Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Sustainable Engineering and Intelligent Systems (SEIS) is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice. SEIS follows the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and expects all parties involved in the publishing process — authors, editors, and reviewers — to adhere to these standards.

Duties of Authors

Authors submitting to SEIS must ensure their work is original, has not been published elsewhere, and is not under consideration by another journal. Authors must accurately present their research and provide an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the manuscript and, where applicable, made available upon reasonable request.

Authorship must be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study, consistent with the criteria set out by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). All co-authors must have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to its submission.

Authors must disclose any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that could influence the results or interpretation of their work. All sources of financial support must be disclosed. A Conflict of Interest Disclosure must accompany every submission.

Where research involves human participants, animal subjects, or hazardous materials, authors must confirm that all work was carried out in accordance with relevant institutional and national guidelines, and that appropriate ethical approval was obtained. This should be stated in the manuscript.

Plagiarism and Originality

All manuscripts submitted to SEIS are screened for textual similarity prior to being sent for peer review. Submissions found to contain substantial unattributed overlap with previously published work, or evidence of data fabrication or falsification, will be rejected without further review. Confirmed cases of plagiarism identified after publication will be handled in accordance with COPE’s guidelines and may result in correction, retraction, or a formal notice appended to the published article.

Duties of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively and provide constructive, substantiated feedback. Reviewers must maintain confidentiality regarding any manuscript under review and must not use unpublished information from a submission for personal advantage. Reviewers should disclose any conflict of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors and, where appropriate, decline to review.

Duties of Editors

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for deciding which submitted articles are published, based solely on the manuscript’s academic merit, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, religion, nationality, or institutional affiliation. Editors must not disclose information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and the publisher, as appropriate. Editors and editorial staff must not use unpublished materials from a submitted manuscript in their own research without the express written consent of the author.

Conflicts of Interest

All parties — authors, reviewers, and editors — are required to declare any conflict of interest that could be perceived to influence the objectivity of the submission, review, or editorial decision. Editors with a personal or professional conflict of interest regarding a submission will recuse themselves from the editorial decision for that manuscript, which will instead be handled by another qualified member of the Editorial Board.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

SEIS follows COPE’s guidelines on corrections and retractions. Where significant errors, ethical breaches, plagiarism, data fabrication, or duplicate publication are identified in a published article, the journal will issue a correction, an expression of concern, or a retraction as appropriate, following investigation. Any retraction notice will clearly state the reason for retraction and will be linked to the original article.

Complaints and Appeals

Authors who wish to appeal an editorial decision, or raise a concern regarding any stage of the review or publication process, may contact the Editor-in-Chief directly at seis@opensciencepress.com. Complaints will be acknowledged within 5 business days and will be investigated and resolved, wherever possible, within 30 business days, in accordance with COPE’s guidance on handling complaints and appeals. Where a complaint cannot be resolved internally, SEIS may seek guidance directly from COPE.