IJLLD Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

• Publication and authorship
• Author’s responsibilities
• Peer review responsibility for the reviewers
• Editorial responsibilities

The International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse (IJLLD) Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement is based on the guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Their Core Practices (replacing the old Code of Conduct) is available at http://publicationethics.org. IJLLD is dedicated to following the best practices on ethical matters, errors, and retractions.

Our journal, through those Core Practices and this Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement, is also committed to meeting and upholding standards of ethical behavior in all stages of the publication process.

(A) Publication and authorship:

All manuscripts submitted to the International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse (IJLLD) should be original and not be in review for publication elsewhere. IJLLD will not publish papers that have been previously published in part or whole.

• Fair play
  The International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse (IJLLD) is open to all researchers in all areas across the globe. Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their intellectual content and scholarly or professional contributions, regardless to race, gender, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or background of the authors.
• Author(s) Contribution and Funding Statement
  All persons who substantially contributed to the presented work should be named in the list of authors. Those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the work and all sources of financial support obtained in doing the work, if any, must also be disclosed and clearly identified.
• No plagiarism, No fraudulent data
  Plagiarism in any form cannot be accepted. To avoid any form of plagiarism, each manuscript newly submitted to the International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse may be checked for plagiarism using contemporary systems. Papers with evidence of apparent plagiarism will not be eligible for publication and therefore will not be sent for review. The use of fraudulent data is an unethical practice, papers containing or based upon false data cannot be published.
• Complete list of references
  Authors are required to provide a list of all references included within their paper. This should adhere to APA guidelines and should acknowledge the works that influenced the author’s work. While not a ‘Bibliography’ or ‘List of Works Consulted,’ referencing works that influenced the thought development process through the introductory or literature review sections is an important part of scholarly recognition.
• Rights of Human Subjects
  Where Human Subjects are involved, appropriate safeguards must be undertaken to ensure their safety and rights. Approval or waiver from the Institutional Review Board or Ethical Committee from the researcher’s institution should be obtained where appropriate.
• Editorial Appeals
  Authors have the right to appeal final decisions issued by the editors. Such appeals shall be promptly forwarded to the Publisher for final determination. publisher (at) elejournals.com

(B) Author’s responsibilities:

Authors of original papers should present an accurate account of the work as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to check on or replicate the work.

• Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication
  The International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse requires all authors of a research paper to confirm that the manuscript has not been published before, and is not under consideration for publication in any other journals. Manuscripts describing essentially the same research (same data, methods, and findings) is considered redundant. Translation of a previously-published research study is redundant. Submitting redundant manuscripts constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
• Intellectual rights and copyright
  The author or authors agree to transfer to International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse (IJLLD) all rights, including the right to electronically store, reproduce and distribute the contribution wholly or in part, including publish, reprints, translations, photographic and reproductions. Submission to the International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse is taken by the journal to mean that all the listed authors have agreed to these terms. IJLLD follows the Creative Commons framework for authors’ rights and re-use by others. Re-use must include citation as published by IJLLD (volume & issue). Authors also retain all rights (i.e., all rights are shared and mutual, without the right to deny rights to the other).
• Originality, plagiarism and acknowledgment of sources
  The authors are responsible to ensure the originality of their submissions. Authors must submit only original works, and should appropriately cite or quote the work and/or words of others. It is expected that the data in the articles will be authentic. The editors retain the right to demand evidence of data collection and to examine the original data; authors should be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
• Authors obliged to participate in peer review process
  Authors are obliged to participate in a peer-review process of their submitted manuscript. They should communicate with IJLLD editors and respond to all the comments and any suggestions of reviewers. They should also follow any relevant deadlines.
• Authors are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes
  All errors discovered in the manuscript after submission must be swiftly communicated to the Editor. Authors of published material also have a responsibility to inform the journal promptly if they become aware of any part that requires correcting.
• Authorship of the paper
  Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author will ensure that all contributing co-authors are included in the author list. Those who have not contributed to the paper should not be named. Co-authors should be listed in the order of their level of contribution. The corresponding author might not be the lead researcher, if so, indicate this. The corresponding author will also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.Author/s attest to the fact that all Authors listed on the title page have contributed significantly to the work, have read the manuscript, attest to the validity and legitimacy of the data and its interpretation, and agree to its submission to the International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse. All authors agree that the author list is correct in its content and order. No additional authors will be added post-submission unless editors receive agreement from all authors and detailed information is supplied as to why the author list should be amended. On behalf of all Co-Authors, the Corresponding Author shall bear full responsibility for the submission. Any violation of the terms of the Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement may lead to retraction of the paper.
• Disclosure and conflicts of interest
  All authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

(C) Peer review responsibility for the reviewers:

Peer review is the critical assessment of manuscripts submitted to International Journal of Law, Language & Discourse by experts in related fields. Unbiased, independent and critical approaches to academic assessment is an intrinsic part of all scholarly work. Peer review can therefore be viewed as an important extension of the scientific process. Peer review means bringing judgment based on experience and knowledge to the evaluation process—from setting the standards to conducting the evaluation, to making final decisions. IJLLD acknowledges the contribution of its peer reviewers. Each paper will be sent for evaluation by at least two reviewers.

• All reviewing judgments should be objective
  Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author(s) is unacceptable. Referees should express their views clearly with appropriate supporting arguments. Reviewers are expected to respond promptly to requests to review and to submit reviews within the time agreed. Reviewers’ comments should be constructive, honest, and polite.
• Reviewed articles should be treated confidentially
  Reviewers should regard a submitted manuscript as a confidential document and not meant to be public, and so should not use, share or disclose unpublished information in a manuscript. Reviewers must not publicly discuss an authors’ work and must not appropriate authors’ ideas before the manuscript is published. Reviewers must not retain the manuscript for their personal use and should destroy copies of manuscripts after submitting their reviews.
• Reviewers should have no conflict of interest with respect to reviewed articles
  Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider evaluating manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, universities or institutions connected to the submission. Reviewers must disclose to editors any conflicts of interest that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and should recuse themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if the potential for bias exists. Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work they’re reviewing before its publication to further their own interests. Reviewers must not retain the manuscript for their personal use and should destroy copies of manuscripts after submitting their reviews.
• Reviewers should assess the manuscript in a timely manner
  Peer reviewers must fulfill their responsibility by rigorously assessing a given research manuscript within the time limits specified by IJLLD. If reviewers are unable to review the paper in a specified time, they should inform the editorial board immediately by e-mail to the editor.
• Reviewers should point out relevant published work which is not yet cited
  Reviewers should point out relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor’s attention any substantial similarity between the manuscript under consideration and any published paper.

(D) Editorial responsibilities:

• Editors work with an international advisory board that guides the shaping of the journal, as well as with the international board of editors for submitted manuscripts. Editors should ensure that all research material they publish conforms to internationally accepted ethical guidelines.
• Editors are responsible for the contents and overall quality of the publication. Editors should always consider the needs of the authors and the readers when attempting to improve the publication. Editors should guarantee the quality of the papers and the integrity of the academic record.
• Editors should base their decisions solely on the papers’ importance, originality, clarity and relevance to the publication’s scope. Editors should not allow any conflicts of interest between staff, authors, reviewers and board members.
• Editorial board must confirm receipt of submitted papers and to ensure the efficient, fair and timely review process of submitting.
• The Editor must preserve the anonymity of reviewing. Editors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are handled in a confidential manner, with no details being disclosed until a decision has been taken as to whether the manuscript is to be published. The Editor must also ensure the confidentiality of the names and other details of referees. IJLLD reviewing is double-blind, in that authors do not know the names of the reviewers of their papers, and reviewers do not know the names of the authors. Authors are required to take reasonable efforts to hide their identities, including not listing their names or affiliations and omitting acknowledgments in their submitted papers. All this information will be included in the cover page and should not appear elsewhere in the paper. In addition, the Editor is required to deal fairly with an author’s appeal against the rejection of a submitted manuscript. Editor should decide to accept or reject a manuscript for publication with reference only to the manuscript’s importance, originality and clarity, and its relevance to the journal. Editors have complete responsibility and authority to reject/accept an article. The Editor can reject any article at any time before publication, including after acceptance if concerns arise.
• Editors should make known any conflicts of interest that might arise, specifically, in cases where an editor is an author of a submitted manuscript, the manuscript must be passed to another editor for independent peer review.
• Editors should act if they suspect misconduct, whether a paper is published or unpublished, and make all reasonable attempts to persist in obtaining a resolution to the problem.
• Editors should publish errata pages or make corrections when needed.
• Editors are responsible to take a decision regarding any academic misconduct or convincing evidence that a published manuscript is erroneous, usually through consultation with the author. This may require the publication of a formal ‘retraction’ or correction.

Category: IJLLD, Uncategorized