IOA Select is firmly committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. All partner journals on our platform adhere to the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and follow internationally recognized guidelines in addressing issues of research and publishing misconduct.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting to journals via IOA Select are expected to adhere to the following ethical standards:

• Originality and Exclusive Submission
Simultaneous submission to multiple journals or redundant publication (i.e., publishing substantially similar content in more than one journal) is strictly prohibited.

• Research Integrity
Fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, manipulation of data or images, misrepresentation of authorship, and failure to disclose conflicts of interest constitute serious misconduct and will be addressed in accordance with COPE guidelines.

• Conflict of Interest Disclosure
All authors must declare any financial or non-financial interests that may be perceived to influence their work. Disclosures should be provided at the time of submission in the “Comments for the Editor” section. If there are no conflicts to declare, authors must explicitly state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Journal editors associated with IOA Select are expected to follow the COPE Code of Conduct and uphold the following principles:

• Ensure that the peer review process is objective, timely, and confidential.

• Make editorial decisions based solely on the academic merit, originality, and relevance of the work, without influence from publishers or external stakeholders.

• Assign qualified reviewers and require disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest.

• Maintain the integrity of the review process by safeguarding confidential information.

Ethical Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers play a vital role in maintaining academic quality and are expected to observe the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. Reviewers should:

• Accept assignments only when they have relevant expertise and can complete reviews promptly.

• Maintain strict confidentiality during and after the review process.

• Avoid using unpublished information for personal or professional gain.

• Provide fair, unbiased, and constructive feedback.

• Disclose any potential conflicts of interest prior to accepting a review assignment.

• Refrain from discriminatory or defamatory language in their reviews.

• Uphold the reciprocal nature of peer review by contributing to the scholarly community in good faith.

Allegations of Misconduct

Concerns or allegations of misconduct should be reported to the Editor-in-Chief of the journal in question. If the Editor-in-Chief is implicated, the report may be submitted directly to the journal’s editorial office. IOA Select and its partner journals are committed to investigating all allegations thoroughly and confidentially, in accordance with COPE recommendations.

Examples of misconduct include:

• Plagiarism or duplicate publication

• Fabrication or falsification of data

• Ethical breaches involving human or animal subjects

• Misappropriation of intellectual property during peer review

• Unethical authorship practices

Research Involving Human or Animal Subjects

All research must comply with institutional and international ethical standards.

Human Subjects

• Informed Consent
Manuscripts involving human participants must include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained. Identifiable personal data (e.g., names, photographs) must not be published unless essential for the study and written consent for publication has been obtained from the individual or their legal guardian.

• Ethics Approval
Authors must obtain ethical approval or a formal waiver from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent committee prior to initiating the study. The manuscript must include a statement confirming ethics approval and adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki (revised 2024). Example: “This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of [Institution], project code [ID]. All participants provided informed consent.”

• Clinical Trial Registration
In accordance with ICMJE guidelines, all clinical trials must be registered in a recognized public registry before the enrollment of the first participant. The trial registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

Animal Subjects

Studies involving animals must comply with international guidelines such as the ARRIVE Guidelines, the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986, EU Directive 2010/63/EU, or the U.S. Public Health Service Policy. The manuscript must state the name of the approving committee and relevant license information. If no formal review body exists, ethical justification must be clearly provided.

The following policies apply to all journals hosted on the IOA Select platform. They are designed to uphold high standards of academic publishing integrity, transparency, and author rights.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors publishing with IOA Select retain the copyright of their work. All articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which allows for unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original author and source are properly cited.

For more information, visit the Creative Commons License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Authorship and Contributions

All listed authors must meet authorship criteria and agree to the submission. Contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately. Authors are encouraged to detail individual contributions using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) model, if applicable.

Preprints

IOA Select journals accept submissions that have previously been made available on a preprint server (e.g., arXiv, bioRxiv, SSRN). Authors must disclose the existence of preprints at the time of submission and ensure that any changes during peer review are reflected in the final published version.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The responsible and transparent use of generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT) is permitted, in line with COPE guidelines. Authors must clearly disclose if AI was used to assist with writing, analysis, or image generation. AI cannot be credited as an author, and authors remain fully accountable for the integrity and originality of their work.

Data Sharing and Availability

IOA Select promotes data transparency and supports open science principles. Authors may choose from the following data availability statements:

• Openly Available: Data supporting the findings are available in [repository name, DOI].
• Available on Request: Data are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
• Not Applicable: No datasets were generated or analyzed.
Authors are encouraged to share data in trusted repositories following FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible,
Interoperable, Reusable).

Peer Review Process

All journals on IOA Select employ rigorous peer review models (typically single-blind or double-blind). Manuscripts are evaluated based on scientific merit, originality, and relevance. Editors ensure a fair and timely review process, free from conflicts of interest.

Research Integrity and Ethics

IOA Select journals adhere to the COPE Core Practices and follow international standards for publication ethics. The following are strictly prohibited:

• Plagiarism or self-plagiarism
• Data fabrication or falsification
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest
• Inappropriate authorship credit

Any suspected misconduct will be investigated in accordance with COPE procedures. Submissions found to violate ethical standards will be rejected or retracted.

Retractions and Corrections

In accordance with COPE guidelines, IOA Select journals may issue the following post-publication notices:

• Correction: Minor errors not affecting the conclusions
• Expression of Concern: When validity is in question but conclusive evidence is pending
• Retraction: For serious ethical breaches or invalid results

All corrections and retractions will be clearly linked to the original article.

Informed Consent and Privacy

When research involves human participants, authors must confirm that appropriate ethical approval was obtained and informed consent was secured. Identifying information must be anonymized unless explicit consent has been granted.
For studies involving vulnerable populations, additional precautions and documentation may be required.

Editorial Independence

IOA Select ensures editorial independence across all its hosted journals. Editors make publication decisions based solely on scientific merit and editorial scope, without influence from sponsors or institutional affiliations.

Contact and Support

For policy-related inquiries or manuscript concerns, please contact the IOA Select editorial team at:

Email: