The IBAD Journal of Social Sciences fully adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and Guidelines. The journal upholds clear ethical standards and policies, along with a rigorous peer-review process, to support the inclusion of high-quality scholarly work in the field of academic publishing.

When ethical issues are identified, the journal is committed to investigating them and taking appropriate measures to safeguard the integrity of the scholarly record and the safety of research participants. Submitted manuscripts must comply with the editorial and ethical policies of the journal as outlined on this webpage. The journal is guided by the principles of impartiality, transparency, and consistency in all of its policies.

Authors reporting studies involving human participants or human data must declare that their research was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (revised in 2013). According to Article 23 of this declaration, approval from a local Institutional Review Board (IRB) or another appropriate ethics committee must be obtained prior to commencing the research, in order to confirm compliance with national and international guidelines. Manuscripts must clearly state that research and publication ethics have been observed throughout the study. For more information, please visit: https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki/

In studies requiring ethics committee approval, the Ethics Statement section of the manuscript must include detailed information about the approval (name of the committee, date, and approval number). This information should also be provided in the Methods section and on either the first or last page of the article. 

Example:

“To assess the compliance of this study with ethical principles, approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of … University on … (Protocol No: …), confirming that the study adheres to ethical standards.” OR “This article does not involve any procedures with human participants; therefore, ethics committee approval was not required.”

For non-interventional studies (e.g., surveys, questionnaires, or social media research), all participants must be fully informed about whether anonymity is ensured, the purpose of the research, how their data will be used, and whether participation involves any risks. As with all research involving human participants, ethics committee approval should be obtained from an appropriate board before conducting the study. If ethics approval is not required, this must be explicitly stated. For more information on our ethics approval requirements, please visit the Ethics Permission Policy page.

For studies involving human participants or human data, manuscripts must include a statement regarding informed consent. Authors should provide this information in a dedicated “Informed Consent” section of the manuscript. In some cases, verbal informed consent (e.g., for ethnographic studies) may be acceptable. If verbal consent is used, a copy of the text provided to participants during the consent process must be submitted during manuscript submission. If informed consent is not required, this must be explicitly stated. For any manuscript containing identifiable participant information (such as personal data, photographs, or videos), written informed consent must be obtained from participants (or their legal guardians/representatives) prior to submission. At the time of submission, a blank copy of the consent form (without participant names or signatures) must be provided. Example: “Informed consent was obtained from all participants involved in the study.” OR “Informed consent was not required for this article.”

Identifiable participant information unrelated to the research should not be included. Initials or other personal identifiers should not appear in any images. Participant information should be anonymized wherever possible; for example, do not include age, ethnicity, or occupation details that are not relevant to the study’s results. The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with these requirements.

The Editorial Board may request additional documentation if necessary. Manuscripts will be reviewed by the Editorial Board, and, if requested, authors must provide documentary evidence, including signed consent forms and related ethics committee documentation. If a study involves vulnerable or sensitive groups, the manuscript will undergo additional editorial review. Upon request, authors must provide documentary proof, including blank consent forms and relevant ethics committee or institutional approvals.

Publication Ethics

IBAD Journal of Social Sciences fully adopts the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). In its policies, the journal adheres strictly to the guidelines published by COPE, which are publicly available.

The editors of this journal apply rigorous ethical policies and standards, along with a thorough peer-review process, to ensure the inclusion of high-quality scholarly work in academic publishing. Unfortunately, cases such as plagiarism, data fabrication, image manipulation, and inappropriate authorship may occasionally arise. The journal treats all publication ethics violations very seriously and maintains a zero-tolerance policy in such cases.

Authors submitting manuscripts to the IBAD Journal of Social Sciences must comply with the following principles: (For detailed information, please visit the Ethical Principles and Publication Policy page.)
- All facts that could be perceived as potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed in the manuscript prior to submission. Authors must present research findings accurately and provide an objective discussion of their significance.
- Data and methods used in the research must be reported in sufficient detail to allow other researchers to replicate the study.
- Raw data should preferably be publicly archived by the authors prior to manuscript submission. Authors must have raw data readily available to reviewers and editors upon request. Authors are responsible for ensuring that raw data are preserved in their entirety for a reasonable period after publication.
- Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals is not permitted.

Authors must promptly notify the editors if errors or inaccuracies are identified after publication so that appropriate corrective action can be taken. Please refer to the Published Article Updates Policy section below. Manuscripts must not contain previously published material. If previously published figures or images are included, authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder to publish under a CC-BY or CC-BY-NC license. For more information, see the Copyright Policy page.

Plagiarism, data falsification, and image manipulation are unacceptable. Plagiarism includes using text, ideas, images, or data from any source—including the author’s own previous work—without proper citation. Reuse of text from another source must be clearly cited. If the design, structure, or language of a study is inspired by previous work, these sources must be explicitly referenced.
- All manuscripts are checked for plagiarism using similarity-detection software such as iThenticate, Turnitin, or intihal.net. If plagiarism is detected during peer review, the manuscript may be rejected. Plagiarism identified after publication will be investigated and handled according to journal policies.
- Image files must not be altered or adjusted in ways that could misrepresent the information provided in the original image. Improper modifications include:  a) Adding, enhancing, moving, or removing features from the original image; b) Grouping images that should be presented separately; or c) Changing contrast, brightness, or color balance to obscure, remove, or enhance certain information.

The journal’s editors and reviewers must adhere to the following principles: (For detailed information, please visit the Ethical Principles and Publication Policy page.)
- All participants involved in the peer-review process—including the Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, Editorial Board Members, Guest Editors, and reviewers, in collaboration with the Journal Secretariat—are responsible for overseeing the integrity of the journal’s editorial process.
- If any participant in the peer-review process has ethical concerns regarding a manuscript under review, or becomes aware of a potential ethical issue after publication, they must contact the Journal Secretariat as soon as possible. The Editorial Board will conduct an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines.
- Prior to and during the peer-review process, the Journal Secretariat and Editorial Board perform several checks. Nonetheless, any concerns raised by reviewers or editors must still be reported to the Secretariat. The Editorial Board’s checks include: a) Verification of ethics approvals and permissions for research involving human participants. b) Plagiarism and duplicate publication checks, and obtaining permissions from copyright holders for previously published figures or images. c) Compliance, ethical, and research integrity checks according to journal guidelines.

When making recommendations or final acceptance decisions for a manuscript, reviewers and editors should consider the following: (For detailed information, please visit the Reviewer Instructions page.)
- All information that could be perceived as a potential conflict of interest must be disclosed, and authors must declare any conflicts related to their work prior to submission.
-Authors must present research findings accurately and provide an objective discussion of their significance.
- Data and methods used in the research must be described in sufficient detail to allow other researchers to replicate the study.
- The manuscript must be consistent with the journal’s Aims and Scope.
- The manuscript should have received sufficient feedback and evaluation from qualified reviewers in the relevant field.

During the review process, if irregular image manipulation is detected and confirmed, the manuscript may be rejected. If such manipulation is detected after publication, the article may be corrected or retracted. Authors are expected to adhere to the highest standards of ethical publishing. The Editorial Board will investigate any allegations of publication misconduct and, if necessary, contact the authors’ institutions or funding bodies. If misconduct is confirmed, appropriate actions will be taken to correct or retract the publication. For our retraction and correction policy, please refer to the Correction and Retraction section below. For detailed information on ethical principles authors must follow and the measures the Editorial Board may take, please visit the Ethical Principles and Publication Policy page.

Authors must ensure that any material taken from other sources (including their own previously published works) is properly acknowledged and, where necessary, used with permission. Authors should avoid excessive self-citation and must not copy references from other publications if they have not read the cited work themselves. Citations should not give undue preference to the authors’ own publications, or those of their colleagues, friends, or institutions. References to promotional or advertising materials are not permitted. 

In accordance with COPE guidelines, “Original statements taken directly from other researchers’ publications must appear in quotation marks with proper attribution.” This rule also applies to an author’s own prior work. For COPE’s best practice recommendations on citation manipulation, please click here.

References:

Updating Published Articles
IBAD Journal of Social Sciences recognizes its responsibility to correct scientifically significant errors or ethical issues brought to our attention. To ensure transparency for our authors and readers regarding any changes, we adhere to the standardized criteria outlined below for updates to published articles.

Correction

We acknowledge the existence of two types of corrections:

- Minor Corrections: These address issues that do not affect the scientific content of an article but require the upload of an updated version to replace the record version. If the update is approved by the Editorial Board, a correction notice will be published within a document titled Correction File on the front pages (i.e. generic page) in the most recent issue of the journal. Changes in the correction file will be detailed and referred to the original publication. Articles with minor corrections will not be republished separately. For a correction sample click here.

- Major Corrections: Address issues or errors that may influence the scientific interpretation of an article. Once approved, the article will be updated and republished on our website, along with a separate Correction Notice linking to the updated article. This notice will appear in the most recent issue of the journal and inform readers that a significant revision has been made and that the revised version is now available online.

Following both minor and major corrections, all relevant indexing databases will be notified to ensure that the revised versions are properly updated.

Retraction
Occasionally, it may become necessary to retract an article from the research literature. This can occur due to unintentional errors made during the research process, major ethical violations, data fabrication, extensive plagiarism, or other significant reasons. Such articles compromise the integrity of the scientific record and must therefore be withdrawn. The journal follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding retractions. Accordingly, when a retraction is issued, the original publication is replaced with a version clearly marked with a RETRACTED watermark but remains accessible on the journal’s website for the purpose of maintaining the scholarly record. However, retracted articles should not be cited or used for further research, as their content can no longer be considered reliable. Retraction notices are published using the same authorship and affiliation information as the original article, ensuring that both the notice and the retracted paper are properly indexed and traceable in bibliographic databases. The retraction notice will also appear in the most recent issue of the journal.

An article will be completely removed from the journal’s website and related indexing databases only under exceptional circumstances, such as:
- The removal request is mandated by a court order or official authority;
- The content poses a risk to personal privacy or the legal rights of others, which cannot be adequately addressed through editorial notices or corrections;
- The research was conducted or published unlawfully, and its continued presence could lead to legal or confidentiality issues;
 - The content, even when marked as retracted, poses a public health or safety risk.

In such cases, the retraction notice will explain why the article was completely removed, and only the metadata (title and author information) will be retained.

Reference: https://publicationethics.org/guidance/guideline/retraction-guidelines

Expression of Concern
In complex, inconclusive, or prolonged cases, an editor or the journal may consider issuing an Expression of Concern. The purpose of an Expression of Concern is to alert readers to potential issues when an investigation has not yet been completed or remains inconclusive. It typically outlines the specific concerns in detail and summarizes any ongoing actions being taken.

An Expression of Concern is a separate notice linked to the original publication and is issued by the Editorial Board. Before publication, the editorial team will attempt to inform the authors and provide an expected timeline. If further information becomes available, the Expression of Concern may later be replaced with a Correction Notice, a Retraction Notice, or a Clearance/Explanatory Notice, depending on the outcome of the investigation.

Comments and Replies
If a reader has concerns about the results or methods used in a published article, they should contact the journal’s Editorial Office. If deemed reasonable, the reader may be invited to submit a Comment for potential publication. Comments are short letters addressed to the editors, written by readers who wish to publicly discuss specific aspects of a published paper.

Once a Comment is accepted for peer review, the Editorial Office will contact the authors of the article in question and invite them to submit a Reply. The Reply provides authors an opportunity to publicly respond to the concerns raised by the reader. If the reader’s concerns are validated and the authors fail to adequately address them, a Correction Notice may be issued for the original article, or in serious cases, the article may be Retracted. If the authors do not respond by the specified deadline or choose not to reply, the Comment may still be published, accompanied by a note indicating the absence of a Reply.

Both Comments and Replies will be reviewed to ensure that:
- The Comment addresses significant aspects of the original article without becoming a new, standalone paper.
- The Reply directly and clearly addresses the raised concerns without evasion.
- The tone of both publications remains appropriate for a scholarly journal.

Comments may critique the work but should not criticize the authors personally. They should not simply restate previously published disagreements. Multiple rounds of Comments and Replies from the same reader(s) will not be permitted. The Editorial Office only accepts Comments and Replies concerning articles published within the IBAD Journal of Social Sciences.Changes in the change file will be detailed and submitted to the original publication.