Publication Ethics Policy

Since its founding in 1993, the International Journal for Engineering Modelling has committed itself to publishing papers of the highest quality while adhering to strict ethical standards. The publisher's principles concerning ethical expectations and procedures for dealing with misconduct or unethical conduct are in line with the standards set up by COPE. The Journal is guided by the principles of transparency, academic integrity, and honesty. The principles are ensured by open access to papers, financial independence, professional editors and reviewers, verification of the authenticity of papers, prevention of plagiarism, and archiving of journal content.

All articles are subjected to a review process and expected to meet high standards of scientific and research excellence. With the editors' permission, the submitted paper is sent to reviewers who remain anonymous to the authors. Ethics Guidelines for Authors, Reviewers, and Editors adhere to similar instructions from reputable publishers.

Ethical Guidelines for Authors

All listed authors should have a significant scientific and research contribution to the submitted paper and agree on authorship. Subsequent changes related to authorship have to be approved by the journal and all the authors. Non-author contributors, if their consent is given, should be listed in the acknowledgment or some other form of recognition. Papers not submitted by the author will not be accepted. Authors are asked to prepare their manuscript according to the Instructions for Authors. Authors must not use other people's citations, images, or ideas without their knowledge and permission. All the sources must be cited in the place of reference, and the use of citations has to be limited. Authors should not overcite their own papers or those of their collaborators, or researchers from their institutions, and should not copy references from other papers if they have not read them. The
International Journal for Engineering Modelling is strictly against any unethical act of copying or
plagiarism in any form. Journal respects intellectual property and aims to protect and promote
the original work of its authors. Manuscripts containing plagiarized material are against the standards
of quality, research, and innovation. All authors submitting articles to journals are expected to abide
by ethical standards and abstain from plagiarism, in any form. For the citation of papers, authors are encouraged to study the documents proposed by COPE. The Journal only considers original content, i.e., papers that have not been previously published anywhere, even in languages ​​other than English. Papers submitted to the International Journal for Engineering Modelling must not be submitted to other journals during the reviewing process, and the paper must be withdrawn from the Journal before being submitted to another journal.  If it is found that authors have submitted papers to several journals simultaneously, they may be subject to certain sanctions, such as a ban on submitting and publishing papers for a certain period of time. If the authors, as the basis of the submitted manuscript, use their previously published or peer-reviewed paper, they are obliged to cite them and to emphasize how the submitted one differs. The re-use of copyrighted images or a significant part of the previously published text may, in some cases, require the permission of the copyright holder, and the authors are responsible for obtaining that permission. The Journal will also consider extended versions of papers published in the proceedings of various conferences, which must be clearly stated in the cover letter. The previous version of such a paper must be cited, emphasizing new content, and all permissions for its publication must be obtained. Redundant publications and inappropriate separation of a research paper into several smaller papers may result in the rejection or a request to merge submitted manuscripts into one. Duplicate publication of the same, or a very similar, article may result in the retraction of the later article, and the editorial board could decide to refuse the acceptance of the new papers for some time. The authors of submitted manuscripts or published articles that are found to have fabricated or falsified the results, including the manipulation of images, may incur sanctions, and published articles may be retracted.

Conflict of interest occurs when the objectivity and neutrality of either research or results are influenced by external factors. This can happen at any stage of the research. Conflicts of interest include the following: financial (funding and other payments, goods and services received or expected by the authors relating to the subject of the work or from an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work), affiliations (being employed by, on the advisory board for, or a member of an organization with an interest in the research results), intellectual property (patents or trademarks owned by someone or their organization), personal (friends, family, or any other close personal connections) or academic (a competitor or someone whose work is criticized). Authors are required to declare any potential conflict of interest because any subsequently identified but undeclared one will result in the paper's rejection. If there are no conflicts of interest, the authors are obliged to state this explicitly: The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest related to the submitted paper. The corresponding author is also responsible for the co-authors. Regarding conflicts of interest, there are also certain exceptional situations in which a potential conflict of interest may not prevent the publication of the paper or prevent someone from participating in the review process, but this must be stated. If, after the publication of the paper, a conflict of interest is disclosed, it can be an embarrassing situation not only for the authors but also for the editor and the journal. In such a case, it is necessary to publish a correction or a notification, or even repeat the review process. Declared conflicts of interest will be considered by the editor and reviewers and included in the published paper.

Authors must state clearly the use of chemicals, processes, and equipment whose use is dangerous and ensure that research involving humans and animals has been conducted following applicable rules and laws.

If the Editorial Board suspects that any ethical principle of publishing is violated, either in our or another journal, the following sanctions may be applied: a rejection of the manuscript and any other manuscripts submitted by the author(s), not allowing submission for 1–3 years, prohibition from participating in the work of the journal.

Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers

Reviewers are assured of the confidentiality of the review process and of all other information related to the process, editors, and authors. They must inform the editor if they wish someone else to complete the process on their behalf. The reviewer must provide a critical review of the paper's structure, applied methodologies, content, and the author's contribution to the field of research, particularly regarding the paper's impact. Reviewers express their opinions clearly, justifiably, and unambiguously, while the review must be objective. If they find that the content of the manuscript is like another paper that is not cited, they have to inform the editor. Reviewers must be careful not to reveal their identity to the authors in any way, whether by comments within the review form or by sending an MS Word or PDF document with their comments. They should not ask the authors to include references that will help increase the citation or quotation of their journal or paper. If there is a conflict of interest that might affect the rejection or the acceptance of the manuscript, the reviewer must abstain from reviewing. Editors and reviewers have to decline to review a submission if: within the past two years they have published or submitted a paper with the authors of the submitted manuscript, if they work or have recently worked in the same institution as the authors, collaborate or have recently collaborated with authors, have close personal connections with authors, have the financial benefit of publishing the paper or if they do not feel they can objectively review the manuscript.

Reviewers must report any possible conflicts of interest that will later be taken into consideration by the editorial board. Reviewers must declare if they have previously discussed the manuscript with the authors.

Ethical Guidelines for Editors

Editors must refuse to participate in the review process for the same reasons as reviewers. Editors must declare if they have previously discussed the manuscript with the authors. The Editor-in-Chief, Assistant, and Technical Editors, members of the Advisory Editorial Board, and Guest Editors are responsible for protecting the overall integrity of the journal. If the Editor-in-Chief or Assistant Editor has ethical doubts about the manuscript during its review process or while awaiting a final decision on the status, or obtains information indicating such doubts, she/he must immediately inform the Technical Editor that an investigation will be conducted according to COPE recommendations. To support the Editor-in-Chief, the Assistant and Technical Editors control the ethical rules for research involving the use of humans, animals, or their cells, plagiarism, dual submission, copyright permissions including those for already published images and drawings, author's academic curriculum vitae, and qualifications.

In making a final decision on the status of the paper, the Editor-in-Chief considers all the facts that may cause a potential conflict of interest as well as the appropriate presentation of the research achievements and their significance.

The data and methods used in the paper must be presented in sufficient detail for other researchers to replicate. The final decision to accept a manuscript for publication is based on the opinion of the reviewers and members of the editorial board. The editor must provide a single-blind review process for all papers published in the journal. The editor follows the principles of the journal regarding authors' honor and reputation, copyright protection, and plagiarism. In case of ethical complaints or conflicts, the editor follows the rules defined by the journal and allows the authors opportunity to comment on all complaints. All complaints must be investigated whether the manuscript is accepted for publication. In this regard, documentation related to complaints have to be submitted to the editorial board. The editor ensures that each submitted paper is evaluated based on the scientific quality of the content of the paper as well as the linguistic quality of the written text, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious or cultural characteristics, nationality, language, citizenship, political affiliation and the like.

The editor must not submit any information about the submitted manuscript to anyone other than the authors, reviewers, potential reviewers, assistant editors, and, sometimes, the publishers themselves.

The editor must ensure the confidentiality of the information or opinions obtained in the review process and must not misuse them.

When errors are identified in published papers, the technical editor considers what action is required and may consult the editors and the authors’ institution(s). Errors by the authors may be corrected by a corrigendum and errors by the publisher by an erratum. If errors significantly affect the conclusions or indicate misconduct, there may be a need to withdraw the paper or write an expression of concern following the COPE Retraction Guidelines. In this case, all authors will be asked to agree to the content of the notice.