Editorial and Ethical Policies

Editorial and Ethical Policies

 

Publication Frequency
Publication Ethics and Policy Guidelines
Informed Consent Policy
Plagiarism Policy
Appeals and Complaints Processes
Authorship Criteria and Ethical Policies
Double Blind Peer Review & Editorial Process
Withdrawal Policy
Data Sharing Policy
Preprint Policy

 

PUBLICATION FREQUENCY

The Axis Journal of Scientific Innovations (AJSI) is published on a bi-annual basis, with issues released in the first and third quarters of the year. This schedule ensures a consistent and timely platform for disseminating pioneering research in scientific innovations and inventions to the global academic community.

PUBLICATION ETHICS AND POLICY GUIDELINES

AJSI adheres to the most stringent ethical standards in scholarly publishing, demanding full transparency and integrity from all participants—authors, reviewers, and editors. Our policies are aligned with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

  • Authorship and Contributions: In accordance with ICMJE guidelines, AJSI recognizes as authors only those individuals who have made substantial contributions to the work's conception, design, execution, or interpretation.

  • Conflict of Interest: All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived as potential conflicts of interest. Disclosures are published to maintain transparency.

Human and Animal Research Ethics: For studies involving human participants or animals, AJSI requires a statement confirming formal approval from an appropriate institutional ethics committee, compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and adherence to relevant animal welfare standards.

INFORMED CONSENT POLICY

Requirement
For all research involving human subjects, authors must obtain voluntary, informed consent from each participant or their legal guardian. This consent must explicitly cover both participation in the research and the publication of any potentially identifiable data, including photographs, videos, or detailed case descriptions, in an open-access format.

Documentation

  • Authors must confirm during submission that informed consent for publication has been obtained.

  • The manuscript must include a statement within the methods section affirming that ethical guidelines were followed.

Implementation

  • Submission Process: Authors are required to provide details on ethical approvals and consent during manuscript submission.

  • Verification: The AJSI editorial team verifies compliance with these requirements as part of the peer-review process.

  • Publication: All published articles involving human subjects will contain a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained.

PLAGIARISM POLICY

Plagiarism—the unauthorized use of another's ideas, text, or data without proper citation—in any form is strictly prohibited. This includes verbatim copying, paraphrasing without attribution, and self-plagiarism (reusing one's own previously published work without acknowledgment). AJSI employs TURNITIN software to screen all submissions for originality. Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding 20% (excluding quotes and bibliography) may be rejected or returned for revision. Severe cases of detected plagiarism will result in article retraction, notification of the authors' institutions, and a ban on future submissions.

APPEALS AND COMPLAINTS PROCESSES

  • Appeals: Authors may appeal an editorial decision (e.g., rejection) by submitting a formal letter to the Chief Editor via the journal’s official email. The appeal must detail the specific grounds for the challenge. An independent Appeals Committee will review the case, the manuscript, and the review history before making a final recommendation.

  • Complaints: Formal complaints regarding ethical misconduct, procedural failures, or unprofessional behavior by any party involved in the publishing process should be reported directly to the Chief Editor. A dedicated Complaints Committee will conduct a confidential investigation and recommend appropriate resolutions based on their findings.

AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA AND ETHICAL POLICIES

Authorship Criteria
The Axis Journal of Scientific Innovations (AJSI) follows the ICMJE recommendations for authorship. Each author listed on a submission must meet all the following four criteria:

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND

  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND

  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND

  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals who contributed but do not meet all four criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have reviewed, approved, and agreed to be accountable for the entire manuscript.

DOUBLE-BLIND PEER REVIEW & EDITORIAL PROCESS

The Axis Journal of Scientific Innovations (AJSI) employs a rigorous double-blind peer-review process to ensure impartiality and fairness. In this system, the identities of both the authors and the reviewers are concealed from each other throughout the evaluation. The editorial process consists of the following stages:

  1. Initial Evaluation: The editor-in-chief conducts an initial check for scope, originality, and adherence to journal guidelines.

  2. Peer Review: Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are sent to a minimum of two independent experts in the field.

  3. Revision: Based on reviewer feedback, authors may be invited to revise and resubmit their manuscript.

  4. Final Decision: The handling editor makes a final decision based on the revised manuscript and reviewer recommendations.
    AJSI strives to complete the initial review cycle and provide a first decision to authors within 4-6 weeks of submission.

WITHDRAWAL POLICY

Authors may request to withdraw their manuscript at any stage prior to its formal publication. However, if a withdrawal is requested after the peer-review process has begun, the corresponding author must provide a formal, compelling reason for the withdrawal. Requests for withdrawal after a manuscript has been formally accepted are strongly discouraged and will only be considered under exceptional circumstances, as significant resources will have already been invested in the editorial process.

DATA SHARING POLICY

AJSI strongly advocates for transparency, reproducibility, and open science. We encourage authors to share the data, code, and materials underlying the research findings in a suitable public data repository at the time of article publication. Shared data should include comprehensive metadata, be in non-proprietary formats where possible, and have clear access conditions. When public sharing is not possible due to legitimate ethical, legal, or privacy concerns, authors must state the reason for restrictions within the data availability statement of the manuscript. We recommend using repositories that provide persistent identifiers, such as a DOI (e.g., Zenodo, Figshare).

PREPRINT POLICY

The Axis Journal of Scientific Innovations (AJSI) actively supports the dissemination of early research findings through preprint servers. Submitting a manuscript that has been previously posted on a non-commercial preprint server is not considered prior publication and will not jeopardize consideration for publication in AJSI.

  • Declaration: Authors must inform the journal of any relevant preprint postings by providing the DOI and a link during the submission process.

  • Encouraged Update: Upon acceptance and publication in AJSI, authors are strongly encouraged to update the preprint record with a direct link to the final version of record published in the journal.

  • Review Process: The peer-review process will be conducted independently on the version submitted to AJSI's editorial system.