Publication Ethical Statement

ETHICAL STATEMENT FOR PUBLICATION

Unless otherwise specified, the following policies apply to all publications published by Insights Publisher (Science Insights, Science Insights Education Frontiers, and Best Evidence in Chinese Education).

Overview

Insights Publisher adheres to the Code of Conduct of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and strives to follow its Best Practice Guidelines (PDF).

Authors, editors, and reviewers are required to be aware of and adhere to publishing ethical best practices.

  • Authors are required to be aware of and adhere to best practices in publishing ethics, including but not limited to authorship (for example, avoiding ghost or guest authors), dual submission, plagiarism, figure manipulation, competing interests, and compliance with research ethics rules. The following sections include more information.
  • Reviewers and editors are obligated to treat submissions properly and confidentially, as well as to disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

Insights Publisher Ethics Review Committee (IPERC) will actively examine any complaints of malpractice in research or publishing and retain the right to contact authors’ institutions, funders, or regulatory organizations as necessary.

IPERC shall follow the COPE flowcharts in situations of suspected or alleged wrongdoing and may also seek assistance from the COPE forum. If conclusive proof of wrongdoing is discovered, we shall take appropriate efforts to rectify the scientific record, which may include releasing a correction or retraction.

Please contact the journal if you have any concerns regarding possible wrongdoing. Correspondence should be sent to the Editor-in-Chief, Executive Editor, or Editorial Chair of the journal, as applicable. Readers who are concerned should not depend exclusively on comments on blogs, social media, or other third-party websites to alert us to their concerns, but rather contact the journal directly.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is not an acceptable form of expression in any contributions. Plagiarized content will not be published. If we discover plagiarism, we will adhere to COPE principles (PDF).

Plagiarism may include, but is not limited to the following:

  • Without acknowledgment, directly stealing text from other sources
  • Without acknowledgment, copying ideas, images, or data from other sources
  • Reusing content from your own past publications without the editor’s permission or attribution (read the COPE guidelines on text recycling)
    • Exception: It is permitted to reuse content from the Methods section in the author’s earlier works as long as the source is acknowledged.
  • Without acknowledgement, using an idea from another source with slightly changed words.
  • Insights Publisher checks submitted text for uniqueness using Crossref Similarity Check (driven by iThenticate). If the program raises any problems, we will conduct a follow-up inquiry.

The paper may be rejected if plagiarism is discovered during the peer review process. If plagiarism is discovered after publication, we may make necessary corrections or withdraw the paper. We have the right to notify authors’ institutions of any instances of plagiarism discovered prior to or after publication.

We anticipate that editors and reviewers will exercise vigilance in evaluating all contributions and will notify the respective journal of any instances of plagiarism discovered.

Confidentiality

We are committed to upholding the peer review process’s integrity in accordance with COPE criteria. Until it is published, all contributed content should be considered as absolutely secret.

The peer review process is completely confidential. Correspondence between individuals involved in the review process, including writers, must likewise be treated discreetly.

Authors may offer basic information on the research reported in articles that are presently being reviewed.

Editors and reviewers are obliged to maintain absolute confidentiality regarding all submitted manuscripts and to refrain from sharing information about submissions with any third parties unless explicitly agreed upon with the editor. Third-party involvement in the evaluation must be disclosed at the time the review is submitted.

Insights Publisher anticipates that editors and reviewers will not utilize any material or information obtained during the peer review process.

We will investigate any breach of confidentiality. If any concerns about misconduct arise throughout the review process, we will launch an investigation in accordance with COPE rules.

Anonymity

If reviewers so want, they may identify themselves by signing their names at the time their reviews are filed.