Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The SDCA Asia-Pacific Multidisciplinary Research Journal is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all appropriate measures to prevent publication malpractice. The following ethical guidelines must be accepted by all participants in the publication process, including authors, editors, and reviewers. Plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, improper authorship attribution, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and duplicate or redundant publication are not allowed in this journal. For any misconduct committed as specified, the researcher will be subject to appropriate punishments, such as article rejection, retraction, and notification for authors and/or representative institutions.

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

Authorship and Contribution

Authorship must reflect substantial contributions to the research work, including:

• Conception and design, data presentation, interpretation, and analysis (including the use of Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software for quantitative research);

• Drafting or critically revising the manuscript;

• Final approval of the version to be published.

Authors must ensure that:

• All individuals who meet authorship criteria are properly included;

• No qualified contributor is excluded without written consent;

• Contributions such as funding acquisition or general supervision alone do not justify authorship;

• All authors accept public responsibility for the content.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must submit only original works. Any form of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, is unethical and unacceptable. Proper acknowledgment of sources must always be observed.

Data Integrity and Reporting Standards

Authors must present accurate data and ensure that results are honestly reported. Fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of data constitutes serious ethical misconduct.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously or publish redundant versions of the same research.

Acknowledgment of Sources

The work of other authors or contributors must be properly acknowledged. Every source that influenced the study must be properly credited.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Any direct or indirect interest that could affect how the study presented in the submission is read, evaluated, or conducted is considered a conflict of interest. Authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could influence the research results or interpretation.

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS

Editorial Independence and Integrity: When making publication decisions, editors must be completely independent. Only the following criteria should be used to make decisions: 1) Originality; 2) Contribution to the field; 3) Possible research utilization; 4) Technical quality; 5) Clarity of presentation; and 6) Depth of research. The publisher, sponsors, and other outside parties cannot influence editorial decisions.

Accountability and Transparency: Editors are required to maintain accurate records of editorial decisions and peer review procedures, guarantee transparency in decision-making and give reasonable explanations for manuscript decisions, and clearly convey editorial policies, peer review procedures, and acceptance criteria on this journal website.

Peer Review Quality Assurance: Editors must implement a strong single-blind peer review system; diversity representation among reviewers must be guaranteed; review quality must be monitored; bias, misconduct, or unprofessional input must be addressed, and papers must be processed on time.

Ethical Oversight and Misconduct Handling: Prior to review, editors must establish clear procedures in dealing with allegations of plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, citation manipulation, authorship disputes and infringements, and the use of plagiarism detection tools. When necessary, they must also issue corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern to authors or institutions affected.

Conflict of Interest Management: Editors are required to make sure that they, including reviewers and authors, declare their conflicts of interest and refrain from dealing with manuscripts involving conflicts.

Promotion of Research Integrity: Editors should promote data reproducibility and transparency, ethical research methods for studies involving humans and animals, appropriate citation, and avoidance of using excessive self-citations or manipulating journal citations. 

ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS

Scholarly Contribution and Objectivity: Reviewers have the duty to give constructive, critical, and evidence-based criticism, assess manuscripts impartially and on the basis of academic meri, and refrain from using inappropriate or unprofessional language. 

Confidentiality and Data Protection: All papers must be treated as confidential by reviewers, who must also discard or delete manuscript files after review if necessary, and refrain from sharing or using unpublished data for personal or professional gain.

Detection of Ethical Issues: Plagiarism or substantial textual overlap, redundant or duplicate publications, data inconsistencies or potential fabrication, and ethical issues with research involving human or animal subjects must all be actively addressed by reviewers.

Timeliness and Professional Responsibility: Reviewers must only accept reviews based in their area of expertise, finish reviews in the stipulated timeframe (within 15 days), and if delays are inevitable, notify the editor immediately.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: If there are conflicts of interest, reviewers must decline review invitations and notify the editor of any possible bias or conflicting interests.

COPYRIGHT TRANSFER

Authors who publish in SDCA Asia-Pacific Multidisciplinary Research Journal agree to the following terms:

1. The Author shall retain his / her copyright interest and agree that the manuscript remains permanently open access in SDCA’s site. SDCA shall have the right to use and archive the content for the purpose of obtaining a record in the publication, whereas the Author obtains proper attribution and credit for the published work.

2. The Author may reproduce or distribute the article in whole or in part in electronic and print formats provided that this will be used solely for personal and/or professional use such as academic teaching, research, and scholarship purposes. Any copyright notice and its source will be indicated through this manuscript, and this will not be offered for sale.

3. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.

PRIVACY NOTICE

The names and email addresses entered in this website will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of the following SDCA journals and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party. Click here to know more about the school's privacy policy.