STATEMENT OF PUBLICATION ETHICS AND PUBLICATION MALPRACTICE

The Indian Journal of Psychological Science (IJPS) is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against any publication malpractices. IJPS is double blind peer reviewed research journal. The publication of research paper in a peer reviewed journal is an essential model for our journal “Indian Journal of Psychological Science” It is necessary to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer and the publisher. Our ethic statements are based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Besides this the, IJPS journal provides a platform for the open public discussion of the journal contents. To secure accountability and to encourage sincere professional inputs without incivilities the system is set up to require registration and logging for recording of inputs. Some of the website contents will be available without logging but no peer review comments can be posted on the website without the disclosure of the reviewer identity to the journal editors.

REVIEWER’S RESPONSIBILITY:

• • Confidentiality

The manuscripts’ information submitted by the author(s) is the privileged information and it must be kept confidential at every level.

• • Acknowledgement of Resources

The reviewers must ensure that authors have acknowledged all sources of data used in the manuscript submitted and it is the duty of the reviewer to check any kind of similarity or overlapping between the manuscripts under consideration and any other resources available. The reviewer must inform to the Editor immediately, if any adverse thing noticed from the manuscript.

• • Standards of Objectivity

Every manuscript submitted must be reviewed objectively and every reviewer should express their views clearly with justifications.

• Promptness

In case of unavoidable circumstances and helplessness to review the manuscript, the reviewer must inform the Editor without any delay. Consequently, the manuscript should be sent to another reviewer for timely review.

DUTIES OF AUTHORS:

• • Reporting Standards:

All the authors should prepare and submit their original piece of research work strictly according to the submission guidelines of the Indian Journal of Psychological Science.

• • DISCLOSURE AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

• • Data Access and Retention

Authors should also provide raw data related with their manuscript for editorial review and must retain such data for future reference.

• • Originality

Every author(s) must ensure and submit the undertaking that their work is an entirely original work.

• • Concurrent Publications

The author (s) is not allowed to submit same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently. It is also expected that the author should not publish redundant manuscripts or manuscripts describing same research data in more than one journal.

• • Acknowledgement of Sources>

Every author(s) should acknowledge all sources of data they used in the research and cite publications that have been influential in research work.

• • Authorship of the paper

The only person (s) who has made significant contribution for conception, design, execution or interpretation of the reported study will own the authorship of the same. Similarly others who have made significant contribution must be listed as co-authors. Authors also ensure that all the authors have seen and agreed to the submitted version of the manuscript and their inclusion of names as co-authors.

• Disclosure of Financial Support

Sources of Financial support, if any, must be clearly disclosed and there should not be intra/inter conflicts for the same.

DUTIES OF EDITORS:

• • Publication Decisions

The Editorial Board of Indian Journal of Psychological Science can accept or reject the manuscript or can send the same for modification. Such decision will be purely based on the recommendations of the Reviewers.

• • Review of Manuscripts

Initially the manuscript received for publication will be evaluated by the editor/co-editor/reviewers on the panel of Indian Journal of Psychological Science, through the spell checker and plagiarism and assess on the basis of originality of the contents, further manuscript is forwarded to two referees for blind peer review, and each of whom will make a recommendation to publish the manuscript in its present form or to modify or to reject the same. Generally the review period varies from one week to one month but in unavoidable circumstances, it can be more than one month.

• • Fair Play

The editor/Managing Editor undertake to retain the objectivity and ensure that every manuscript received will be reviewed on the basis of intellectual contents and there will be no biasness on the basis of race, sex, gender, religion, etc. of the authors.

• Confidentiality

The editor/Managing Editor will ensure to maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript submitted to the IJPS and it will be double-blind peer reviewed by the members of editorial board/reviewers on the panel of IJPS.

Ethical Principles for Research

The Indian Journal of Psychological Science (IJPS) completely accepts the manuscripts submitted for publication on the basis of following well-known moral principles, ethical terms and conditions:

Four well-known moral principles:

(i) The Principle of Non-malfeasance: Any harm should not be cause through research to the participants in particular and to people in general.
(ii) The Principle of Beneficence: Every research should also contribute significantly and positively for welfare of people.
(iii) The Principle of Autonomy: the every research must look in to the respect and to protect the rights and dignity of participants.
(iv) The Principle of Justice: Any type of gain and lose through research must be shared equally among the people involved and share responsibility.

BELOW MENTIONED IS TO BE FINALIZED

Apart from the aforesaid well-known moral principles, ethical terms and conditions the Editorial Board of Indian Journal of Psychological Science adopted the following general ethical principles:
• Essentiality: For undertaking research it is necessary to make all possible efforts to get and give adequate consideration to existing literature/knowledge and its relevance, and the alternatives available on the subject/issue under the study.
• Maximisation of public interest and of social justice: Research is a social activity, carried out for the benefit of society. It should be undertaken with the motive of maximisation of public interest and social justice.
• Knowledge, ability and commitment to do research: Sincere commitment to research in general and to the relevant subject in particular, and readiness to acquire adequate knowledge, ability and skill for undertaking particular research are essential prerequisites for good and ethical research.
• (iv) Respect and protection of autonomy, rights and dignity of participants: Research involving participation of individual(s) must not only respect, but also protect the autonomy, the rights and the dignity of participants. The participation of individual(s) must be voluntary and based on informed consent.
• Privacy, anonymity and confidentiality: All information and records provided by participants or obtained directly or indirectly on/about the participants are confidential. For revealing or sharing any information that may identify participants, permission of the participants is essential.
• Precaution and risk minimization: All research carries some risk to the participants and to society. Taking adequate precautions and minimizing and mitigating risks is, therefore, essential.
• Non-exploitation: Research must not unnecessarily consume the time of participants or make them incur undue loss of resources and income. It should not expose them to risks due to participation in the research. The relationship within the research team, including student and junior members, should be based on the principle of non-exploitation. Contribution of each member of the research team should be properly acknowledged and recognized.
• Public domain: All persons and organizations connected to research should make adequate efforts to make public in appropriate manner and form, and at appropriate time, information on the research undertaken, and the relevant results and implications of completed research.
• Accountability and transparency: The conduct of research must be fair, honest and transparent. It is desirable that institutions and researchers are amenable to social and financial review of their research by an appropriate and responsible social body. They should also make appropriate arrangements for the preservation of research records for a reasonable period of time.
• Totality of responsibility: The responsibility for due observance of all principles of ethics and guidelines devolves on all those directly or indirectly connected with the research. They include institution(s) where the research is conducted, researcher(s), sponsors/funders and those who publish material generated from research.