Ethics & Disclosures
The Engineering Convergence and Innovation (ECI) An International Journal is firmly committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct throughout the publication process. This includes ensuring transparency, honesty, integrity, and fairness in all aspects of manuscript submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, and publication. The following guidelines outline our expectations for authors, reviewers, and editors.
1. Publication Ethics
ECI adheres to the ethical guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and expects all participants in the publishing process to follow these best practices.
Originality and Integrity: Submissions must be original, unpublished work and must not be under consideration elsewhere. All sources and prior research must be properly cited.
Data Accuracy: Authors must ensure that data presented in the manuscript is accurate, verifiable, and free from fabrication, falsification, or selective reporting.
Multiple Submissions: Authors should not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously.
Redundant Publication: Republishing the same data or content in multiple papers (self-plagiarism) is prohibited unless justified and cited transparently.
2. Authorship and Contributions
Authorship Criteria: All listed authors must have significantly contributed to the research—through conception, design, execution, analysis, or manuscript writing.
Corresponding Author: One author must be designated to handle communication with the journal and must ensure that all co-authors approve the final version.
Changes to Authorship: Any changes to the list or order of authors after submission require written approval from all co-authors.
3. Plagiarism and Similarity
Zero Tolerance Policy: ECI does not tolerate plagiarism in any form. Manuscripts are checked using plagiarism detection software.
Similarity Limit: The acceptable similarity index is below 10%. Manuscripts exceeding this threshold may be rejected or returned for revision.
Citation Ethics: All data, quotes, and figures taken from other sources must be cited appropriately.
4. Conflict of Interest
Disclosure Requirement: Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that may influence their research.
Examples: This includes funding sources, employment affiliations, consultancies, stock ownership, or patent applications.
Reviewer and Editor Conflicts: Reviewers and editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts if a conflict of interest exists.
5. Ethical Research Standards
Human and Animal Subjects: Studies involving human participants or animals must follow ethical guidelines and obtain proper approvals.
Informed Consent: In research involving humans, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from participants.
Privacy and Confidentiality: Identifying information of participants must be protected unless explicit consent is obtained for disclosure.
6. Misconduct and Corrections
Research Misconduct: Fabrication, falsification, manipulation of data/images, or misrepresentation will result in rejection, retraction, and potential blacklisting.
Corrections and Retractions:
Corrections will be issued for honest errors.
Retractions will be published for serious ethical violations or misleading information.
Expressions of Concern may be issued while investigations are ongoing.
7. Transparency and Disclosure Statements
Authors must include the following declarations in their manuscript:
Funding Statement: Clearly state all sources of financial support or grants.
Conflict of Interest Statement: Disclose any potential competing interests.
Ethical Approval: Provide ethical clearance reference number or approval letter (if applicable).
Acknowledgements: Mention individuals or institutions that contributed but do not qualify for authorship.
8. Editorial Responsibility
Editors at ECI are responsible for making fair, unbiased decisions based on academic merit.
All editorial board members are expected to maintain confidentiality and avoid conflicts of interest.
Editors may remove content found to be unethical, defamatory, or harmful to public interest.
9. Reporting Misconduct
Suspected ethical misconduct can be reported by authors, reviewers, or readers via email. All complaints will be handled confidentially and investigated thoroughly by the ECI Ethics Committee.