Publication Ethics — Education Specialist (ES)

Education Specialist (ES) upholds the highest standards of scholarly integrity and professional conduct. This statement defines ethical duties of authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher, plus procedures for preventing, identifying, and addressing malpractice. ES operates a double-blind peer-review model and adheres to internationally recognized best practices (e.g., COPE guidance) adapted to the education research context.

1) Principles

• Integrity: Accuracy, transparency, and—where feasible—reproducibility across research and publishing.
• Originality: Submissions are original, unpublished, and not under review elsewhere.
• Transparency: Full disclosure of funding, conflicts of interest, approvals, and data availability.
• Fairness: Editorial decisions based on merit, relevance, and quality; identity-blind to authors’ affiliations.
• Accountability: Clear responsibilities and enforceable actions for ethical breaches.

2) Duties of Authors

• Authorship & Contributions: Listed authors have made substantial contributions (conception/design; data acquisition/analysis/interpretation; drafting/revision; final approval; accountability). Guest/gift/ghost authorship is prohibited. ES may request a contribution statement (e.g., CRediT taxonomy).
• Originality & Proper Use of Sources: Submit only original work; cite paraphrases accurately; use quotations sparingly with page numbers. Disclose and justify any overlap with prior work (including by the same authors).
• Data Integrity & Availability: No fabrication/falsification/manipulation of data or visuals. Provide a Data Availability Statement and share data/materials where ethically and legally permissible; otherwise justify restrictions.
• Ethics & Consent: For studies involving humans/institutions, state ethics approval and informed consent/assent; ensure confidentiality and de-identification in the manuscript.
• Conflicts of Interest & Funding: Disclose all financial/non-financial COIs and all funding sources/grants.
• Simultaneous/Redundant Submission: Do not submit concurrently to other outlets or slice results into minimal publishable units.
• Responsible Use of AI Tools: Generative-AI may assist language/editing only if transparently disclosed in the manuscript. AI tools are not authors; human authors retain full responsibility for content, citations, and factual accuracy.
• Post-Publication Corrections: Promptly notify the editor of significant errors post-publication for correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

3) Duties of Editors (EiC, Associate/Handling Editors)

• Fair & Unbiased Decisions: Evaluate for intellectual content only; avoid discrimination or favoritism.
• Confidentiality: Protect manuscript identity and content; uphold double-blind processes; restrict access to those involved.
• COI Management: Reassign submissions when editors have conflicts (institutional, financial, collaborative, or personal).
• Reviewer Selection & Oversight: Invite qualified, impartial reviewers; provide clear guidance; ensure respectful, constructive, and timely reviews.
• Misconduct Handling: Investigate credible concerns (plagiarism, image manipulation, redundant publication, authorship disputes, ethics issues). Request data/approvals as needed; consult institutions when appropriate; apply corrective measures (see Section 6).
• Appeals & Complaints: Provide an appeal pathway and respond with due process.

4) Duties of Reviewers

• Confidentiality: Treat manuscripts and data as confidential; do not use for personal advantage.
• Objectivity & Rigor: Provide evidence-based, balanced, and constructive evaluations focused on methods, analysis, and contribution.
• COI Disclosure: Decline when conflicts exist (recent collaboration, shared grants, close personal ties, competitive interests).
• Ethical Alerting: Flag suspected plagiarism, redundant publication, fabricated data, ethical lapses, or inappropriate citations.
• Timeliness: Accept only if able to meet deadlines; inform editors immediately if delays arise.

5) Publisher & Journal Responsibilities

• Policy Stewardship: Maintain transparent policies (scope, peer review, open science where applicable, post-publication updates).
• Integrity Checks: Provide similarity screening, figure/image checks where feasible, and editorial training.
• Access & Preservation: Assign persistent identifiers (DOI) and ensure digital preservation (e.g., PKP PN/LOCKSS) for long-term accessibility.

6) Misconduct, Investigations, and Sanctions

ES investigates alleged misconduct fairly and confidentially, guided by COPE-style procedures. Evidence may include similarity reports, image forensics, reviewer/editor observations, and institutional communication. Depending on severity/intent, actions may include:

• Before Acceptance: Request clarifications; require revision; desk reject or reject after review.
• After Acceptance/Publication: Publish a correction/erratum; issue an expression of concern; or retract the article with a transparent notice and rationale.
• Author Sanctions (case-by-case): Temporary submission bans; notifications to institutions/funders where appropriate.

7) Plagiarism and Textual Overlap

• Screening: All submissions undergo similarity checks using reputable tools. Overlap is interpreted in context (methods boilerplate, references, quotations).
• Threshold Guidance (aligned with ES policy): Overall similarity < 20% is generally acceptable for review; 20–40% requires author revision with justification; > 40% leads to rejection. High single-source matches (> 10–15%) trigger editorial scrutiny regardless of total index.

8) Data, Materials, and Open Practices

• Data Availability Statement: Required for research articles; include repository links/DOIs where possible or justify restrictions.
• Reproducible Reporting: Provide enough methodological detail (and code/protocols where applicable) for verification, consistent with ethics/privacy obligations.
• Third-Party Content: Obtain permissions; label adapted/reused figures/tables with clear credit lines.

9) Appeals, Complaints, and Corrections

• Appeals: Authors may appeal by submitting a reasoned letter detailing factual errors, procedural issues, or bias. An independent editorial reassessment may be arranged.
• Complaints: Stakeholders may report concerns about editorial conduct or peer review; ES will investigate and respond in a timely manner.
• Post-Publication Updates: Substantive errors are corrected via corrigenda/errata; serious integrity issues may lead to expressions of concern or retractions.

10) Advertising, Marketing, and Sponsorship

Editorial decisions are independent of advertising, marketing, or sponsorship. Sponsored content is clearly labeled and does not influence peer-reviewed content.

11) Contact

Questions about this policy, suspected misconduct, or requests for corrections should be sent to the Editorial Office via the journal website.