PUBLISHING ETHICS
Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
The Al-Qadisiyah Journal of Chemistry (QJCH) adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics. This statement on publication ethics and malpractice is primarily guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (2011).
Editorial Responsibilities
Decision-Making
Editors are solely responsible for determining which submitted manuscripts are suitable for publication. Evaluation is conducted impartially, without discrimination based on authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, nationality, or political views. Decisions are based on the manuscript’s scholarly merit, originality, clarity, methodological rigor, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Legal considerations such as libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism are carefully assessed prior to acceptance. taken into account.
Confidentiality
Editors and editorial staff must maintain strict confidentiality regarding submitted manuscripts. Manuscript details and related information must not be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisors, and the publisher when appropriate, and only when such disclosure is appropriate for the review and publication.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Editors and editorial board members must not use unpublished concepts, data, or findings from submitted manuscripts for their own research without the author’s explicit written permission.
Reviewer Responsibilities
Editorial Contribution
Peer reviewers play a critical role in supporting editorial decisions and in enhancing the quality of submitted manuscripts through constructive feedback.
Timeliness
Reviewers who feel unqualified to assess a manuscript, or who cannot complete the review within the designated timeframe, must promptly inform the editor and withdraw from the review process.
Confidentiality
Manuscripts under review are confidential documents and must not be shared or discussed with others unless authorized by the editor.
Objectivity and Constructive Criticism
Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate. Reviewers should present their evaluations clearly and support them with reasoned arguments.
Source Acknowledgment
Reviewers should identify relevant works that have not been cited by the authors and ensure that borrowed ideas, data or findings are properly attributed. They must alert the editor to any significant overlap or similarity between the manuscript and other known publications.
Conflict of Interest
Reviewers must not use privileged information obtained through peer review for personal advantage. They should decline to review any manuscripts in which a conflict of interest may arise due to competitive, collaborative, financial or institutional relationships with the authors or their affiliated organizations.
Authors’ Responsibilities
1. Reporting Standards
Authors must provide a precise and honest account of the research conducted, along with an objective discussion of its significance. All underlying data should be accurately presented. Manuscripts should include sufficient methodological detail and appropriate references to enable replication by other researchers. Any form of data fabrication falsification, or intentional misrepresentation is considered unethical behavior and will not be tolerated.
2. Data Accessibility and Retention
Authors may be asked to submit the raw data associated with their manuscript for editorial review. Where feasible, they should make the data publicly accessible. In all cases, authors must ensure that qualified professionals can access the data for at least of ten years following publication—preferably through institutional or subject-specific repositories—while maintaining participant confidentiality and complying with legal restrictions on proprietary data.
3. Originality, Plagiarism, and Source Attribution
Submitted manuscripts must be entirely original. Authors are required to properly cite or quote any external sources or previously published work that influenced their study. All significant prior contributions must be acknowledged appropriately.
4. Turnitin-Based Plagiarism and AI Usage Policy
· Manuscripts must have a plagiarism rate of below 20%.
· If plagiarism rate falls between 20–30%, the manuscript will be returned to the authors once for revision.
· A plagiarism rate of 31% or higher will result in immediate and permanent rejection, with no possibility of resubmission.
· Plagiarism from a single source must remain below 25%; if overlap with a single source exceeds 41%, the manuscript will be rejected immediately.
· AI-generated content must not exceed 25%.
· If AI-generated content is detected in the range of 26–40%, the manuscript will be returned once for revision.
· If AI-generated content exceeds 40%, the manuscript will be permanently rejected with no right of resubmission .
Preprints Policy
The Al-Qadisiyah Journal of Chemistry does not accept manuscripts that have previously appeared as non-peer-reviewed preprints, nor those with a high similarity index resulting from prior storage in the Turnitin plagiarism database.
Duplicate and Simultaneous Submissions
Submitting the same research to multiple journals is considered unethical and is strictly prohibited. Manuscripts that have already been published under copyright elsewhere are not eligible for submission. Likewise, papers under review by this journal must not be simultaneously submitted to other copyrighted outlets.
Authors retain the rights to their work upon submission. If accepted for publication, the work will be made available under the Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY) [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/], which permits copying, distribution, adaptation, and commercial use.
Authorship Criteria
Authorship must reflect substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. All individuals who meet these criteria must be listed as co-authors.
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have contributed meaningfully, approved the final manuscript, and agreed to its submission.
The names, order, and spelling of authors will appear in the published version exactly as submitted. No changes to author details will be permitted after submission.
Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Authors must disclose any financial or personal relationships that could influence the interpretation of their work. All sources of funding must be clearly stated.
Corrections and Retractions
If an author identifies a significant error in their published work, they are obligated to inform the journal promptly and collaborate with the editorial team to issue a correction or retraction in the form of an erratum.
