Ethics and Malpractice

ETHICS & MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

Artificial Intelligence in Systems and Applications (AISA) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, and professional conduct throughout the publication process. The journal strives to publish original, high-quality scholarly work while ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability among authors, editors, reviewers, editorial board members, and the publisher.

AISA follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and internationally accepted ethical publishing standards in handling submissions, peer review, corrections, retractions, complaints, and allegations of research or publication misconduct.

This policy applies to all parties involved in the publication process, including the Editor-in-Chief, Editorial Board Members, Reviewers, Authors, and the Publisher.

EDITOR RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief has full responsibility for the editorial management of AISA and makes the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of submitted manuscripts.

Editorial decisions are based on:

  • Originality and scientific contribution
  • Technical quality and methodological soundness
  • Relevance to the journal's scope
  • Reviewers' recommendations
  • Ethical and legal considerations, including plagiarism, copyright, and research misconduct

All manuscripts undergo a fair and independent peer-review process involving at least two qualified reviewers.

Editors may reject manuscripts before peer review if they:

  • Fall outside the journal scope
  • Do not meet minimum quality standards
  • Lack originality or scientific contribution
  • Contain obvious ethical concerns

Editors shall remain independent from external influence and ensure that editorial decisions are based solely on academic merit.

2. Confidentiality

Editors shall treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents.

Information relating to submitted manuscripts shall not be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial board members, and the publisher when necessary.

3. Fairness

Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on academic merit regardless of:

  • Race
  • Gender
  • Nationality
  • Religion
  • Institutional affiliation
  • Political beliefs
  • Disability
  • Sexual orientation

4. Conflicts of Interest

Editors shall:

  • Declare any conflicts of interest.
  • Decline handling manuscripts where conflicts exist.
  • Never use unpublished information for personal research or benefit.
  • Protect the confidentiality of submitted work.

Editors shall investigate suspected misconduct following COPE guidance and issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions where appropriate.

EDITORIAL BOARD RESPONSIBILITIES

Editorial Board Members shall:

  • Support the journal's editorial policies.
  • Maintain confidentiality.
  • Promote ethical publishing.
  • Assist in handling ethical concerns.
  • Recommend qualified reviewers.
  • Promote the journal internationally.
  • Contribute to the continuous improvement of publication quality.

REVIEWER RESPONSIBILITIES

Reviewers shall:

  • Conduct objective, fair, and constructive reviews.
  • Maintain confidentiality.
  • Complete reviews within the agreed timeframe.
  • Declare conflicts of interest.
  • Identify plagiarism, duplicate publication, or ethical concerns where possible.
  • Provide evidence-based recommendations to the Editor.

Reviewers shall not use unpublished information for personal advantage.

AUTHOR RESPONSIBILITIES

Authors are expected to:

Reporting Standards

  • Present accurate and original research.
  • Report findings honestly.
  • Avoid fabrication, falsification, or data manipulation.
  • Describe research methods clearly to allow reproducibility.

Originality

Authors must ensure that manuscripts are original and have not been published or submitted elsewhere.

Proper acknowledgement and citation of previous work are required.

Plagiarism

Any form of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, is unacceptable.

All submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism detection software before peer review.

Multiple Submission

Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to multiple journals.

Authorship

Only individuals who have made significant scholarly contributions should be listed as authors.

The corresponding author must obtain approval from all co-authors before submission.

Ethical Approval

Research involving human participants or animals must obtain approval from the appropriate ethics committee.

Where applicable, informed consent must be obtained.

Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose:

  • Financial support
  • Funding sources
  • Potential conflicts of interest
  • Commercial relationships

Data Availability

Authors may be requested to provide supporting data for editorial review.

PUBLISHER RESPONSIBILITIES

The Publisher shall:

  • Support editorial independence.
  • Maintain the integrity of the publication process.
  • Protect academic freedom.
  • Support ethical publishing practices.
  • Assist in investigating allegations of publication misconduct.
  • Ensure corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern are published where necessary.
  • Periodically review and update journal policies to align with international publishing standards.

COMPLIANCE WITH COPE

AISA is committed to following the principles and best practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All allegations of publication misconduct will be investigated fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with internationally accepted ethical publishing standards.