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Publication Ethics Statement

Contents

Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

BAU Journal – Society, Culture and Human Behavior (BAUJ-SCHB) is committed to maintaining high standards of integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct throughout the scholarly publishing process. The journal's publication ethics policies are guided by the COPE Core Practices and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing developed by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME.

These policies apply to authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, and all individuals involved in the journal's editorial and publication processes. They should be read in conjunction with the journal's Authors Guidelines, Manuscript Preparation Guidelines, and Peer Review Process.

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Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions to the work and who are able to take responsibility for its content. All listed authors should:

  • have made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or another significant scholarly component of the study;
  • have participated in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content;
  • have approved the final version submitted for publication; and
  • agree to be accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and ethical conduct of the work.

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors. Their contributions should, where appropriate and with their permission, be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all eligible contributors are appropriately credited, that no qualifying author has been omitted, and that all co-authors have approved the submitted manuscript and any subsequent revisions.

Gift, guest, honorary, and ghost authorship are not acceptable.

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Authorship Changes and Disputes

Requests to add, remove, or change the order of authors after initial submission must be justified and approved by all affected authors.

Authorship disputes should, wherever possible, be resolved among the authors and their institutions. The journal may request documentation clarifying individual contributions and will address authorship concerns in accordance with relevant COPE guidance.

Editors do not normally adjudicate competing claims of authorship where these require institutional investigation.

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Funding and Other Support

Authors must disclose all sources of financial and material support relevant to the research and publication of the manuscript. Funding declarations should identify, where applicable:

  • funding agencies or organizations;
  • grant numbers;
  • institutional or commercial sponsorship;
  • provision of equipment, materials, data, software, or services; and
  • other forms of financial or material assistance that may reasonably be considered relevant to the research.

The role of the funder or sponsor in the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, manuscript preparation, or decision to submit for publication should be disclosed where applicable.

Where no external funding was received, authors should state this explicitly if required by the journal.

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Data Availability, Transparency, and Reproducibility

BAUJ-SCHB supports transparency in research methods, evidence, and analytical procedures.

Authors are encouraged, and where appropriate may be required, to make available the data, code, software, protocols, research materials, instruments, coding frameworks, questionnaires, analytical procedures, or other resources necessary to support and verify the findings reported in their articles.

Manuscripts reporting empirical research should include a Data Availability Statement indicating whether supporting data or materials are available and, where applicable, how they may be accessed. Where data cannot be shared because of ethical, legal, privacy, confidentiality, security, intellectual-property, cultural, contractual, or institutional restrictions, the Data Availability Statement should explain the applicable restriction.

Authors should provide sufficient methodological information to permit readers and other researchers to evaluate the validity of the research and, where reasonably possible, reproduce or replicate its procedures. Depending on the research design, this may include relevant:

  • sampling procedures;
  • instruments and measures;
  • coding frameworks;
  • analytical methods;
  • statistical procedures;
  • software and software versions;
  • computational parameters;
  • qualitative analytical procedures; and
  • protocols or experimental conditions.

The journal recognizes that reproducibility and data-sharing expectations differ across quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, historical, humanities, and other forms of scholarship. These requirements will therefore be applied in a manner appropriate to the research design, disciplinary norms, ethical obligations, and nature of the underlying evidence.

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Research and Publication Misconduct

Research integrity is a central priority of BAUJ-SCHB. The journal takes reasonable measures to identify, prevent, investigate editorially, and respond appropriately to suspected breaches of research and publication ethics. Concerns may arise before or after publication and will be considered on the basis of available evidence and applicable ethical guidance.

Potential misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

  • fabrication or falsification of data or findings;
  • plagiarism;
  • redundant or duplicate publication;
  • inappropriate authorship practices;
  • citation manipulation;
  • undisclosed competing interests;
  • unethical research practices;
  • deceptive manipulation of images, figures, audio, video, or other research materials;
  • misrepresentation of research methods or results; and
  • inappropriate or undisclosed use of generative AI or other technologies where such use affects the integrity of the scholarly record.

Fabrication and Falsification

Data, observations, quotations, research participants, analytical results, references, or findings must not be fabricated, falsified, selectively altered, or intentionally misrepresented.

Authors must retain appropriate research records in accordance with applicable institutional, disciplinary, ethical, and legal requirements and may be asked to provide supporting documentation where legitimate concerns about the integrity of submitted or published work arise.

Image, Figure, and Media Integrity

Images, photographs, figures, audio, video, and other research materials must accurately represent the underlying evidence.

Digital adjustments are acceptable only when they do not obscure, remove, selectively enhance, introduce, or misrepresent relevant information. Routine adjustments such as changes to brightness, contrast, or color balance may be permissible when applied appropriately and when they do not alter the scientific or scholarly interpretation of the original material.

Where image or media processing forms part of the research methodology, the relevant procedures should be described transparently in the manuscript.

The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies is governed by the journal's Policy on the Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies.

Plagiarism

Manuscripts submitted to BAUJ-SCHB must represent original scholarly work and must appropriately acknowledge the ideas, language, data, images, and other intellectual contributions of others. Plagiarism may include:

  • unattributed copying of text;
  • inappropriate paraphrasing;
  • unauthorized reproduction of figures or other material;
  • misappropriation of ideas or data; and
  • substantial reuse of previously published material without appropriate citation or disclosure.

Where plagiarism or substantial textual overlap is suspected, the journal will assess the matter and may request an explanation or supporting documentation from the authors. Confirmed cases will be addressed in accordance with the journal's editorial procedures and relevant publication-ethics guidance.

Duplicate and Concurrent Submission

A manuscript must not be simultaneously submitted to, or under consideration by, more than one journal.

Authors must disclose any closely related manuscripts, preprints, conference papers, reports, or other publications where necessary to enable the editors to assess possible overlap. Redundant or duplicate publication of substantially the same work without appropriate disclosure and justification is not permitted.

If duplicate or concurrent submission is identified, the journal may reject or withdraw the manuscript from consideration and may take additional editorial action where warranted.

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Competing Interests

Authors, reviewers, editors, and Editorial Board members must disclose financial, professional, institutional, academic, personal, or other interests that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their judgment in relation to a manuscript.

A relevant competing interest does not necessarily prevent publication or participation in the editorial process; however, it must be disclosed and appropriately managed. Individuals with a competing interest that could compromise the independence of manuscript assessment should not participate in the relevant review or editorial decision.

Authors should include a Declaration of Competing Interests in the manuscript. If no competing interests exist, this should be stated explicitly where required by the journal.

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Editors and Editorial Board Members as Authors

Editors and Editorial Board members may submit manuscripts to the journal, but they must receive no preferential treatment.

An editor or board member who is an author, co-author, recent collaborator, institutional colleague where a significant conflict exists, or who otherwise has a competing interest in relation to a submitted manuscript must be excluded from its editorial assessment, reviewer selection, peer-review correspondence, and publication decision. Such manuscripts will be assigned to an independent editor who has no relevant conflict of interest.

The identity of the handling editor and the independence of the review process should be appropriately documented by the journal.

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Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, methodological and ethical quality, originality, relevance to the journal's Aims and Scope, and the contribution of the manuscript to the relevant field. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

  • advertising;
  • commercial considerations;
  • sponsorship;
  • institutional pressure;
  • personal relationships; or
  • inappropriate external influence.

Editorial assessment should also be independent of an author's nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion, political views, institutional affiliation, or other characteristics unrelated to the scholarly evaluation of the manuscript.

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Human-Participant Research, Privacy, and Confidentiality

Research involving human participants, identifiable personal information, personal records, interviews, surveys, human biological materials, or other ethically sensitive human-subject data must comply with applicable institutional, national, and international ethical requirements. Where ethical approval is required, authors must identify:

  • the approving Institutional Review Board, Research Ethics Committee, or equivalent body;
  • the approval or reference number, where available; and
  • the basis on which informed consent was obtained or formally waived.

Where participants may be identifiable through text, photographs, audio, video, case details, or other published information, appropriate consent for publication must be obtained unless a valid ethical and legal basis for publication without such consent exists.

Personally identifiable information should not be published unless it is necessary for the scholarly purpose of the work and appropriate consent and safeguards are in place.

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Research Involving Animals

Where research involving animals falls within the journal's scope, the work must comply with applicable institutional, national, and internationally recognized animal-welfare requirements. Authors should state:

  • the approving institutional or ethics committee;
  • the approval number, where applicable; and
  • the relevant ethical or welfare standards followed.

The journal may request supporting documentation when necessary.

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Confidentiality in Editorial and Peer Review

Submitted manuscripts and associated correspondence, data, reviewer reports, and other non-public materials must be treated as confidential.

Editors, reviewers, Editorial Board members, and journal staff must not disclose or use confidential manuscript information for personal advantage or for purposes unrelated to the editorial and peer-review process.

Information may be shared only with individuals whose involvement is necessary for the legitimate assessment, investigation, processing, or publication of the manuscript, subject to applicable journal policies and legal obligations.

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Cultural, Religious, Historical, and Heritage-Related Research

Research involving cultural, religious, historical, Indigenous, archival, archaeological, or heritage-related materials should be conducted and reported with scholarly accuracy, contextual sensitivity, and respect for applicable ethical, legal, community, archival, and ownership considerations.

Authors should avoid discriminatory, dehumanizing, or unnecessarily derogatory language while preserving legitimate scholarly analysis, critical inquiry, and academic freedom.

Where access to cultural objects, archives, traditional knowledge, community data, or heritage materials is subject to permissions or restrictions, authors should obtain and disclose relevant authorization where appropriate.

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Reporting Guidelines

Authors should follow established reporting standards appropriate to the design and disciplinary context of their research where relevant. Manuscripts should contain sufficient information for editors, reviewers, and readers to evaluate:

  • how the research was designed;
  • how evidence or data were obtained;
  • how analyses were conducted;
  • how conclusions were derived; and
  • the principal limitations of the study.

Where an established reporting guideline is applicable to a particular study design, authors are encouraged to submit the corresponding checklist or other documentation if requested by the journal.

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Defamation, Unlawful Content, and Responsible Scholarly Expression

Authors, reviewers, and editors should distinguish scholarly criticism from defamatory, discriminatory, threatening, or unlawfully harmful statements. Manuscripts and peer-review reports should not contain unsupported allegations concerning identifiable individuals or organizations.

Where potentially defamatory or legally sensitive material is essential to legitimate scholarly analysis, authors must ensure that statements are evidence-based, relevant to the research, appropriately referenced, and expressed with due scholarly care.

The journal reserves the right to seek clarification, revision, or legal advice where necessary.

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Post-Publication Discussion and Scholarly Debate

BAUJ-SCHB supports responsible post-publication scholarly discussion. Readers, authors, and other members of the scholarly community may contact the Editorial Office to raise substantive questions, report possible errors, or identify concerns regarding published articles.

Where appropriate, the journal may invite the authors to respond and may seek additional expert or institutional input.

Scholarly disagreement alone does not constitute misconduct. The journal will distinguish legitimate differences in interpretation from concerns involving errors, unreliable findings, ethical breaches, or potential research misconduct.

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Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. Where a significant error or integrity concern is identified after publication, BAUJ-SCHB will assess the available evidence and determine the appropriate editorial response. Depending on the circumstances, this may include:

  • a correction;
  • a clarification or other editorial notice;
  • an expression of concern;
  • a retraction; or
  • another appropriate amendment to the published record.

Post-publication notices should be clearly identified, linked to the affected article, and designed to preserve the transparency and accessibility of the scholarly record.

Retraction is intended to correct the literature and alert readers to findings or content that are seriously unreliable or that otherwise require removal from the body of reliable scholarly evidence. It is not intended primarily as a punitive measure.

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Complaints and Appeals

Authors, reviewers, readers, and other stakeholders may submit complaints concerning the journal's editorial processes, ethical procedures, peer review, delays, editorial conduct, or published content.

Authors may also appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a material error occurred in the assessment of their manuscript or that relevant evidence was not adequately considered.

Complaints and appeals should be sent through the journal's Contact page and should include:

  • the manuscript or article identification details;
  • a clear description of the issue;
  • the basis of the complaint or appeal; and
  • relevant supporting information.

Complaints and appeals will normally be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately designated editor who was not directly responsible for the matter under review. An editor with a relevant competing interest or direct involvement in the disputed decision must not adjudicate the complaint or appeal.

The journal may consult reviewers, Editorial Board members, the publisher, institutional representatives, or other qualified parties where necessary. Following assessment, the original decision may be upheld, reconsidered, modified, or referred for further review.

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Editorial Actions in Cases of Suspected or Confirmed Misconduct

When a credible concern regarding research or publication integrity is raised, the journal will assess the matter fairly, confidentially, and proportionately. Authors, reviewers, or other individuals involved may be invited to provide an explanation or supporting documentation.

Where appropriate, and particularly where the matter requires investigation beyond the journal's authority or expertise, the journal may refer the concern to the relevant institution, employer, funder, ethics committee, or other competent body.

Depending on the nature, evidence, and severity of the case, editorial actions may include:

  • requesting clarification, corrections, underlying data, or supporting documentation;
  • rejecting a manuscript;
  • terminating consideration of a submitted manuscript;
  • replacing or excluding a reviewer where review integrity has been compromised;
  • issuing an editorial warning concerning unacceptable conduct;
  • temporarily restricting an individual from participating in the journal's review or editorial processes where justified;
  • contacting the relevant institution, employer, funder, ethics committee, or competent authority;
  • publishing a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate editorial notice; and
  • taking other proportionate steps necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

Where institutional investigation is required, BAUJ-SCHB will normally cooperate with the appropriate body rather than attempt to substitute its own editorial assessment for a formal institutional investigation.

Editorial actions will be based on the available evidence, the seriousness of the concern, due process, and applicable publication-ethics guidance.

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BAUJ-SCHB is a fully open-access journal published by Beirut Arab University, which holds copyright in published articles. All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), and no fees are charged to authors. Full details are given in the Open Access, Copyright, Licensing, and Repository sections of the Authors Guidelines.

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