All parties involved in the act of publishing are required to abide by the ethical principle, and MECS aims to initiate an approach to ethical conduct that is essential to the values of correctness, responsibility, and seriousness. If any party involved in the publishing process (editors, reviewers, and authors) violates the ethical statement, they will bear the corresponding consequences, and MECS will intervene to deal with them strictly. MECS journals follow the best practices, such as those outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Council of Scientific Editors (CSE). 

MECS is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice. Authors who submit papers to all MECS Journals attest that their work is original and unpublished and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. In addition, authors confirm that their paper is their own; that it has not been copied or plagiarized, in whole or in part, from other works; and that they have disclosed actual or potential conflicts of interest with their work or partial benefits associated with it.

 

DUTIES OF EDITORS

Decision on the Publication of Articles 

The editor-in-chief is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The editor-in-chief may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and subjected to legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor-in-chief may confer with other associate editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Review of Manuscripts

The editor-in-chief must ensure that each manuscript is initially evaluated by the editorial assistant, who uses appropriate and professional software to examine the originality of the contents of the manuscript. Only the manuscripts that pass the test will be forwarded by the editor-in-chief to the associate editor according to the research direction. The associate editor assists at least two reviewers in their specific areas of the manuscript in blind peer review, each of whom will make recommendations to the editor-in-chief on whether to publish the manuscript in its present form or to modify or reject the same. The review period will be from two weeks to three month (five months maximum in exceptional circumstances).

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Without the express written permission of the authors, anyone who has viewed the manuscript may not use unpublished material disclosed in the submission for their own research.

Fair play

Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their academic value regardless of the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

Confidentiality

The editor-in-chief, associate editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher.

 

DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

Promptness

In case, any reviewer feels that it is not possible for him/her to complete the review of the manuscript within the stipulated time then the same must be communicated to the associate editor so that the manuscript could be sent to any other reviewer.

Confidentiality

Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors should be kept confidential and treated as privileged information.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that had been previously reported elsewhere should be accompanied by the relevant citation. The reviewers should also bring to the attention of the editor-in-chief any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they are personally aware.

Conflict of Interest

Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

 

DUTIES OF AUTHORS

Reporting Standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate description of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be accurately represented in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data associated with the paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data, if practicable, and in any event to retain such data for a reasonable period of time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others this must be appropriately cited or quoted.

Multiple Publications

In general, an author should not publish manuscripts describing essentially identical research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Acknowledgment of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should acknowledge individuals, organizations, or publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial/non-financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

MECS does not allow any form of plagiarism. Plagiarism is considered to be a serious breach of scientific ethics by the entire scientific community. Whether a manuscript or published paper is detected or reported to be plagiarized, it will be dealt with seriously. We constantly support advice and take suggestions from our Editorial and Reviewer Board to avoid any violation of publication ethics.

If you have any questions, please contact us via email at integrity@mecs-press.org.