Publication Ethics

1. General Principles

The Journal of Psychology & Education is committed to maintaining high standards of academic integrity, editorial independence, transparency, and responsible scholarly publishing.

This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, journal staff, and the publisher. The journal addresses publication ethics and research integrity concerns with reference to internationally recognized scholarly publishing standards and relevant guidance issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

All manuscripts are evaluated according to their scholarly merit, originality, methodological or argumentative rigor, ethical compliance, relevance, and contribution to the journal’s aims and scope.

Editorial decisions are made independently and must not be influenced by authors’ nationality, institutional affiliation, professional status, gender, ethnicity, religion, political views, ability to pay publication charges, or use or non-use of optional editing services.

2. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made independently by the Editor-in-Chief or an authorized handling editor.

The publisher, journal owner, administrative staff, sponsors, advertisers, and commercial service providers must not interfere with decisions concerning whether an individual manuscript is accepted, revised, or rejected.

Article processing charges and optional author services are administratively separate from peer review and editorial decision-making.

3. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must submit original and accurate work. A manuscript must not have been published previously or be under consideration by another journal at the same time.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that:

  • all data, analyses, figures, tables, references, and conclusions are accurate;
  • the work of others is properly acknowledged and cited;
  • plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, image manipulation, and misleading reporting have not occurred;
  • all listed authors have made a substantial contribution to the work;
  • all authors have approved the submitted and final versions;
  • funding sources and conflicts of interest are fully disclosed;
  • relevant ethics approval, informed consent, and consent for publication have been obtained;
  • closely related manuscripts or previous versions are disclosed to the editor.

Guest, gift, honorary, purchased, and ghost authorship are prohibited.

Individuals who contributed to language editing, technical assistance, data management, statistical consultation, funding acquisition, or administrative support but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged rather than listed as authors.

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must include a clear explanation and written agreement from all affected authors.

4. Research Data and Transparency

Authors should retain original research data and relevant supporting materials for an appropriate period after publication, subject to legal, ethical, institutional, and participant-confidentiality requirements.

The journal may request:

  • anonymized or de-identified data;
  • analysis code;
  • questionnaires or research materials;
  • ethics approval documents;
  • informed-consent documentation;
  • statistical output;
  • original figures or images;
  • evidence supporting authorship or contributor roles.

Authors should include a Data Availability Statement explaining whether and how the data, code, materials, or protocols may be accessed.

Failure to provide requested evidence without a reasonable explanation may result in suspension of review, rejection, correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

5. Human and Animal Research

Research involving human participants, identifiable human data, or human biological materials must comply with relevant ethical, legal, and institutional requirements.

Where applicable, authors must provide:

  • the name of the approving ethics committee or institutional review board;
  • the approval or reference number;
  • a statement regarding informed consent;
  • an explanation of any exemption or waiver.

Research involving children, adolescents, individuals with impaired decision-making capacity, or other vulnerable groups must include appropriate safeguards, parental or guardian consent where required, and participant assent where applicable.

Identifiable personal information, photographs, case details, or quotations may be published only when appropriate consent for publication has been obtained.

Animal research must comply with relevant animal-welfare standards. Authors must identify the approving committee, approval number, and measures taken to minimize pain and distress.

6. Clinical Trials and Reporting Standards

Clinical trials and other studies requiring prospective registration should be registered in an appropriate publicly accessible registry before participant enrolment.

The registration number should be included in the manuscript. Deviations from the registered protocol, outcomes, or analysis plan must be disclosed.

Authors should follow relevant reporting guidelines where applicable, including:

  • CONSORT for randomized trials;
  • PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses;
  • STROBE for observational studies;
  • COREQ or SRQR for qualitative research;
  • CARE for case reports;
  • ARRIVE for animal research.

Selective reporting, undisclosed outcome switching, and misleading statistical presentation are unacceptable.

7. Similarity Screening, Plagiarism, and Duplicate Publication

All submitted manuscripts are routinely screened for text similarity using Crossref Similarity Check, powered by iThenticate, as part of the journal’s initial integrity assessment.

Similarity reports are reviewed by the editorial team. A manuscript is not accepted or rejected solely on the basis of an overall numerical similarity score. Editors assess the source, nature, extent, and context of the identified overlap, including whether the overlap involves properly cited material, standard methodological descriptions, inappropriate text reuse, plagiarism, or duplicate publication.

The journal does not permit:

  • plagiarism or translated plagiarism;
  • inappropriate reuse of previously published text;
  • duplicate or redundant publication;
  • simultaneous submission to more than one journal;
  • unattributed reproduction of data, figures, tables, ideas, or other materials;
  • fabricated or unverifiable references;
  • citation manipulation;
  • division of one study into several minimally different manuscripts solely to increase publication output.

Where substantial or inappropriate overlap is identified, the journal may request clarification or revision, reject the manuscript, contact relevant institutions, issue a correction or expression of concern, or retract a published article, depending on the nature and severity of the concern.

Authors must accurately cite the sources they have consulted and disclose any related manuscripts, preprints, conference papers, or previously published versions.

8. Artificial Intelligence Tools

Artificial intelligence systems, language models, and chatbots cannot be listed as authors because they cannot accept responsibility for the content or integrity of a manuscript.

Authors remain fully responsible for all submitted material, including content produced or modified with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools.

Substantial use of generative AI in writing, translation, coding, data analysis, image generation, or other material aspects of the study must be disclosed. The disclosure should identify the tool and explain how it was used.

AI tools must not be used to:

  • fabricate data or references;
  • conceal plagiarism;
  • create misleading research images;
  • manipulate reviewer reports;
  • impersonate participants or researchers;
  • breach participant privacy or manuscript confidentiality.

Editors and reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts or confidential peer-review materials to external AI systems that may store, reuse, or disclose the content.

9. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers must:

  • accept assignments only when they have appropriate expertise;
  • disclose conflicts of interest;
  • treat manuscripts and review materials as confidential;
  • provide objective, evidence-based, constructive, and respectful reports;
  • identify major methodological, ethical, analytical, or reporting concerns;
  • notify the editor of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data irregularities, or other misconduct;
  • complete reviews within the agreed timeframe or inform the editor promptly of delays.

Reviewers must not:

  • contact authors directly without permission;
  • delegate a review without editorial approval;
  • use unpublished information for personal or professional benefit;
  • request irrelevant citations;
  • manipulate citations;
  • use abusive, discriminatory, or personally insulting language;
  • upload confidential manuscripts to external generative AI tools.

Reviewer recommendations are advisory. Final decisions are made by the responsible editor.

10. Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for ensuring a fair, confidential, independent, and timely editorial process.

Editors must:

  • assess manuscripts on scholarly grounds;
  • select appropriately qualified and independent reviewers;
  • protect the confidentiality of submissions;
  • disclose and manage conflicts of interest;
  • avoid discrimination;
  • consider allegations of misconduct objectively;
  • correct the scholarly record when necessary;
  • avoid using unpublished material for personal benefit.

Editors must recuse themselves from manuscripts where they have a relevant conflict of interest.

Editors must not accept or reject a manuscript because the author has paid an article processing charge, purchased an editing service, is personally known to the editor, or is affiliated with a prestigious institution.

11. Submissions from Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors, editorial board members, journal staff, and individuals affiliated with the publisher may submit manuscripts to the journal.

Such submissions must be handled by an independent editor. The submitting individual must not participate in reviewer selection, internal editorial discussion, access to confidential reports, or the final decision.

These manuscripts are subject to the same peer review and ethical standards as all other submissions.

12. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, personal, or intellectual relationship that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their judgment.

Potential conflicts may include:

  • employment or consultancy;
  • grants and sponsorship;
  • stock ownership;
  • patents and intellectual property;
  • advisory roles;
  • personal relationships;
  • recent collaboration;
  • shared institutional affiliation;
  • supervisory relationships;
  • direct academic competition.

The existence of a conflict does not automatically prevent publication. However, failure to disclose a relevant conflict may require editorial action.

Where no competing interest exists, authors should state:

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

13. Peer Review Manipulation and Paper Mills

The journal does not tolerate attempts to manipulate peer review or misrepresent the origin of scholarly work.

Prohibited practices include:

  • false reviewer identities;
  • fabricated reviewer accounts;
  • impersonation of legitimate scholars;
  • author-written or coordinated favorable reviews;
  • manipulated reviewer email addresses;
  • purchased manuscripts;
  • purchased authorship;
  • paper-mill submissions;
  • fabricated ethics approval;
  • fabricated data or images;
  • unexplained authorship changes.

The journal may independently verify reviewer identities, institutional affiliations, authorship contributions, ethics documentation, and supporting research materials.

Suspected manipulation may result in rejection, retraction, notification of institutions, or other appropriate action.

14. Handling Allegations of Misconduct

Concerns about a submitted or published article may be reported to:

Editorial Office
Journal of Psychology & Education
Email: editorial@novasciencepress.com

Reports should identify the manuscript or article concerned, describe the issue clearly, and provide supporting evidence where available.

The journal will:

  1. conduct an initial assessment;
  2. protect confidentiality as far as reasonably possible;
  3. avoid premature conclusions;
  4. give relevant parties an opportunity to respond;
  5. seek independent expert advice where necessary;
  6. contact institutions, ethics committees, funders, or other journals where appropriate;
  7. take action proportionate to the available evidence.

The journal may request an institutional investigation but may also take editorial action independently to protect the scholarly record.

15. Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

The journal will correct the published record when significant errors or ethical concerns are identified.

A correction may be issued when an otherwise reliable article contains an error that does not invalidate its main conclusions.

An Expression of Concern may be issued when serious questions have been raised but the evidence or investigation remains incomplete.

An article may be retracted when its findings or publication record cannot be trusted because of:

  • fabrication or falsification;
  • plagiarism;
  • major analytical or methodological error;
  • unethical research;
  • duplicate publication;
  • manipulated peer review;
  • fraudulent authorship;
  • unauthorized use of data;
  • serious undisclosed conflicts of interest.

Retraction notices will explain the reason for retraction, identify who is retracting the article, and remain freely accessible.

Retracted articles will normally remain available but will be clearly marked as retracted. Published articles will not ordinarily be removed simply because the authors no longer wish them to remain online.

16. Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that:

  • a material factual error affected the decision;
  • important evidence was overlooked;
  • the stated editorial procedure was not followed;
  • a relevant conflict of interest was not properly managed.

Appeals should be submitted within 30 calendar days and must include a detailed scholarly justification. General disagreement with reviewer comments is not sufficient grounds for appeal.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, publication charges, staff behavior, conflicts of interest, or ethical matters may be submitted to the editorial office.

Where possible, appeals and complaints will be reviewed by an individual who was not directly responsible for the original decision.

17. Copyright, Permissions, and Confidentiality

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted material that is not covered by an open licence or applicable legal exception.

Submitted manuscripts must not contain third-party material for which the authors lack appropriate rights.

Editors, reviewers, and journal staff must protect confidential information obtained during submission, peer review, investigation, and publication.

Information may be shared with institutions, ethics committees, funders, regulators, other journals, or legal authorities where necessary to investigate serious concerns or comply with legal obligations.

18. Advertising and Commercial Influence

Advertising, sponsorship, commercial partnerships, article processing charges, and optional author services must not influence editorial decisions.

Advertisements must be clearly distinguishable from editorial content.

The journal will not accept advertising that is misleading, unlawful, discriminatory, or inconsistent with its academic and ethical standards.

19. Policy Review

This Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement will be reviewed periodically and updated when necessary to reflect changes in scholarly publishing standards, legal requirements, research practices, and publication technologies.

The version published on the journal website is the current applicable policy.