and conflict of interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider evaluating manuscripts for which they have conflicts of interest.

4. Duties of the publisher

4.1 Handling of unethical publishing behaviour

In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification or, in the most severe case, the retraction of the affected work.  The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.

4.2 Access to journal content

The publisher is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of scholarly research and ensures accessibility by partnering with organizations and maintaining our own digital archive.