Plagiarism Policy
J-STEAM adheres to the guidelines and criteria for plagiarism as outlined by ICMJE, which are available at www.icmje.org. All manuscripts received are checked for plagiarism using the Turnitin software. Manuscripts exhibiting a similarity index exceeding 19% will not be advanced for further processing until they are amended. Authors are responsible for familiarizing themselves with all forms of plagiarism, including paraphrasing and self-plagiarism. Submissions to J-STEAM may be shared with the editors of other medical journals, and international organizations for verification of originality. Cases of plagiarism are handled by J-SEAM’s disciplinary committee, which includes staff, editors, and the Editorial Director or a designated representative.
If an article under review is found to be plagiarized (including cases of multiple submissions), its processing for publication will be halted. The corresponding author will be requested to provide an explanation. Should the response be inadequate, the issue will be escalated to the disciplinary committee, which will determine further actions. For published articles, any work alleged of plagiarism will be temporarily withdrawn, and a notice will be published in J-STEAM. The author will be asked to respond. If the author fails to respond in time or provides an unsatisfactory explanation, the article will be permanently retracted, the author blacklisted, and notifications sent to the author. In instances of multiple submissions, other editors will be informed. Authors claiming retraction as a defense must furnish documentary evidence. Those alleging intellectual property or data theft must also provide documentary proof to support their claims.
Publication Ethics & Misconduct
In cases of suspected publication misconduct, the initial step involves requesting an explanation from the corresponding author, based on the evidence at hand. If the authors fail to respond or provide an inadequate response, the manuscript will be either withdrawn from the publication process if it is yet unpublished, or retracted if it has already been published. A formal notice of retraction will be issued both in print and on the website. Authors involved in such misconduct will be prohibited from future submissions and considerations at the journal, and the head of the authors’ institution will be notified of the action. Additionally, other Editorial Associations might be informed of the incident.
Acts of plagiarism and other forms of publication misconduct, including image fabrication, data falsification, ‘salami slicing’, duplicate or redundant publication, multiple submissions, as well as selective and misleading reporting or referencing, will be subject to stringent measures.
Peer Review
Following an initial evaluation, the selected manuscript undergoes a peer review process conducted by two external reviewers who specialize in the relevant subject area, as appointed by the Editor. The journal employs a double-blind review system. Reviewers are typically allotted an average of two weeks to complete their review of a manuscript. Each reviewer is assigned only one manuscript at a time. In situations involving contentious or disputed papers, the issue is brought to the Chief Editor’s attention and may be escalated to a third reviewer, as designated by the Chief Editor. While editors themselves do not participate in the peer review process for the journal, they retain the authority to make editorial adjustments to ensure that accepted articles align with the journal’s stylistic guidelines.
Privacy Statement
The contact details and email addresses provided on this journal’s website will be utilized solely for the intended functions of this journal and will not be disclosed for any other use or to any third party.
Policy on Research Misconduct
Each author is required to adhere to the highest global ethical standards in research. J-STEAM strictly prohibits any form of research misconduct, both before and after publication, in any aspect of research. The journal insists on immediate investigation, resolution, and punishment for all allegations of misconduct, the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The Editor holds the primary responsibility to decide whether an investigation is necessary and to present a conclusive report once all investigations, reviews, hearings, and appeals have been completed. In such instances, J-STEAM encourages and expects the scientific community to cooperate in both reporting and responding to suspected cases of Research Misconduct, while respecting the final decision made under this Policy.
Copyright
The Journal of Science, Technology, Education, Art and Medicine (J-STEAM) holds the copyright for all works published in the journal. Authors are required to sign a copyright transfer agreement on their Authors Certification Proforma for any contributions that are accepted for publication by the journal.
As the copyright holder, J-STEAM does not permit the reproduction of its printed material without prior authorization from the editors or publisher. Guidelines for authors are provided on the last page of each issue. J-STEAM exclusively publishes original content, under the condition that, apart from abstracts, none of the data has been or will be submitted elsewhere for publication before its appearance in this journal. While the Editorial Board strives to verify the accuracy and authenticity of content published in the journal, the views and conclusions expressed by the authors do not necessarily represent those of the Editorial Board or J-STEAM.
