Publication Ethic

Publication Ethics
COPE-aligned • Clear responsibilities • Transparency
General Publication Ethics

IONTech Journal is committed to upholding high standards of publication ethics, following the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All parties (authors, editors, reviewers, and publisher) must safeguard the integrity of scholarly publication.

Publisher’s Responsibilities
  • Safeguard the integrity of editorial & peer-review processes; respect editorial independence.
  • Support ethical practices in line with COPE and journal policies.
  • Ensure open access & digital preservation (LOCKSS, CLOCKSS, PKP PLN).
  • Maintain transparency in funding, COI, and compliance with research ethics.
  • Handle corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions when required.
Editors’ Responsibilities
  • Make fair decisions without discrimination; evaluate solely on scientific merit.
  • Maintain confidentiality of manuscripts & data; share only when necessary for review.
  • Ensure review by qualified experts (double-blind where applicable).
  • Manage COI; avoid using unpublished materials for personal advantage.
  • Reject manuscripts with signs of plagiarism, fabrication, duplication, or misconduct.
Reviewers’ Responsibilities
  • Provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluation.
  • Respect manuscript confidentiality; do not use for personal benefit.
  • Declare COI before accepting review assignments.
  • Report suspected plagiarism, duplication, fabrication, or ethical issues.
  • Give clear recommendations (accept / minor / major / reject) with justification.
Authors’ Responsibilities
  • Submit original work; provide accurate citations; free from plagiarism & duplicate submission.
  • Clarify authorship contributions, adhere to research ethics, and issue corrections for significant errors.
  • Disclose funding sources (if any) & relevant conflicts of interest.
  • Provide supporting data when requested; maintain transparency & reproducibility.
Authorship & Plagiarism

Authors may only submit original manuscripts that have not been previously published and are not under review elsewhere. Use of others’ work must be properly cited. The first author is the main contributor; the corresponding author is responsible for communication; co-authors are listed according to contribution.
Maximum Similarity Index ≤ 25% (Turnitin/iThenticate; references & quotations automatically excluded).

Conflict of Interest

All parties (authors, editors, reviewers) must avoid and/or disclose any COI that could affect objectivity. If unavoidable, COI must be managed transparently and reported to the editor for proper resolution.

Ethical Oversight

The journal handles suspected ethical violations (plagiarism, fabrication, duplication, COI) in accordance with the COPE Flowcharts. Actions may include requests for clarification, corrections (corrigendum), expression of concern, or retraction. All steps are documented to maintain academic integrity.

Ethical Approval and Informed Consent

All manuscripts submitted to IONTech Journal that involve human participants must have obtained ethical approval from an accredited Research Ethics Committee. Authors are required to clearly state the name of the ethics committee and the ethical approval number in the manuscript.

Studies involving human subjects must include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to participation.

Research involving experimental animals must comply with internationally accepted ethical standards and must receive prior approval from an appropriate ethics committee.

For studies that do not involve human participants or experimental animals, authors must explicitly state that ethical approval and informed consent were not required.