Research and Publication Ethics

Publication of an article in JDS is a continuing process of knowledge discovery. JDS and its publisher KODISA take guardianship over this process seriously, and strive to ensure that all parties involved understand and agree on what is fair, reasonable and scientific in the publication of an academic article. JDS and KODISA closely follow guidelines issued by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and encourage all authors and reviewers to review them, with the goal of reaching the highest standard in publication ethics.      

Author Responsibilities

1. Originality and Plagiarism

Authors should ensure that the entire work is original and written by the authors. The work and words of others should be clearly cited, and where necessary, permission to use or cite the work should be obtained. Plagiarism may take many forms, including presenting the results of another’s paper as their own; copying or paraphrasing significant parts of another’s paper without proper citation; and using results from another’s research, including those yet to be published. All forms of plagiarism are unacceptable. JDS may use iThenticate provided by Crossref Similarity Check to screen submitted papers for plagiarism.  

2. Data Transparency

Authors should ensure that the data is true and not manipulated. When survey data is used, authors should state the population from which the data was sampled, the collection method, and the number of samples that were excluded, should there have been any. When using publicly available data, clearly state its source, either documents or websites. When using proprietary data collected by others, authors should obtain permission to use them. Also, data collection procedures should comply with relevant laws and guidelines of the authors’ institution. The editor may request the disclosure of raw data when making an editorial decision or investigating issues of data manipulation.

3. Conflict of Interest

Authors should state any conflict of interest that may influence the presentation and interpretation of the results of the paper. All financial support for the research should be disclosed.

4. Recognition of Other’s Work

Authors should carry out a comprehensive literature review of the topic under study, and provide proper acknowledgment of other’s work. Authors may not knowingly omit another’s work that is relevant for the topic under study. Information gained from personal conversation, conference presentations, refereeing a manuscript or from other means should not be used, unless there is explicit written consent from the author of the work.

5. Authorship

Accreditation of authorship should be accurate. All authors listed should have participated in the work, and those that have contributed at a comparable level with the listed authors should not be left out. All authors should have consented to have their names on the work. Adding an author after the first round of reviews is allowed only when it can be established that the additional author has contributed significantly to the work.

6. Multiple Submission

Authors may not concurrently submit the same work to multiple journals. Authors should not submit a rephrased version of their currently submitted or published work to another journal for consideration.

7. Response to Request for Clarification

When the editor receives a complaint or independently have concerns regarding the ethical standard of the work submitted, the editor is obliged to follow up with an inquiry, even after the work is published. In such a case, authors have responsibility to cooperate with the investigation and comply swiftly to requests for clarification.

8. Notification of Errors

Authors have a responsibility to notify any errors in the paper to the editor, during or after the publication process. Authors can either retract the paper; provide an erratum when the error is not critical; or provide evidence of the correctness of the paper.

Reviewer Responsibilities

1. Confidentiality

Reviewers should maintain the confidentiality of the review process. Reviewers may not reveal their involvement or the content of the paper to persons outside of the review process.

2. Use of Information

Reviewers may not use information obtained during the review process, in their personal research or for personal gain.

3. Non-discrimination

Reviewers should not discriminate the intellectual content of the paper based on the presumed race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality and political philosophy of the authors.

4. Contribution to the Editorial Process

Reviewers should provide constructive feedback in order to improve the quality of the papers published and aid knowledge discovery of the field.

5. Conflict of Interest

Potential reviewers should alert the editor regarding conflict of interest arising from competitive, collaborative or personal relations with the authors. Potential reviewers may recuse themselves from the review process.

6. Promptness

For editorial efficiency and benefits of the authors, reviewers should conduct their reviews within the time frame allotted.

Editor Responsibilities

1. Ethical Standards and Procedures

Editors, including Senior Editor-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief, Associate Editors, should promote ethical policies of transparency and non-partiality. To this effect, editors should implement ethical standards and procedures for handling the submitted works and resolution of grievances and conflicts of interest.

2. Confidentiality

Editors should maintain the confidentiality of the review process. Editors may not reveal their involvement or the content of the paper to persons outside of the review process.

3. Use of Information

Editors may not make use of information obtained during the review process for personal research or personal gain.

4. Providing Guidance

Editors should provide clear guidance to the authors when requesting a revision. When required, editors should provide authors with guidelines for ethical standards to be followed in research and in publication.

5. Non-discrimination

Editors may not discriminate submitted work based on the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality and political philosophy of the authors.

Double-Blind Peer Review Policy

JDS has adopted a double blind peer review policy, where both the referee and the author remain anonymous throughout the process. Please remove all identifying features from the main document itself, ensuring that Authors' identities are not revealed. However, this does not preclude Authors from citing their own previous works, although Authors must cite their works in a manner that does not make explicit their identity. All contributions will be initially assessed by the Editor-in-Chief for suitability for the journal. Papers deemed suitable are then typically sent to a minimum of two independent expert reviewers to assess the scientific quality of the paper. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of the articles. The Editor-in-Chief's decision is final. 

Copyright Policy

After publication of an article, the copyright of the article transfers and belongs to the Author(s). 

Self-Citation Restriction Policy

The self-citation refers to when an author refers to the previous work written by him/her alone or in co-authorship and cites it. Self-cites are used to compare current results of the research with earlier findings when continuing to study the same subject. It seems that the only reasonable solution for the issues of self-plagiarism, research integrity, and originality is to limit the number of self-citations. JDS Self-Citation Restriction Policy regulates that the self-citation level should not exceed 10% for an author, 20% for co-authors together, and 15% for JDS. If the reference checker (software) finds that this rule has been broken, then the manuscript will be automatically rejected by the Desk Editor without further review.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

JDS Editorial Board respects and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion by accepting submissions only on the basis of research and scholarly merit and integrity without considering race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, gender, religion, or financial means.