Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology

Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology (J-PSP) is committed to maintaining high standards of integrity, transparency, fairness, and accountability in scholarly publishing. The journal’s publication ethics policies are guided by the Core Principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and relevant COPE guidance, together with internationally recognized principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing.

This statement defines the ethical responsibilities of authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher and explains the journal's procedures for addressing concerns that may arise before or after publication.

1. Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

1.1 Originality, Attribution, and Text Reuse

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts represent their original scholarly work and appropriately acknowledge the work of others. Unattributed use of another person’s ideas, text, data, images, or other scholarly material constitutes plagiarism and is prohibited. Reuse of authors’ own previously published material must be appropriately disclosed and cited and must comply with the journal’s policies on text reuse, copyright, and redundant publication. Submitted manuscripts may be screened using text-similarity detection software in accordance with the procedures described in Section 5.

1.2 Authorship and Contributions

  • Criteria for Authorship: Authorship is limited to individuals who have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the conception or design of the work; acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or drafting or substantive revision of the manuscript.
  • Accountability: All listed authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for the integrity of their contributions.
  • Contribution Statement: A contribution statement must specify each author’s role in the research and preparation of the manuscript.
  • No Guest, Gift, or Ghost Authorship: Individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria must not be listed as authors, and individuals who meet the criteria must not be omitted.
  • Changes in Authorship: Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be justified and approved by all affected authors. J-PSP may request supporting documentation before approving such changes.

1.3 Data Integrity, Availability, and Reproducibility

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, integrity, appropriate retention, and presentation of the data and other evidence supporting their work. Research data must not be fabricated, falsified, selectively manipulated, or presented in a misleading manner. Authors should retain relevant data and documentation for an appropriate period in accordance with applicable institutional, disciplinary, ethical, legal, and funder requirements.

Authors may be asked to provide underlying data, documentation, analysis files, instruments, or other relevant materials where necessary to assess the reliability or integrity of the work. Where ethically and legally possible, authors are encouraged to deposit research data in an appropriate trusted repository and provide a persistent link or DOI.

Research articles must include a Data Availability Statement indicating whether and how the data supporting the findings can be accessed. Where data sharing is not applicable, this should be stated. Where data cannot be shared because of participant confidentiality, privacy, ethical approval conditions, legal restrictions, or other legitimate reasons, these restrictions must be clearly explained.

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that any sharing of research data complies with informed consent, privacy requirements, ethical approvals, and applicable law.

1.4 Ethical Approval, Informed Consent, and Participant Protection

Research involving human participants, animals, identifiable personal information, or other ethically sensitive materials must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical standards.

Where ethical review is required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriately constituted institutional review board or research ethics committee before conducting the research and provide the relevant approval information in the manuscript.

Where a study is exempt from formal ethical review under applicable institutional or national requirements, the manuscript should clearly state the basis for the exemption.

Informed consent must be obtained where required. If informed consent has been waived by an authorized ethics body or is not applicable to the study design, this should be clearly explained.

Research involving animals must comply with applicable animal welfare, ethical, institutional, and legal requirements. Where ethical approval is required, authors must obtain approval from an appropriately constituted animal ethics or equivalent review body before conducting the research and report the relevant approval information in the manuscript.

Research involving minors, persons with impaired decision-making capacity, or other vulnerable individuals or groups must include additional safeguards appropriate to the nature of the study and the participants involved. Where participants are not legally or practically able to provide fully informed consent, permission or consent must be obtained from a parent, legal guardian, legally authorized representative, or next of kin, as applicable under relevant law, institutional requirements, and ethics approval. Where participants are capable of expressing a preference or understanding the research, their assent should also be obtained where appropriate, in addition to any required proxy consent. Researchers must respect participants’ dignity, autonomy, privacy, confidentiality, welfare, and right to withdraw throughout the research process.

1.5 Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies

Authors must use artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies in accordance with J-PSP's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy.

AI systems cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for scholarly work. Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, citations, data, analyses, and conclusions contained in their manuscript and must disclose the use of AI tools when required by the journal's AI policy.

Suspected inappropriate or undisclosed use of AI will be assessed in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures.

1.6 Conflicts of Interest and Funding

Authors must disclose any financial, personal, professional, institutional, or other relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research or its interpretation. All manuscripts must include a conflict-of-interest statement; where no relevant conflict exists, authors should explicitly state that they have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Authors must also identify all sources of financial support for the research and publication of the work and, where relevant, describe the role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or the decision to submit for publication.

1.7 Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Submissions

Manuscripts submitted to J-PSP must not be simultaneously under consideration by another journal and must not have been formally published elsewhere. Publishing the same or substantially similar content in more than one journal without appropriate disclosure or justification may constitute redundant or duplicate publication and will be assessed under the journal’s research and publication misconduct procedures.

1.8 Post-Publication Obligations

Authors who identify significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work must promptly notify the journal and cooperate with the editorial team in determining the appropriate action. Where necessary, a correction, retraction, Expression of Concern, or other appropriate post-publication notice may be issued in accordance with Section 7.

2. Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

2.1 Confidentiality

Reviewers must treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential. They must not share, discuss, or use any part of the manuscript for personal or professional gain.

2.2 Objectivity and Constructive Feedback

Reviewers must provide unbiased and constructive feedback to help improve the manuscript. Personal criticism of authors is unacceptable.

2.3 Expertise and Competence

Reviewers should accept assignments only when they possess sufficient expertise to provide an informed assessment of the manuscript. A reviewer who considers a manuscript substantially outside their area of expertise, or who cannot complete the review within the agreed timeframe, should promptly notify the editor and decline the assignment.

2.4 Timeliness

Reviewers must complete their evaluations within the agreed timeframe. If unable to meet deadlines, they should notify the editor promptly to avoid delays in the review process.

2.5 Ethical Oversight

Reviewers should alert the editor to any apparent ethical or research-integrity concerns, including suspected plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, fabrication or falsification of data, inappropriate data or image manipulation, or other potential ethical violations. Where applicable, reviewers should also consider whether the manuscript reports appropriate ethical approval, informed consent, participant protection, and related safeguards and should bring any apparent inconsistency to the editor’s attention.

2.6 Citation Ethics

Reviewers may identify important scholarly work that has been materially overlooked where its inclusion is necessary for the fair evaluation or contextualization of the manuscript. Reviewers must not request citations primarily to increase citations to their own work, J-PSP, associated authors, or particular publications. Suggested citations must be academically relevant and, where appropriate, supported by a scholarly justification. Reviewers should also alert the editor to substantial similarity or overlap between the submitted manuscript and other work of which they are aware.

2.7 Conflict of Interest

Reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest, such as personal, financial, or professional relationships with the authors or institutions, and recuse themselves if impartiality cannot be guaranteed.

2.8 Use of AI in Peer Review

Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted materials. Manuscripts, figures, tables, supplementary files, or other confidential submission materials must not be uploaded to publicly accessible generative AI systems or external AI services that cannot guarantee confidentiality.

AI tools must not replace the reviewer’s independent scholarly assessment or be used to generate substantive evaluations of a manuscript. Where permitted under J-PSP’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy, appropriate tools may be used solely for limited language or clarity assistance without disclosure of confidential manuscript content. Reviewers remain fully responsible for the content and integrity of their reports.

3. Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

3.1 Editorial Independence and Fair Decision-Making

Editorial decisions must be based solely on the academic merit, originality, quality, and relevance of a manuscript to J-PSP’s aims and scope. Decisions must be independent of personal relationships, political considerations, financial interests, Article Processing Charges, advertising, sponsorship, or other commercial influences. Editors must ensure that characteristics such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, institutional affiliation, or political views do not improperly influence editorial evaluation or publication decisions.

3.2 Confidentiality

Editors must treat manuscripts, reviewer reports, reviewer identities, correspondence, and all other materials associated with submission and peer review as confidential. Information concerning a manuscript may be disclosed only to persons whose involvement is necessary for legitimate editorial, peer-review, or publication-ethics purposes.

3.3 Handling Conflicts of Interest

Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest, delegating the editorial responsibility to another qualified editor.

3.4 Submissions by Editors and Editorial Board Members

Manuscripts authored or co-authored by the Editor-in-Chief, an editor, or a member of the Editorial Board are not given preferential treatment and are subject to the same editorial and peer review standards as other submissions.

An editor or Editorial Board member who is an author or co-author of a manuscript will have no involvement in the initial assessment, reviewer selection, access to confidential reviewer information, evaluation of reviewer reports, or editorial decision concerning that manuscript.

Such submissions will be assigned to an independent editor who has no relevant conflict of interest with the authors. The independent editor will oversee the peer review process and make or recommend the editorial decision without involvement from the editor or board member who is an author of the manuscript.

J-PSP monitors editorial independence and editorial endogeny as part of its ongoing quality assurance procedures. To minimize endogeny and preserve editorial independence, the proportion of published research papers in which at least one author is an editor, Editorial Board member, or reviewer of J-PSP must not exceed 25% of the research papers published in either of the journal’s two most recent issues.

3.5 Allegations of Research and Publication Misconduct

Editors will take reasonable and proportionate steps when concerns are raised regarding submitted or published work.

Potential misconduct may include, but is not limited to, plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, inappropriate image or data manipulation, duplicate or redundant publication, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, authorship manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other serious breaches of research or publication ethics.

Allegations will be assessed fairly and confidentially. The journal will not treat an allegation as a finding of misconduct without appropriate examination of the available evidence. Where appropriate, the authors will be given an opportunity to respond to the concerns raised.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the concern, the journal may request supporting documentation, seek additional expert advice, contact the authors' institution, research integrity office, ethics committee, or funder, or take other appropriate steps in accordance with relevant COPE guidance.

Editorial actions may include rejection of a submitted manuscript, correction of the scholarly record, publication of an expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate action. The journal may also refer matters requiring formal institutional investigation to the appropriate institution or authority.

3.6 Timely Communication

Editors must ensure appropriate and timely communication with authors, reviewers, and other participants in the editorial process.

3.7 Use of Artificial Intelligence in Editorial Handling

Editors must preserve the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and must not upload confidential submission materials to publicly accessible generative AI systems or other external AI services that cannot guarantee confidentiality. AI tools must not replace independent editorial judgment or be used to make autonomous editorial decisions.

Any routine use of automated tools by J-PSP or its publisher for integrity screening, workflow support, reviewer suggestions, text-similarity detection, image or figure screening, or related purposes will be appropriately disclosed in the relevant journal policy. Such tools must be appropriately evaluated before routine use. Automated outputs or integrity flags will not, by themselves, determine editorial action and must be reviewed by an editor or appropriately qualified member of the journal team.

4. Duties and Responsibilities of the Publisher

The publisher supports the integrity, continuity, and independence of J-PSP’s scholarly publishing activities while respecting the editorial independence of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board.

The publisher is responsible for maintaining appropriate publishing infrastructure, supporting the implementation of the journal’s editorial and ethical policies, and supporting the long-term accessibility and preservation of published content.

J-PSP deposits its published scholarly content in the Internet Archive as part of its external digital preservation arrangements. Operational website and file backups provide an additional layer of protection against accidental data loss or service disruption. Further information is provided in the journal’s Digital Preservation and Archiving Policy.

Financial considerations, Article Processing Charges, sponsorship, partnerships, or other commercial interests must not influence peer review, manuscript selection, or editorial decisions. The publisher does not interfere with decisions to accept or reject individual manuscripts.

The publisher will support appropriate corrections, retractions, Expressions of Concern, and other actions necessary to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record and will cooperate, where appropriate, with editors, authors, institutions, funders, and other relevant bodies in resolving serious integrity concerns.

5. Plagiarism, Text Reuse, and Similarity Screening

J-PSP is committed to protecting the originality and integrity of scholarly content. Plagiarism and inappropriate or undisclosed reuse of previously published material are evaluated according to the nature, extent, source, and context of the identified overlap.

5.1 Examples of Plagiarism and Inappropriate Text Reuse

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

  • Directly copying text, ideas, data, or graphics from other sources without proper acknowledgment.
  • Paraphrasing substantial parts of another work without proper citation.
  • Presenting another person’s research findings, data, analyses, original materials, or scholarly contributions as one’s own.
  • Reusing substantial portions of an author’s own previously published text, data, figures, or other material without appropriate disclosure, citation, or permission where required.

5.2 Similarity Screening and Editorial Assessment

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using text-similarity detection software as part of the journal's initial editorial and research-integrity checks.

A similarity score is used only as a screening indicator and is not, by itself, considered evidence of plagiarism. The editors assess the nature, source, extent, and context of any identified textual overlap. Legitimately quoted and cited material, references, methodological terminology, preprints, and other acceptable forms of text reuse will be considered when interpreting similarity reports.

J-PSP does not apply a fixed similarity-percentage threshold as an automatic basis for rejection. Editorial decisions concerning suspected plagiarism or inappropriate text reuse are based on a substantive assessment of the matched material and the circumstances of the case.

5.3 Actions in Cases of Suspected Plagiarism or Inappropriate Text Reuse

Where potentially inappropriate overlap is identified before publication, the journal may request an explanation or revision from the authors, reject the manuscript where the concerns are substantial, or initiate further investigation where necessary.

Where plagiarism or inappropriate text reuse is suspected in a published article, the journal will investigate the concern in accordance with its publication ethics procedures and relevant COPE guidance.

Depending on the nature and severity of the problem, the outcome may include a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other appropriate update to the scholarly record. Where appropriate, the authors' institution or other relevant authority may be contacted.

Retraction does not normally result in deletion of the published article from the scholarly record. Retracted articles remain identifiable and are clearly marked and linked to the corresponding retraction notice.

Any restrictions on future submissions following a serious ethical breach will be considered on a case-by-case basis and will be proportionate to the circumstances and evidence available.

6. Ethical Oversight

J-PSP is committed to appropriate ethical oversight of research and publication practices.

6.1 Research Ethics and Participant Protection

Research involving human participants, animals, identifiable personal information, vulnerable individuals or groups, or other ethically sensitive materials must comply with the requirements described in Section 1.4, Ethical Approval, Informed Consent, and Participant Protection. Ethical approval and informed consent must be reported where required. Where formal ethical review or consent has been waived, exempted, or is not applicable, the manuscript must clearly explain the basis for this. Research involving minors, persons with impaired decision-making capacity, or other vulnerable participants must comply with the journal’s requirements concerning proxy consent, assent, privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and participant protection.

6.2 Publication Ethics and Research Misconduct

J-PSP follows relevant COPE guidance when responding to concerns regarding research and publication integrity. Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and cooperate with reasonable requests made during an ethics investigation.

Concerns involving plagiarism, duplicate or redundant publication, fabrication or falsification, inappropriate data or image manipulation, authorship manipulation, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, or other suspected ethical breaches will be assessed under the procedures described in this Ethics and Malpractice Statement. The journal will take reasonable steps to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record regardless of whether a concern is identified before or after publication.

7. Corrections, Retractions, Expressions of Concern, and Post-Publication Issues

J-PSP is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record. Concerns relating to published articles will be evaluated according to the nature and seriousness of the issue and relevant COPE guidance, including the COPE Retraction Guidelines where applicable.

7.1 Corrections

A correction may be published where an error or omission affects the accuracy, clarity, interpretation, attribution, or integrity of an article but does not invalidate its main findings or conclusions.

Corrections will be clearly identified, dated, and linked to the original article. Where appropriate, the original article will also contain a clear link to the correction notice so that readers can identify the updated scholarly record.

Minor typographical or formatting changes that do not affect the meaning or interpretation of an article may be corrected without a formal correction notice where appropriate.

7.2 Retractions

An article may be retracted where there is clear evidence that its findings or conclusions are unreliable, where serious research or publication misconduct has occurred, where the article constitutes redundant publication without appropriate justification, or where other circumstances substantially undermine the integrity of the published record.

A retraction notice will state the reason for the retraction and identify who is retracting the article. The notice will be clearly linked to the original article.

The original article will normally remain accessible as part of the scholarly record but will be clearly and prominently marked as Retracted. The article and the retraction notice will be linked to one another.

Retraction is intended to correct the scholarly record and alert readers to unreliable or seriously compromised content; it is not intended primarily as a punitive action against authors. Retraction notices will remain permanently and freely accessible and will not be removed from the journal website.

7.3 Expressions of Concern

The journal may publish an expression of concern where serious questions have been raised about an article but the available evidence is inconclusive, an investigation is ongoing, or a final determination cannot yet reasonably be made.

An expression of concern will be linked to the original article and will remain part of the scholarly record until the matter is resolved. Where appropriate, it may subsequently be followed or replaced by a correction, retraction, or other editorial notice.

7.4 Article Removal

Removal of the full text of a published article will be considered only in exceptional circumstances, such as where continued availability would violate legal requirements, seriously infringe privacy or confidentiality, create a significant risk of harm, or where removal is otherwise legally required.

Where article content must be removed, the bibliographic record and an explanatory notice will normally remain available whenever legally possible.

7.5 Post-Publication Discussion and Concerns

Readers, authors, and other interested parties may notify the journal of substantive concerns regarding published content by contacting the editorial office.

The journal will assess such concerns and, where appropriate, may seek responses from the authors, consult independent experts, request supporting documentation, or initiate a formal publication ethics investigation.

Where a scholarly response, commentary, or other form of post-publication discussion is considered appropriate, it may be handled according to the journal's editorial and peer review standards. Where the integrity of the published record is affected, the journal may issue a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate notice.

8. Complaints and Appeals

J-PSP is committed to handling complaints and appeals fairly, objectively, confidentially, and without retaliation.

8.1 Complaints

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders may submit complaints concerning editorial procedures, peer review, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, editorial conduct, or published content to the journal's editorial office.

Complaints should clearly describe the concern and, where possible, include relevant supporting information or documentation.

Complaints will normally be considered by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately designated independent editor. A person who is the subject of a complaint or who has a relevant conflict of interest will not participate in the investigation or decision.

Where a complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief, it will be referred to an independent senior member of the Editorial Board who was not involved in the matter and has no relevant conflict of interest.

8.2 Appeals Against Editorial Decisions

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a material error occurred in the editorial or peer review process or that relevant evidence was not adequately considered.

An appeal must provide a clear and reasoned explanation of the grounds for reconsideration and should address the relevant editorial and reviewer comments. Mere disagreement with the outcome of peer review, without substantive grounds, is not sufficient for reconsideration.

Appeals will be evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief or, where appropriate, by an independent editor who was not responsible for the original decision and has no relevant conflict of interest.

An appeal does not guarantee that the original editorial decision will be changed. The decision reached following the journal's appeal procedure will normally constitute the journal's final decision on the manuscript.

8.3 Contact for Complaints and Appeals

Complaints and appeals may be submitted to:

admin@j-psp.com
jpsp.editor@gmail.com

J-PSP will handle complaints and appeals in accordance with this policy, its other editorial policies, and relevant COPE guidance.

9. Relationship with Other Journal Policies

This Ethics and Malpractice Statement should be read together with J-PSP's other editorial policies, including the:

  • Peer Review Process;
  • Special Issue and Guest Editor Policy;
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy;
  • Open Access Policy;
  • Digital Preservation and Archiving Policy;
  • Copyright and Licensing Policy; and
  • Article Processing Charges Policy.

Where a specific issue is governed by a more detailed J-PSP policy, the detailed policy applies together with the general ethical principles stated on this page.