WhatsApp | Impact Factor: 6.21  |  ISSN: 2581-8651 | theshillonga.jhed@gmail.com | editor@ijhed.com

Research Ethics

Ethical Guidelines

JHED upholds the highest standards of research ethics in alignment with international frameworks including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Declaration of Helsinki, and guidelines issued by the American Psychological Association (APA). All authors are required to comply with the following ethical obligations as a condition of submission:

Authorship and Contribution:

  • All listed authors must have made a substantive intellectual contribution to the research design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript preparation.

  • Honorary or gift authorship is strictly prohibited. Similarly, individuals who qualify for authorship must not be excluded (ghost authorship).

  • Any changes to authorship after manuscript submission require written justification and approval from the editorial team.

Data Integrity and Transparency:

  • Authors must ensure that all reported data is accurate, complete, and has not been manipulated, fabricated, or selectively omitted to support a preferred conclusion.

  • Raw datasets or supporting materials may be requested by editors or reviewers during the review process.

  • Replication data should be made available wherever possible to support independent verification.

Human and Animal Research Protections:

  • Studies involving human participants must have received prior approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or equivalent ethics committee.

  • Informed consent must be obtained from all participants, and details of this process should be included in the manuscript.

  • Research involving animals must comply with institutional and national regulations governing animal welfare.

Duplicate Submission and Self-Plagiarism:

  • Manuscripts submitted to JHED must not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal or publication.

  • Significant republication of one's own previously published work without proper citation or disclosure is considered a form of academic misconduct.

 

Plagiarism Check

JHED employs industry-standard plagiarism detection software to screen all submitted manuscripts before they enter the peer review process. This process is a non-negotiable part of our quality assurance workflow and applies to every submission regardless of the author's academic standing.

Acceptable Similarity Thresholds:

Overall Similarity Score

Below 15% (excluding references and bibliography)

Single Source Match

No more than 3% from any single source

Quoted Text

Must be clearly marked and within acceptable limits of fair use

Manuscripts exceeding these limits will be returned to the author for revision prior to review. Deliberate plagiarism, including the reproduction of text, ideas, images, or data from other sources without proper attribution, will result in immediate rejection and may be reported to the author's institution.

Self-plagiarism — reusing substantial portions of one's own prior work without disclosure — is treated with equal seriousness. Authors are encouraged to properly cite their earlier publications when building upon previous research.

 

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

Transparency and objectivity are core values at JHED. To protect the integrity of the peer review process and published content, all authors are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest at the time of submission.

A conflict of interest exists when an author's professional judgment about a research outcome may be influenced by a secondary interest, such as financial gain, personal relationships, academic rivalry, or organizational affiliation.

Disclosure Requirements:

  • Financial relationships: funding sources, grants, honoraria, consulting fees, employment, stock ownership, or any financial support relevant to the research.

  • Personal relationships: familial, romantic, or professional affiliations that may influence research objectivity.

  • Institutional conflicts: any association with organizations whose interests could be affected by the research outcomes.

  • Non-financial conflicts: intellectual or ideological positions that may bias the research or its presentation.

Disclosures are published alongside the article to ensure readers can make an informed assessment of the research. The absence of a conflict of interest must also be explicitly stated using the standard declaration: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."

Peer reviewers and editors are also required to declare conflicts of interest and must recuse themselves from any manuscript where a conflict exists.

 

AI Content Policy

In recognition of the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence tools in academic research and writing, JHED has established a clear and forward-thinking policy governing the use of AI-generated content in submitted manuscripts. This policy ensures transparency, protects intellectual integrity, and upholds author accountability.

Permitted Uses of AI Tools:

  • Grammar checking, spelling correction, and language editing (e.g., Grammarly, DeepL).

  • Literature search and reference management assistance.

  • Data visualization and formatting support.

  • Translation assistance, provided the author verifies accuracy.

Restricted and Prohibited Uses:

  • AI language models (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) may not be listed as authors, as authorship requires human accountability for the work.

  • The generation of substantial portions of the manuscript's argument, analysis, findings, or conclusions using AI tools without meaningful human intellectual contribution is not permitted.

  • AI-generated references or citations must not be included, as these can be inaccurate, fabricated, or unverifiable.

Disclosure Requirements:

Authors who have used AI tools in any aspect of manuscript preparation must disclose this in the Methods section or in the Acknowledgements using the following format:

"[Tool Name] was used to [specific purpose, e.g., improve grammatical clarity of the manuscript]. The authors take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of all content."

Failure to disclose AI tool usage constitutes a breach of editorial transparency and may result in manuscript rejection or post-publication correction. JHED reserves the right to update this policy as AI technology and academic best practices continue to evolve.