Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice

1. Authorship and Contributorship

VAWKUM Transactions on Computer Sciences (VTCS) follows strict guidelines for authorship and contributorship. Authors must meet the following criteria:

  • Substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research.

  • Drafting or critically revising the manuscript for intellectual content.

  • Approval of the final version for submission and agreement to be accountable for the work’s accuracy and integrity.

  • Changes in authorship (addition, removal, or reordering) require written consent from all authors and justification for the change.

2. Peer Review Process

VTCS adheres to a rigorous peer review process to maintain high academic integrity. The peer review process is as follows:

  • All submitted manuscripts undergo an initial editorial screening to ensure compliance with journal guidelines.

  • Manuscripts deemed suitable are sent to expert reviewers who are not part of the journal’s editorial staff.

  • VTCS follows a single-blind peer review process, ensuring anonymity between authors and reviewers.

  • Reviewers provide constructive feedback, and based on their evaluations, the editorial team makes a decision regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection.

  • The peer review timeline varies depending on the complexity of the manuscript, but the journal does not guarantee acceptance or provide very short review durations.

  • The journal website clearly marks whether content is peer-reviewed or not.

3. Complaints and Appeals

VTCS ensures a fair and transparent process for handling complaints and appeals. Authors, reviewers, or readers may raise concerns regarding:

  • Editorial decisions.

  • Ethical misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, duplicate submission, fabrication of data).

  • Procedural errors in the peer-review process.

Complaints must be submitted in writing to the Editor-in-Chief, providing detailed information. Appeals to editorial decisions must present clear reasons and new evidence. The Editorial Board will review appeals independently, and their decision will be final.

4. Conflicts of Interest / Competing Interests

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence their work. This includes:

  • Financial interests (grants, funding, patents, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, etc.).

  • Personal relationships or competing academic or business interests.

Reviewers must recuse themselves if they have a conflict of interest with the manuscript under review. The journal reserves the right to reject or retract manuscripts where undisclosed conflicts of interest are identified post-publication.

5. Data Sharing and Reproducibility

VTCS encourages authors to share data supporting their research findings to promote transparency and reproducibility. Authors should:

  • Provide raw data upon request (subject to ethical and legal considerations).

  • Deposit datasets in recognized repositories (where applicable) and provide persistent identifiers (DOI, accession numbers, etc.).

  • Clearly describe methodologies to allow reproducibility of experiments.

6. Ethical Oversight

All research published in VTCS must adhere to ethical standards. The journal follows the guidelines set by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and requires:

  • Ethical approval for studies involving human or animal subjects.

  • Informed consent from study participants (where applicable).

  • Avoidance of any research misconduct, including plagiarism, falsification, and data fabrication.

Editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not meet ethical standards or request further clarifications from the authors.

7. Intellectual Property and Copyright

  • Authors retain copyright but must grant VTCS a license to publish and distribute their work under the journal’s Open Access policy.

  • Submitted manuscripts must be original and not under consideration elsewhere.

  • The journal follows best practices to prevent and handle cases of plagiarism, using similarity-checking software.

  • Any use of copyrighted material (figures, tables, excerpts) must have proper permissions and attributions.

8. Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

VTCS provides mechanisms for addressing post-publication concerns, including:

  • Corrections: Minor errors (e.g., typographical) can be rectified through errata.

  • Retractions: If serious ethical breaches or data issues are discovered post-publication, the article may be retracted following COPE guidelines.

  • Commentaries: Readers can submit responses or critiques, subject to editorial review.

All post-publication changes will be transparently documented on the journal’s website with justifications.

9. Publication Malpractice Statement

VTCS strictly condemns all forms of publication malpractice and is committed to identifying and preventing unethical publishing behavior. The following unethical practices are prohibited:

  • Plagiarism: The journal uses plagiarism detection software to screen submissions, and any manuscript found to contain plagiarism will be rejected or retracted.

  • Fabrication and Falsification: Authors must ensure the accuracy of their data, and any manipulation, falsification, or fabrication of data will result in manuscript rejection and further action as per COPE guidelines.

  • Duplicate and Redundant Publication: Manuscripts submitted to VTCS must not have been published elsewhere or be under review by another journal simultaneously.

  • Citation Manipulation: Authors should avoid excessive self-citations or coerced citations that do not contribute meaningfully to the research.

  • Ghostwriting and Honorary Authorship: All authors must have made substantial contributions to the research; ghost authorship and honorary authorship are considered unethical.

  • Coercive Practices: Editors, reviewers, or authors attempting to influence the review process through unethical means will be subject to strict penalties, including bans from future submissions.

VTCS follows COPE guidelines to handle cases of publication malpractice. Any suspected violations will be investigated thoroughly, and appropriate corrective actions will be taken, including corrections, retractions, and reporting the misconduct to relevant authorities.