Publication Ethics

1. Purpose and Scope

Kashf Journal of Multidisciplinary Research (KJMR) is committed to maintaining the integrity, accuracy, transparency, fairness, and credibility of the scholarly record.

This Publication Ethics Policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to or published by the journal and to all individuals involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial team members, and the publisher.

The journal follows recognised principles of publication ethics and addresses ethical concerns in accordance with applicable scholarly publishing standards and relevant publication-ethics guidance.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must:

Submit original, accurate, and ethically conducted scholarly work;
Ensure that the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal;
Present research methods, results, and conclusions honestly and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation;
Cite and acknowledge all sources appropriately;
Disclose all funding sources and actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest;
Obtain the required ethical approvals, permissions, and informed consent where applicable;
Obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material, figures, images, tables, datasets, or other third-party content;
Cooperate with the journal during peer review and any ethical investigation;
Inform the Editor promptly if a significant error is identified before or after publication; and
Comply with the journal’s Author Guidelines, Plagiarism Policy, Peer Review Policy, Copyright and Licensing Policy, and other applicable journal policies.

3. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the conception, design, execution, analysis, interpretation, or preparation of the work.

All listed authors must:

Approve the submitted and final versions of the manuscript;
Agree to its submission and publication;
Accept responsibility for their individual contributions; and
Be accountable for the integrity of the work.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged with their permission.

Guest authorship, honorary authorship, gift authorship, purchased authorship, and the omission of eligible contributors are not permitted.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

All eligible contributors are listed as authors;
No ineligible person is included as an author;
All authors approve the manuscript before submission; and
All authors are informed of editorial decisions and revisions.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must include a written explanation and the written agreement of all authors. Changes after publication may require a formal correction notice.

4. Use of Artificial Intelligence Tools

Artificial intelligence tools and language models cannot be listed as authors because they cannot accept responsibility for the content of a manuscript.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, citations, analysis, and integrity of all submitted content.

Any substantial use of artificial intelligence tools in writing, analysis, image creation, data processing, translation, or research methods must be disclosed transparently in the manuscript, where relevant.

Artificial intelligence tools must not be used to fabricate data, references, quotations, images, results, or other scholarly content.

5. Originality, Plagiarism, and Duplicate Publication

All submitted manuscripts must be original and must not have been published previously or be under consideration elsewhere.

The journal does not permit:

Plagiarism;
Self-plagiarism;
Duplicate or redundant publication;
Inappropriate text recycling;
Data duplication;
Image manipulation;
Citation manipulation;
Submission of substantially similar manuscripts to multiple journals; or
Publication designed primarily to increase citations rather than contribute to scholarship.

All manuscripts are screened in accordance with the journal’s Plagiarism Policy.

Similarity reports are evaluated by the editorial team. A similarity percentage alone does not determine whether plagiarism has occurred; the nature, source, extent, and context of the matching material will also be examined.

Manuscripts containing serious plagiarism or unethical duplication may be rejected. If such conduct is identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

6. Data Integrity, Availability, and Reproducibility

Authors must ensure that data, results, images, calculations, and interpretations are accurate and have not been fabricated, falsified, selectively altered, or misleadingly presented.

Research methods should be described with sufficient clarity to allow readers and other researchers to understand and, where reasonably possible, reproduce the study.

Authors should retain the original research data and supporting records for an appropriate period after publication.

The Editor may request:

Raw or original data;
Research instruments;
Questionnaires;
Statistical outputs;
Laboratory records;
Ethics approval documentation;
Consent documentation; or
Other supporting evidence.

Authors should include a data-availability statement where applicable. Research data should be shared through a suitable repository or provided on reasonable request when legally, ethically, and practically possible.

Restrictions on data sharing due to participant confidentiality, privacy, legal requirements, commercial sensitivity, or ethical approval conditions must be clearly explained.

Failure to provide requested supporting data without a valid reason may result in rejection, suspension of editorial consideration, correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

7. Ethical Oversight

Research must comply with the ethical and legal requirements applicable in the country or institution where the study was conducted.

Research Involving Human Participants

Manuscripts involving human participants, human data, biological material, medical records, interviews, surveys, or identifiable personal information must include, where applicable:

The name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review board;
The ethics approval or reference number;
A statement confirming that informed consent was obtained; and
An explanation of any approved exemption from consent.

Research involving children, vulnerable individuals, patients, or sensitive populations must include appropriate safeguards.

Identifying information, photographs, case details, or personal data must not be published without specific consent for publication unless disclosure is legally permitted and ethically justified.

Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must have approval from an appropriate institutional or national ethics body and must follow applicable animal welfare standards.

Authors must provide relevant approval details and explain the measures taken to minimise animal suffering.

Clinical Trials

Clinical trials should be registered in an appropriate publicly accessible trial registry, where required by the relevant discipline or regulatory framework.

The registration name and number should be included in the manuscript.

Sensitive and Confidential Information

Authors must protect confidential, personal, cultural, institutional, and commercially sensitive information and comply with applicable privacy and data-protection requirements.

8. Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, their work or decisions.

Conflicts may include:

Financial interests;
Employment or consultancy relationships;
Personal or family relationships;
Academic competition;
Institutional affiliations;
Political or religious interests;
Intellectual commitments; or
Other professional relationships.

Authors must disclose all sources of funding and financial support and describe the role of the funder, if any, in:

Study design;
Data collection;
Analysis;
Interpretation;
Manuscript preparation; and
The decision to submit the manuscript.

Where no conflict of interest or external funding exists, authors should provide an appropriate declaration.

Publication charges, fee waivers, institutional status, funding status, nationality, or professional position must not influence peer-review outcomes or editorial decisions.

9. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must:

Provide objective, fair, respectful, constructive, and evidence-based evaluations;
Evaluate manuscripts solely on their scholarly merit;
Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and review communications;
Disclose any conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment;
Decline the review if they lack sufficient expertise or cannot complete it within the required period;
Identify relevant published work that has not been appropriately cited;
Report suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, unethical research, or other misconduct to the Editor; and
Avoid using unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal, academic, professional, or commercial advantage.

Reviewers must not share the manuscript with another person or involve an additional reviewer without prior permission from the Editor.

Reviewers must not contact authors directly.

10. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must:

Make decisions based on originality, quality, validity, relevance, ethical compliance, and contribution to knowledge;
Protect the confidentiality and integrity of the peer-review process;
Select suitably qualified and independent reviewers;
Ensure that conflicts of interest are properly managed;
Avoid discrimination based on nationality, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, political views, institutional affiliation, disability, professional status, or financial circumstances;
Investigate credible ethical concerns fairly and confidentially;
Require corrections or retractions where necessary;
Maintain editorial independence from financial, commercial, institutional, or personal influence; and
Preserve the integrity of the scholarly record.

An editor must not handle a manuscript where a conflict of interest could affect, or appear to affect, their impartiality. The manuscript must be assigned to another qualified editor.

Editors and editorial team members submitting their own work to KJMR will not participate in the selection of reviewers, peer review, or editorial decision concerning their manuscript.

11. Confidentiality

Submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, review reports, editorial correspondence, supporting documents, and ethical investigations must be treated as confidential.

Information obtained during submission, peer review, or investigation must not be disclosed except where disclosure is necessary to:

Investigate suspected misconduct;
Obtain specialist or legal advice;
Contact an author’s institution, employer, ethics committee, funder, or regulatory authority; or
Comply with a legal obligation.

Personal information collected through the journal system will be used only for legitimate journal and publication purposes in accordance with the journal’s Privacy Statement.

12. Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct

The journal takes allegations of misconduct seriously, whether they concern a submitted manuscript or a published article.

Misconduct may include:

Plagiarism or self-plagiarism;
Fabrication or falsification of data;
Manipulation of images or results;
Duplicate or redundant publication;
Citation manipulation;
Undisclosed conflicts of interest;
Authorship manipulation;
Peer-review manipulation;
Unethical research involving humans or animals;
Breach of confidentiality;
Misappropriation of ideas or data; or
Any other serious departure from accepted research or publication practices.

Allegations should be submitted in writing through the journal’s official contact channel and should include sufficient information or evidence for assessment.

The journal will:

Conduct an initial confidential assessment;
Determine whether the allegation is credible and falls within the journal’s responsibility;
Inform the relevant author or party and request an explanation where appropriate;
Request supporting documents, raw data, approvals, or other evidence;
Seek advice from qualified experts where necessary;
Contact the relevant institution, employer, funder, ethics committee, or regulatory authority when an independent investigation is required; and
Take appropriate editorial action based on the available evidence.

The journal will protect the identity of a complainant or whistleblower as far as reasonably and legally possible. Anonymous allegations may be investigated when they contain specific and credible evidence.

A person who raises a concern in good faith will not be disadvantaged merely for reporting it.

13. Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other interested parties may submit a complaint concerning:

Editorial procedures;
Peer-review conduct;
Unreasonable delays;
Ethical concerns;
Published content;
The conduct of an editor, reviewer, or journal representative; or
Possible failure to follow a stated journal policy.

Complaints must be submitted in writing through the journal’s official contact channel and should include the manuscript or article details, the nature of the complaint, and relevant supporting evidence.

The journal will acknowledge, assess, and respond to complaints fairly and without unnecessary delay.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision where they believe that:

A significant factual or procedural error affected the decision;
Reviewer comments were materially misunderstood;
A relevant conflict of interest was not properly managed; or
Important evidence was overlooked.

An appeal must:

Be submitted within 30 days of the editorial decision;
Clearly identify the grounds for appeal;
Respond to the relevant editorial or reviewer comments; and
Provide supporting evidence rather than merely expressing disagreement with the decision.

An appeal will be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief or another qualified person who was not directly responsible for the original decision, where reasonably possible.

Submitting an appeal does not guarantee that the editorial decision will be changed. The outcome of the appeal will normally be considered final.

Complaints concerning the Editor-in-Chief will be referred to the publisher or another suitably independent authority.

14. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The journal is responsible for maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the published scholarly record.

Corrections

A correction may be published when an otherwise reliable article contains an error that:

Affects part of the article;
Does not invalidate the main findings; or
Requires clarification for readers.

Correction notices will identify the article, explain the change, and be linked to the original publication.

Minor typographical errors that do not affect meaning or interpretation may be corrected without a formal notice where appropriate.

Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern may be published when:

Serious concerns have been raised;
Available evidence is inconclusive;
An institutional investigation is pending;
An investigation is unreasonably delayed; or
The reliability or ethical status of the article remains uncertain.

Retractions

An article may be retracted where there is reliable evidence that:

Its findings are seriously unreliable because of misconduct or major error;
Data or results were fabricated, falsified, or manipulated;
It contains serious plagiarism;
It constitutes unauthorised duplicate or redundant publication;
The research was conducted or published unethically;
The peer-review process was manipulated;
Authorship was fraudulently represented; or
Continued publication would seriously mislead readers.

A retraction notice will:

Be clearly identified as a retraction;
State the reason for the retraction;
Identify who requested or authorised it;
Be linked to the original article; and
Remain freely accessible.

The original article will normally remain available as part of the scholarly record but will be clearly marked as retracted.

Content may be removed entirely only in exceptional circumstances, such as a legal requirement, serious privacy violation, defamatory material, or a substantial risk of harm. Where removal is necessary, the bibliographic record and an explanatory notice will normally remain available.

15. Post-Publication Discussion

KJMR welcomes responsible scholarly discussion concerning published articles.

Readers may submit reasoned comments, responses, letters, or concerns through the journal’s official contact channel.

Submissions must be academically relevant, evidence-based, respectful, and free from defamatory, abusive, discriminatory, or unsupported allegations.

Where appropriate, the journal may:

Invite the original authors to respond;
Seek independent expert advice;
Publish a response or commentary;
Correct the article;
Issue an expression of concern; or
Retract the article.

Post-publication criticism will be assessed on its academic merit, regardless of the identity, affiliation, or status of the person raising the concern.

16. Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Permissions

Authors must respect the intellectual property rights of others and properly cite all text, ideas, data, images, figures, tables, instruments, and other material obtained from external sources.

Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission for any copyrighted material that is not covered by lawful quotation, fair use, an open licence, or another applicable exception.

Authors retain copyright and grant KJMR a non-exclusive right to publish, distribute, reproduce, and archive the work in accordance with the journal’s Copyright and Licensing Policy.

Third-party reuse of published content must comply with the Creative Commons licence applied to the article and must include appropriate attribution.

The journal will investigate allegations of copyright infringement, unauthorised use, misappropriation of ideas, and other intellectual-property violations.

17. Sanctions for Ethical Violations

Depending on the nature and seriousness of an ethical violation, the journal may:

Return the manuscript for clarification or correction;
Reject the manuscript;
Suspend editorial consideration;
Withdraw an acceptance decision;
Publish a correction or expression of concern;
Retract a published article;
Restrict future submissions for a defined period;
Inform the authors’ institution, employer, funder, ethics committee, or relevant authority; or
Take any other proportionate action necessary to protect the scholarly record.

Any action will be based on available evidence, the seriousness of the matter, and the need for procedural fairness.

18. Policy Review

This Publication Ethics Policy may be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect changes in ethical guidance, legal requirements, scholarly publishing standards, and the journal’s editorial practices.