Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Chief Editor and appointed editors are responsible for deciding whether a manuscript should be accepted, revised or rejected.

Editorial decisions shall be based on the manuscript’s academic merit, originality, clarity, relevance to the journal’s scope and contribution to knowledge.

Editors shall:

• Evaluate manuscripts without discrimination based on race, gender, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, institutional affiliation, political belief or other personal characteristics.
• Maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and information concerning authors and reviewers.
• Ensure that manuscripts undergo a fair, impartial and timely peer-review process.
• Appoint reviewers with suitable knowledge and expertise.
• Avoid handling manuscripts where a personal, professional, institutional or financial conflict of interest exists.
• Refrain from using unpublished information contained in a manuscript for personal research or benefit.
• Consider complaints, appeals and allegations of misconduct fairly.
• Take appropriate action when ethical concerns are raised regarding a submitted or published article.

Editorial decisions shall not be influenced by commercial interests, advertising, personal relationships or considerations unrelated to the academic quality of the manuscript.

MJCS respects editorial independence. The publisher shall not interfere with decisions concerning the acceptance, revision or rejection of manuscripts.

Editors and editorial board members must declare any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest relating to a manuscript.

An editor who has a conflict of interest shall withdraw from handling the manuscript. Another qualified editor will be appointed to oversee the review and decision-making process.

Manuscripts submitted by editors, editorial board members or individuals closely associated with the journal shall be handled independently. The individual concerned shall not participate in reviewer selection or the final editorial decision.

All submitted manuscripts are initially screened by the Managing Editor or an appointed editor. The screening determines whether the manuscript falls within the journal’s scope and meets its basic academic, ethical and formatting requirements.

Manuscripts that pass the initial screening will normally undergo a double-anonymous peer-review process. The identities of the authors and reviewers are concealed from one another during the review process.

Reviewers may be selected from the Editorial Advisory Board or other qualified experts in the relevant field.

Reviewers’ recommendations assist the editor in making a decision. However, the final decision remains the responsibility of the Chief Editor or appointed editor.

Editorial decisions may include:

• Accept without revision;
• Accept subject to minor revision;
• Request major revision and resubmission;
• Request further review; or
• Reject the manuscript.

Peer reviewers assist editors in making editorial decisions and help authors improve the quality, accuracy and clarity of their manuscripts.

Reviewers shall:

• Accept a review assignment only when they possess the necessary expertise.
• Complete the review within the period specified by the journal.
• Inform the editor promptly if they are unable to complete the review.
• Treat the manuscript and all related materials as confidential.
• Not share the manuscript with another person without permission from the editor.
• Provide objective, constructive, respectful and evidence-based comments.
• Avoid personal criticism, offensive remarks or discriminatory comments.
• Identify relevant published work that has not been properly cited.
• Inform the editor of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation or other ethical concerns.
• Declare any personal, professional, financial, institutional or intellectual conflict of interest.
• Refrain from using unpublished information obtained through peer review for personal research, benefit or advantage.

Reviewers must not attempt to identify or contact authors during the anonymous review process.

Authors are responsible for the originality, accuracy, validity and integrity of the work submitted to MJCS.

Authors shall:

• Submit original work that has not been published previously.
• Ensure that the manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.
• Present research findings honestly and accurately.
• Avoid fabrication, falsification, inappropriate data manipulation and selective omission of results.
• Provide sufficient information about the research methodology, analysis and evidence.
• Cite and acknowledge all sources, ideas, data, figures, tables, quotations and materials obtained from other works.
• Obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material where required.
• Declare all sources of research funding and financial support.
• Disclose any actual, potential or perceived conflict of interest.
• Obtain appropriate ethical approval and informed consent where required.
• Protect the privacy, confidentiality and anonymity of research participants.
• Retain research data and supporting records for a reasonable period.
• Provide supporting data to the journal when reasonably requested.
• Inform the journal immediately when a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered in a submitted or published manuscript.
• Cooperate with the journal in correcting or retracting an article when necessary.

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts are entirely original.

All ideas, words, data, images, tables, figures and materials obtained from other sources must be properly cited and acknowledged.

Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:

• Copying text or ideas without proper attribution;
• Presenting another person’s work as one’s own;
• Inadequately paraphrasing material from another source;
• Using figures, tables or data without acknowledgement or permission;
• Self-plagiarism or substantial reuse of previously published work without disclosure; and
• Translating previously published material without proper attribution.

MJCS may use plagiarism-detection software to screen submitted manuscripts.

A manuscript containing plagiarism may be rejected. Where plagiarism is discovered after publication, the journal may issue a correction, retraction or other appropriate notice.

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time.

Authors must not publish substantially the same research in more than one journal without clear disclosure, appropriate citation and permission from the relevant publishers.

A manuscript that substantially overlaps with previously published or submitted work must clearly explain the relationship between the publications.

Secondary publication may only be considered when it is justified, transparently disclosed and permitted by the editors and copyright holders.

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the research and manuscript.

All listed authors should have:

• Contributed substantially to the conception, design, execution, analysis or interpretation of the study;
• Participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript;
• Approved the final version of the manuscript; and
• Agreed to be accountable for the accuracy and integrity of the work.

Individuals who provided technical assistance, administrative support, language editing, funding acquisition or other limited contributions should normally be acknowledged rather than listed as authors.

Guest authorship, honorary authorship and ghost authorship are not permitted.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all eligible contributors are included, all authors approve the submission and no inappropriate individuals are listed as authors.

Requests to add, remove or rearrange authors after submission must be supported by a written explanation and the agreement of all authors. The journal reserves the right to reject unjustified authorship changes.

Research data must be collected, analysed and reported honestly.

Fabrication, falsification, inappropriate manipulation, selective reporting and deliberate omission of relevant findings are considered serious forms of misconduct.

Authors should retain original data and supporting documentation for a reasonable period after publication.

Where appropriate and permitted by ethical, legal and confidentiality requirements, authors are encouraged to make supporting data available to readers.

The journal may request access to supporting data when evaluating a manuscript or investigating an ethical concern.

Research involving human participants, personal information, confidential records or sensitive data must comply with applicable ethical and legal requirements.

Authors must obtain approval from an appropriate research ethics committee or institutional review board where required.

The manuscript should state:

• The name of the approving ethics committee or institution;
• The relevant approval or reference number, where available;
• Whether informed consent was obtained; and
• How participant privacy and confidentiality were protected.

Information that could identify individual participants must not be published without explicit consent, unless disclosure is legally permitted and ethically justified.

Authors, reviewers and editors must disclose any relationship or interest that could influence, or appear to influence, the research, review or editorial decision.

Conflicts of interest may include:

• Financial relationships;
• Employment or consultancy arrangements;
• Personal or family relationships;
• Institutional affiliations;
• Academic competition;
• Political or religious interests;
• Intellectual commitments; and
• Ownership of patents, shares or other commercial interests.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not automatically prevent publication. However, it must be disclosed so that the journal can manage it appropriately.

Authors must disclose all financial support received for the research and publication of the manuscript.

The funding statement should identify the funding organisation and grant number, where applicable.

Authors should also explain whether the funder had any role in:

• Designing the study;
• Collecting or analysing data;
• Interpreting the results;
• Preparing the manuscript; or
• Deciding to submit the manuscript for publication.

Where no external funding was received, authors should state this clearly.

Artificial intelligence tools and large language models cannot be listed as authors because they cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy, originality and integrity of a manuscript.

Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to MJCS, including content produced or edited using artificial intelligence tools.

The use of artificial intelligence should be disclosed where it has materially contributed to manuscript preparation, data analysis, image generation or the research process.

Artificial intelligence must not be used to:

• Fabricate or manipulate research data;
• Generate false or unverifiable references;
• Misrepresent the originality of a manuscript;
• Create misleading images or findings; or
• Breach confidentiality, privacy or copyright.

Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscripts or unpublished materials into external artificial intelligence systems where confidentiality and data protection cannot be guaranteed.

Basic tools used only for spelling, grammar or formatting corrections generally do not require detailed disclosure.

Editors and reviewers must treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents.

Information concerning a manuscript shall not be disclosed to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial advisers and authorised representatives of the publisher.

Reviewers and editors must not use ideas, information or data obtained through the review process for personal research or benefit.

Authors must also protect confidential information obtained from research participants, organisations and other third parties.

MJCS is committed to maintaining the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

Where a minor error does not invalidate the findings of an article, the journal may publish a correction or erratum.

An article may be retracted when there is evidence of:

• Fabrication or falsification of data;
• Plagiarism;
• Duplicate or unauthorised publication;
• Unethical research;
• Serious errors that invalidate the findings;
• Copyright infringement;
• Manipulation of the peer-review process; or
• Other serious publication misconduct.

A retraction notice will identify the article, explain the reason for the retraction and indicate who initiated the retraction.

Where an investigation is incomplete but there are serious concerns about an article, the journal may publish an expression of concern.

Retraction, correction and expression-of-concern notices will be clearly linked to the affected article.

Authors, reviewers, readers and other parties may submit complaints relating to:

• Editorial procedures;
• Peer-review conduct;
• Conflicts of interest;
• Publication delays;
• Ethical concerns;
• Rejection decisions; or
• The conduct of an editor, reviewer or author.

Complaints should include sufficient information and supporting evidence to enable an appropriate investigation.

Authors may appeal an editorial decision by providing a clear academic explanation of why the decision should be reconsidered.

Disagreement with a reviewer’s opinion alone is not sufficient grounds for an appeal.

Appeals and complaints will be reviewed fairly and, where possible, by an individual who was not directly involved in the original decision.

The outcome of the appeal or complaint will be communicated to the person who submitted it.

Allegations of publication or research misconduct will be handled seriously, fairly and confidentially.

Misconduct may include:

• Plagiarism;
• Data fabrication or falsification;
• Duplicate publication;
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest;
• Inappropriate authorship;
• Citation manipulation;
• Peer-review manipulation;
• Unethical research practices; and
• Deliberate misrepresentation of findings.

The journal may request explanations, supporting documents, original data or other evidence from the parties involved.

Where appropriate, the journal may contact the authors’ institution, employer, research ethics committee or funding organisation.

The journal will not intentionally disclose the identity of a complainant unless disclosure is required for a fair investigation or by law.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscript does not infringe the copyright, privacy or other legal rights of third parties.

Permission must be obtained before reproducing copyrighted tables, figures, photographs, questionnaires, substantial quotations or other protected materials.

Authors must comply with the copyright and licensing terms specified by MJCS.

The publisher supports the journal’s editorial independence and ethical standards.

The publisher shall:

• Support fair and impartial editorial procedures;
• Protect the confidentiality of authors and reviewers;
• Maintain published content and journal records;
• Support the publication of corrections, retractions and expressions of concern;
• Cooperate with investigations into alleged misconduct;
• Avoid interfering with editorial decisions for commercial or institutional reasons; and
• Take reasonable steps to preserve permanent access to published scholarly content.

MJCS welcomes responsible academic discussion concerning articles published in the journal.

Readers who identify a possible error or ethical concern should contact the editorial office and provide supporting evidence.

The journal will assess the concern and take appropriate action where necessary. Authors may be given an opportunity to respond to relevant criticism or concerns.

Questions, complaints, appeals or concerns relating to publication ethics may be submitted to the MJCS editorial office through the contact information provided on the journal website.

Email: mjcs@ikma.edu.my