Editorial Policies

Editorial Policies and Publication Ethics

J-STEAM is committed to maintaining the highest standards of editorial integrity, transparency, and ethical publishing. The journal adheres to internationally recognized best practices in scholarly publishing and ensures that editorial decisions are made independently, fairly, and on the basis of scientific merit.

1. Editorial Independence

J-STEAM maintains full editorial independence. All editorial decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board without influence from the publisher, sponsors, advertisers, or any external commercial or institutional interests.

Editors do not participate in editorial decisions on manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest or personal involvement.

2. Peer Review

All manuscripts submitted to J-STEAM undergo double-blind peer review by independent external experts. Full details of the peer review process are available on the journal’s dedicated page: Peer Review Process

3. Conflict of Interest Policy

All participants in the publication process, authors, reviewers, and editors, must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation, evaluation, or presentation of scholarly work.

Authors

Authors are required to disclose all financial and non-financial conflicts of interest related to their submitted work, including funding sources, institutional affiliations, consultancies, or personal relationships.

Reviewers

Reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest and decline review invitations where a conflict exists.

Editors

Editors recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.
If undisclosed conflicts of interest are identified after publication, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, as appropriate.

4. Human Subjects Research Ethics

Research involving human participants must comply with internationally accepted ethical standards.

Authors must confirm that:

  • The study received approval from an appropriate institutional ethics committee or Institutional Review Board (IRB), where applicable
  • The name of the approving body and approval number (if available) are stated in the manuscript
  • The research was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki or equivalent ethical standards

Where ethics approval was not required, authors must provide a clear justification.

5. Informed Consent

For research involving human participants, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from participants.

In particular:

  • Written informed consent is required for the publication of identifiable personal data, images, or case reports
  • If consent was waived by an ethics committee, this must be explicitly stated and justified in the manuscript

Manuscripts lacking appropriate consent documentation may be rejected or withdrawn from consideration.

6. Animal Research Ethics

J-STEAM accepts research involving animals and requires strict adherence to ethical standards.

Authors must confirm that:

  • Animal studies were approved by an appropriate institutional animal ethics committee
  • Research complied with national and international guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals
  • Ethical approval details are clearly reported in the manuscript

Authors are encouraged to follow the ARRIVE guidelines for reporting animal research.

7. Plagiarism and Duplicate Submission

All submitted manuscripts are screened for potential plagiarism and duplicate publication using similarity-checking software.

Editorial assessment of similarity reports takes into account legitimate overlap (e.g., references, methods, standard terminology). Significant unattributed overlap, plagiarism, or redundant publication may result in rejection or requests for revision.

Manuscripts must not be under consideration by another journal at the time of submission.

8. Research and Publication Misconduct

J-STEAM takes allegations of research or publication misconduct seriously, including but not limited to:

  • Plagiarism
  • Data fabrication or falsification
  • Image manipulation
  • Duplicate or redundant publication
  • Salami slicing
  • Misleading or selective reporting

Allegations are investigated following due process. Authors are given an opportunity to respond to concerns. Editorial actions may include rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or restrictions on future submissions, depending on the severity of the case.

The journal’s approach to misconduct is informed by guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and other internationally recognized standards.

9. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

J-STEAM is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record.

  • Corrections are issued to address errors that do not invalidate the findings
  • Retractions are issued when findings are unreliable due to misconduct or serious error
  • Expressions of concern may be issued when investigations are ongoing

Editorial decisions regarding corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern are made by the Editor-in-Chief in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies and ethical standards. All notices are published transparently and linked to the affected article.

10. Privacy and Confidentiality

Personal information collected during the submission and peer review process is used solely for journal operations and is not shared with third parties.

Manuscripts and peer review reports are treated as confidential documents. Reviewers are required to maintain confidentiality and not use information obtained during review for personal or professional advantage.

11. Data Sharing Policy

J-STEAM supports transparency and reproducibility in research.

Authors are encouraged to make underlying data available in recognized public repositories where possible. All manuscripts should include a Data Availability Statement describing:

  • Where can data be accessed, or
  • The reasons why data cannot be shared (e.g., ethical, legal, or privacy constraints)

Data sharing requirements may vary by discipline and study type.

12. Copyright, Licensing, and Self-Archiving

Authors retain copyright of their published work.

All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Authors may deposit all versions of their manuscripts (preprint, accepted manuscript, and published version) in institutional, subject-based, or other repositories of their choice without embargo, with appropriate citation and linkage to the final published article.

13. Digital Preservation

J-STEAM ensures that published content is securely stored with regular backups. The journal is actively exploring integration with recognized long-term digital preservation services to ensure permanent accessibility of its scholarly record.