Publication Ethics

The American Journal of Interdisciplinary Innovations and Research

The American Journal of Interdisciplinary Innovations and Research is committed to responsible scholarly publishing. Authors, reviewers, and editors share responsibility for maintaining the accuracy, integrity, and transparency of the published record.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must submit original work, describe their methods accurately, and present findings honestly. Conclusions should be supported by the evidence, and relevant limitations should be acknowledged.

Authors must ensure that:

• All sources and reused material are properly acknowledged.

• The manuscript is not under consideration by another journal.

• All listed authors approve the manuscript and its submission.

• Required ethical approvals, permissions, and consent have been obtained.

• Funding sources and competing interests are disclosed.

• Data, images, quotations, and references are accurate.

Authors who discover a significant error in their submitted or published work should promptly notify the editorial office and cooperate in correcting the record.

2. Originality and Plagiarism

Plagiarism includes presenting another person’s words, ideas, data, images, or findings without appropriate acknowledgment. Unattributed copying, misleading paraphrasing, and substantial undisclosed reuse of an author’s own published material are unacceptable.

Similarity reports may assist editorial assessment, but similarity percentages alone do not establish plagiarism. Editors consider the nature, extent, and context of overlapping material.

Related publications, preprints, conference papers, and thesis material should be disclosed at submission, with an explanation of the manuscript’s original contribution.

3. Authorship and Contributions

Authorship should reflect substantial scholarly contributions and accountability for the work. All authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to take responsibility for their contributions.

Individuals who provide assistance that does not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged with their permission. Guest, gift, purchased, and undisclosed ghost authorship are unacceptable.

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors must include an explanation and written agreement from all affected authors. Unresolved authorship disputes may be referred to the relevant institution.

4. Data and Research Integrity

Fabrication, falsification, selective reporting that misrepresents findings, and deceptive image manipulation are prohibited.

Authors should retain supporting research records and provide them for editorial assessment when reasonably requested, subject to legal, ethical, and confidentiality restrictions. Data availability statements should explain where supporting data can be accessed or why access is restricted.

Image processing must not alter the scientific meaning of the original material. Necessary adjustments should be disclosed.

5. Human and Animal Research

Research involving human participants, identifiable personal information, or human biological materials must comply with applicable ethical requirements. Manuscripts should identify the approving ethics committee and approval reference where available.

Authors must document informed consent where required. Publication of identifiable participant information or images requires appropriate consent for publication.

Animal research must describe relevant ethical approval and welfare measures. Where approval or consent is waived or not required, authors should explain the basis.

6. Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose relationships or interests that could reasonably influence their judgment. These may be financial, professional, institutional, or personal.

Authors should identify funding sources and describe any funder involvement in study design, analysis, manuscript preparation, or the decision to submit.

Editors and reviewers must withdraw from assignments where a conflict prevents an impartial assessment.

7. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers should provide timely, constructive, evidence-based assessments and disclose limitations in their expertise.

Manuscripts and review communications are confidential. Reviewers must not use unpublished information for personal advantage or share manuscript material without editorial authorization.

Reviewers should report suspected ethical concerns to the editor. They must not request citations primarily to increase their own citation counts or those of an associated journal.

8. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors assess manuscripts on scholarly merit, relevance, methodological quality, and ethical compliance. Decisions must not be influenced by author identity, commercial interests, or payment of publication charges.

Editors protect submission confidentiality, manage conflicts of interest, and address credible concerns fairly. Submissions involving an editor or editorial board member must be handled independently of that individual.

9. Artificial Intelligence Tools

AI tools cannot be credited as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for a publication.

Authors should disclose substantive use of generative AI in preparing text, images, code, or analysis, identifying the tool and its purpose. Routine spelling and grammar correction does not ordinarily require disclosure.

Authors remain responsible for checking AI-assisted content, including factual claims and references. AI use must not introduce fabricated evidence or compromise participant privacy.

Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential submissions to public AI tools or unauthorized services.

10. Citation Integrity

Citations should be relevant and accurately represent the sources cited. Fabricated references, citation trading, coercive citation requests, and references added solely to manipulate metrics are unacceptable.

11. Publication Dates and Metadata

Received, revised, accepted, and published dates must accurately reflect the editorial and publication history. Publication dates must not be falsified or backdated.

Article metadata, including authorship, affiliations, funding, and identifiers, should accurately describe the published work.

12. Handling Ethical Concerns

Concerns may be reported to the editorial office with the article or submission details and supporting evidence.

The journal assesses allegations impartially, gives affected parties an opportunity to respond, and may request records or consult institutions where necessary. Confidentiality is maintained as far as practicable during the assessment.

Depending on the evidence, action may include requesting clarification, requiring corrections, rejecting a submission, publishing an editorial notice, retracting an article, or referring the matter to the relevant institution. Allegations alone do not establish misconduct.

13. Corrections and Retractions

A correction may be issued when an error requires amendment but does not invalidate the central findings.

An expression of concern may be published when a serious issue remains unresolved and readers need to be informed.

Retraction may be necessary when findings are unreliable or when serious ethical breaches undermine the publication. Retraction notices should explain the reason and identify the affected article. Retracted articles normally remain accessible and clearly marked to preserve the scholarly record.

14. Complaints and Appeals

Authors may appeal editorial decisions by providing specific reasons and supporting evidence. Complaints about editorial conduct or publication ethics should be submitted to the editorial office.

Where feasible, an editor not involved in the original decision assesses the appeal or complaint. Appeals do not guarantee acceptance or a new review.