Allegation of Research Misconduct

The International Journal of Health Systems and Well-Being (IJHSWB) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity in research and publication. Any form of research misconduct will be treated seriously and addressed through a fair and transparent process.

1. Definition of Research Misconduct

Research misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • Fabrication: Inventing data, sources, or results that never occurred.
  • Falsification: Manipulating research materials, equipment, processes, or data to misrepresent results.
  • Plagiarism: Using another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without proper acknowledgment.
  • Duplicate or Redundant Publication: Submitting the same or substantially similar work to multiple journals without disclosure.
  • Improper Authorship Practices: Misrepresenting authors' contribution, including non-contributors or excluding genuine contributors.

2. Reporting Suspected Misconduct

  • Allegations may be raised by authors, reviewers, editors, or readers.
  • Reports should be submitted in writing to the Editorial Office via the official journal contact email.
  • Allegations must include sufficient information and supporting evidence to allow proper assessment.

3. Investigation Procedure

  • The Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board will conduct an initial review of the allegation.
  • If the claim has merit, a formal investigation will follow, which may involve communication with the author(s), reviewer(s), or relevant institution(s).
  • Authors will be allowed to respond and present their explanation.

4. Possible Outcomes

Depending on the findings, actions may include:

  • Rejection of the manuscript under review.
  • Retraction or correction of a published article.
  • Notification of the authors’ affiliated institution or funding body.
  • Restriction of future submissions by the author(s) found responsible.

5. Confidentiality and Fairness

All allegations will be handled confidentially and investigated objectively. The process will ensure fairness to all parties, avoiding bias or conflict of interest.

6. Ethical Standards

This policy is based on widely accepted international best practices in scholarly publishing and research integrity to ensure transparency, accountability, and academic excellence.