Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

The International Journal of Journalism and Mass Communication (IJJMC) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and academic integrity. The journal follows internationally recognized ethical guidelines consistent with the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and established academic publishing standards. IJJMC adopts a zero-tolerance policy toward publication misconduct. Any manuscript found to involve unethical practices will be rejected or retracted as appropriate.

Publication Malpractice includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, inappropriate authorship, duplicate submission, overlapping publication, and salami publication.

Forms of Publication Misconduct

1. Plagiarism

Plagiarism involves the use of another person's:

  • Ideas

  • Words

  • Data

  • Figures

  • Methods

  • Interpretations

without proper acknowledgment or citation.

Plagiarism also includes:

  • Direct copying without attribution

  • Improper paraphrasing

  • Excessive textual similarity

  • Uncredited use of published material

All manuscripts submitted to IJJMC are checked using Crossref Similarity Check powered by iThenticate (or equivalent software).

2. Fabrication

Fabrication refers to the creation of false data or results without actually conducting the research.

Examples include:

  • Invented survey responses

  • Artificial datasets

  • Non-existent experiments

Fabrication is considered serious academic misconduct.

3. Falsification

Falsification refers to the manipulation or alteration of research data or results in a way that produces misleading conclusions.

Examples include:

  • Selective reporting of results

  • Manipulation of statistical analysis

  • Alteration of images or figures

  • Omission of contradictory findings

4. Inappropriate Authorship

Authorship must accurately reflect individual contributions to the research.

Inappropriate authorship includes:

  • Guest or honorary authorship

  • Exclusion of deserving contributors

  • Incorrect author order without consent

  • Submission without consent of co-authors

All listed authors must have made a significant contribution to the research and approve the final manuscript.

5. Duplicate or Multiple Submission

Duplicate submission refers to the submission of the same manuscript or substantially similar manuscripts to more than one journal simultaneously.

This includes manuscripts with only minor differences in:

  • Title

  • Abstract

  • Keywords

  • Author order

  • Affiliations

  • Small textual changes

Simultaneous submission to multiple journals is strictly prohibited.

6. Overlapping Publication

Overlapping publication refers to publication of a manuscript that substantially overlaps with previously published work without proper disclosure.

Authors must disclose any prior publication or related manuscripts at the time of submission.

7. Salami Publication

Salami publication refers to dividing a single research project into multiple publications that:

  • Use the same dataset

  • Use the same methodology

  • Address the same research question

when the study could reasonably be presented in a single paper.

8. Reference Integrity

Authors must ensure that:

  • References are accurate and complete

  • Citations correspond to the content

  • Sources are appropriately acknowledged

The Editorial Office may cross-check references for accuracy and relevance.

Plagiarism Detection

To maintain high ethical standards, IJJMC uses Crossref Similarity Check powered by iThenticate to detect unoriginal content.

Similarity reports are carefully evaluated by editors.

In general:

  • Similarity above 20% may indicate potential misconduct.

  • Excessive textual overlap (e.g., more than 200 overlapping words) may require investigation.

  • Overlap exceeding acceptable limits may result in rejection or further inquiry.

Actions in Case of Misconduct

If publication misconduct is identified, IJJMC may take one or more of the following actions:

Editorial Actions

  • Reject the manuscript

  • Request revision

  • Withdraw a published article

  • Issue a correction or retraction notice

Author Sanctions

In cases of serious misconduct, the journal may:

  • Prohibit the authors from submitting manuscripts to IJJMC for up to two years

  • Reject all manuscripts submitted by the same research team during the sanction period

Institutional Notification

Where necessary, the journal may:

  • Inform the author’s affiliated institution

  • Inform funding agencies

  • Notify relevant academic bodies

Post-Publication Ethics

If ethical concerns are identified after publication:

  • The journal will conduct an investigation.

  • Authors may be asked to provide explanations or original data.

  • Articles may be corrected, retracted, or removed where necessary.

Ethical Responsibility of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to IJJMC must ensure that:

  • The manuscript is original.

  • Data are authentic and accurate.

  • Proper citations are provided.

  • All authors approve submission.

  • Ethical approvals are obtained where required.

Submission to IJJMC implies agreement with this publication ethics policy.