Editorial Policy

ARJST Editorial Policies and Ethical Guidelines:

1. Chief Editor Responsibilities:

• Ensure published content is scientifically sound, ethical, and free from conflict.
• Promptly correct errors upon discovery, even without a formal complaint.
• Avoid co-authoring papers with editorial board members; if necessary, follow regular peer-review process.
• Adhere to additional ethical guidelines for editors.
• Reflect the newest developments in the journal’s fields of study.
• Plan the journal’s growth and development strategy.

2. Editor Responsibilities:

• Review submissions impartially.
• Reject incomplete or off-topic manuscripts.
• Maintain submission confidentiality.
• Exclude self-authored manuscripts from review process.
• Refrain from using submission material for personal purposes without author consent.
• Process submissions promptly.

3. Reviewer Responsibilities:

• Understand the journal’s review policy.
• Declare any conflicts of interest.
• Evaluate manuscripts objectively and constructively.
• Refrain from using submission material for personal purposes.
• Maintain submission confidentiality.
• Inform the editor if unable to review a manuscript.

4. Author Responsibilities:

• Ensure originality and avoid plagiarism.
• Submit unpublished manuscripts only.
• Properly cite sources and secure permissions for copyrighted material.
• Maintain research integrity, accuracy, and objectivity.
• Provide data for verification upon request.
• Avoid defamatory statements or excessive self-citation.
• Notify the editor of inaccuracies.
• Limit authorship to significant contributors and hold all authors accountable for accuracy and integrity.

Research Integrity:

• ARJST is committed to maintaining quality and integrity in published work.
• The editorial board takes reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of research misconduct, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication.
• The editor board will follow COPE guidelines in handling allegations of research misconduct relating to a published article.

Conflict of Interest:

• Authors must disclose interests related to their work, including but not limited to funding agency, employment, financial and non-financial aspects.
• Parties that may gain or lose through publication must be disclosed.

Handling Complaints and Appeals

The Academic Research Journal of Science and Technology (ARJST) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and welcomes feedback and concerns. Complaints and appeals regarding published content or editorial decisions can be submitted via the contact information provided on the official ARJST website.

The ARJST editorial board adheres to the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when carefully considering both pre- and post-publication complaints and appeals. Upon receipt of a complaint, the editorial board will promptly notify the publisher, UiTM Press, and initiate a thorough review of the issue. This process may involve further investigation, potentially in consultation with relevant institutions, to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the matter.

Should the investigation yield new information or necessitate action, a notice will be linked to the original published article. This notice will clearly state the outcome, which may include a correction, a retraction, or, in exceptional cases where it serves the public interest, a removal of the article. For complex cases requiring external guidance, the editorial board may consult with COPE for expert advice.

Appeals against editorial decisions will be evaluated based on the evidence presented to support the appeal. If the appeal is deemed valid, a re-evaluation of the manuscript will be conducted, and a new editorial decision will be made based on the findings of this review.

ARJST is committed to transparency and communication. All complaints and appeals will be acknowledged within 7 working days of receipt, and complainants will receive updates on the progress of their case.

Data Sharing and Reproducibility

The Academic Research Journal of Science and Technology (ARJST) strongly supports the principles of open science, transparency, and research reproducibility. While not mandatory, ARJST encourages authors to make their research data accessible to the wider scientific community. Authors can facilitate data sharing by providing a clear description of data availability within their manuscript or by including the data as supplementary material.

Intellectual Property

Prior to the publication of an article in ARJST, the corresponding author is required to execute the Open Access Agreement CC BY. This agreement ensures that authors retain their self-archiving rights, empowering them to share their work while adhering to the principles of open access.

Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

In the event that post-publication corrections are necessary, ARJST will publish a formal notice or erratum linked directly to the original published article. This ensures that readers are aware of the amendments made to the published record. This notice will clearly detail the nature of the corrections.