Journal Policies
Publication Ethics Statement
This journal recognizes and upholds the principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publication as recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), applying to all published contents including special issues and conference proceedings. Although the journal and its publisher is not yet a member of COPE, it follows the ethical guidelines on the conduct of research by the authors, performance of review and evaluation by the reviewers and performance of highest standards in the publication of research works.
Statement of Open Access
This journal upholds and supports open access publishing allowing the global sharing of scholarly information without restrictions. Through this platform, free access to shared information promotes knowledge and education. As such, this journal publishes open-access research articles that anyone can reproduce, redistribute and transform, commercial or non-commercial, with proper attribution. The articles' first publication in the journal should always be acknowledged.
License & Copyright
The authors retain the copyright to the work while granting the journal the right to the first publication. The open-access articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license, which grants anyone to reproduce, redistribute and transform, commercially or non-commercially, with proper attribution. Authors can use any contents of the article provided there is proper acknowledgement. Reprint and reproduction of the article does not require prior permission. Read full license details here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
The authors are allowed to upload and post their works online including, but not limited to, institutional website, personal website, social media and professional networking sites with proper attribution. Authors are encouraged to use the article Digital Object Identifier (DOI).
Repository Policy
The authors are allowed to deposit the published, accepted and submitted versions of the article in any repository and archive, institutional repositories and website, and upload in social networking sites with proper attribution.
In addition, this journal uses OJS/PKP submission that allows the archive of pre-print and approved manuscripts. The post-print in PDF version is also deposited in Internet Archive for long-term preservation.
Privacy Statement
The Institute and this journal respect and protect the privacy of its users. It does not sell or give any information to any external bodies. This website does not use tracking cookies except the requirement for online payments. This website is protected with Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
Any information collected from authors are protected and stored in a database and shall be used only for the purposes of dealing with the article publication. If you have any concerns on Privacy Policy, contact us at support@iiari.org.
Publication Ethics for Authors
Conflict of Interest
This journal recognizes the definition given by the COPE, which states that "conflicts of interest comprise those which may not be fully apparent and which may influence the judgement of author, and when revealed later, would make a reasonable reader feel misled or deceived." These may include personal, commercial, political, academic or financial.
The author needs to declare any relevant conflict of interest that might have affected the results of the study. For example, any monetary gains received from commissioned research, political influence or support from the subjects of the study or the potential bias on the analysis of studies involving own institution due to leadership influence.
Ethical Responsibilities
The author confirms that the submission is his or her own original work. In case of group work, the corresponding author confirms that all co-authors consent to the submission of the article. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to provide accurate contact and personal details of the co-authors. Upon submission of the article, all co-authors will be informed of the submission. Any co-authors' objections or disapproval of the submission must be communicated to the journal through email within maximum seven (7) days from the date of the submission.
The author also confirms that the submitted paper is not previously published elsewhere nor considered for publication in another journal. Since the journal only publishes original research, any republication is not allowed. In addition, the author needs to obtain prior permission for the use of any previously published material owned by another person. The use of images, figures, icons, frameworks and diagrams must be properly acknowledged and the source must be clearly indicated.
The author ensures that the paper is free from plagiarism. The journal randomly checks the similarity percentage using Plagiarism Checker X. While the journal imposes academic judgement on the nature of similarity within the manuscript, it can accept a maximum of 30% similarity rate provided copied texts appeared in various cited sources. If plagiarism is identified at any point of the publication process, the author needs to address the plagiarism and resubmit the paper.
The author confirms, to the best of his knowledge, the authenticity and integrity of the data. It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that the data are free from fabrication, manipulation and material misrepresentation. Any case of dishonesty shall be dealt with accordingly, leading to rejection of the paper or retraction.
It is the prime responsibility of the author to ensure that the paper’s quality is highly acceptable as to use of language, grammar and punctuations. The author must not use any form of hateful, discriminatory, intimidating, demeaning and inappropriate words or statements. The paper must not disparage any person or community based on gender, race, religion, or disability. The author must ensure the use of balanced discussions, providing all sides of a research problem or issue.
Appeal, Complaints and Corrections
This journal systematically handles issues and concerns related to author appeal, complaints and corrections. All appeal, complaints and corrections related to publication must be lodged through email to any journal manager or the journal editor-in-chief. On the other hand, any ethical complaints related to any editorial staff must be communicated directly to the publisher through the president (president@iiari.org).
a. Publication Concerns
Review results, comments and suggestions. Any author whose article has been rejected is given the right to appeal the decision. While the journal ensures that reasons for rejection and the necessary improvements required were communicated to the author upon sending the decision, the author is given every right to seek clarification. The appeal must be submitted through an email to the journal manager or the editor-in-chief. The author needs to explain the reasons for the wrong decision. The editorial board forms a three-member ad hoc committee to evaluate the merits of the appeal. The decision of the committee shall be final and executory, which should be communicated to the author.
Correction and retraction. This journal ensures that the author receives any manuscript proof for confirmation, verification and approval before any publication. Any corrections before the publication must be communicated through email to the copyeditor. If errors are found after the publication, the author needs to communicate any required corrections through email to the journal editorial assistant, manager or editor-in-chief. Errors related to contents and grammar are corrected through in-line correction or erratum. However, any material corrections arising from plagiarism, misstatement and falsification of data or any other form of academic dishonesty would lead to the retraction of the article.
Retraction of any article shall be dealt with systematically by the journal manager and editor-in-chief. The author must be given sufficient time to respond to the concern and provided recommendations to correct any material errors in the published manuscript. Any material corrections done with the article must be treated as erratum. If the author was not able to comply with all the required corrections, the article will be retracted. All decisions must be communicated through email.
b. Editorial Concerns
This journal upholds the highest publication ethical standards in the performance of any editorial tasks. If an author found unbecoming behavior of any of the journal editors, the complaint must be communicated through email to the publisher through the president (president@iiari.org) in the first instance. The publisher forms a 3-member ethics ad hoc committee to hear the case. Misbehavior includes, but not limited to: asking for bribe for the acceptance of the paper; discrimnation, harassment, intimidation, or demeaning comments; and hateful verbal or written comments related to gender, race, religion, or disability.
Editorial Policies
Peer Review Process
a. Type of Review
The journal adheres to the double blind peer-review process. Neither the author nor the reviewers know each other’s identity. Hence, the author needs to submit separate files for anonymous manuscript and title page.
b. Recruitment and Selection of Reviewers
The journal recruits experts in the field to assist the editor in the evaluation and acceptance of papers. They are selected based on their qualification and specialization. All reviewers must register through the OJS/PKP submission portal. Upon registration, interested potential reviewers check "Yes, I would like to be contacted with requests to review submissions to this journal" option to receive review assignments.
c. Review Process
Any submission goes for two evaluation and review process: a) preliminary evaluation by the journal manager or editor-in-chief and b) peer review. The journal manager or editor-in-chief evaluates the paper based on its fitness to journal scope, structural requirements and readiness for publication while the reviewers give detailed comments on the paper based on the evaluation criteria.
All submitted papers duly accepted for suitability to journal scope and structural requirements are sent to the potential reviewers. The journal editorial staff reserves the right to choose the appropriate reviewer based on their knowledge of the topic. Thereafter, the anonymous manuscript is sent only to those who agreed to accept the review invite.
The entire review process takes minimum one week to maximum three weeks. However, it is highly dependent on various uncontrollable circumstances. The journal ensures adherence to the proper timeline which completes the submission to final publication acceptance within the maximum 45 days.
d. Review Criteria and Results
Reviewers evaluate the following areas of the paper: introduction and literature review, methodology, results and discussion, and conclusion. While the reviewers are given the guide questions in doing the review, they are given maximum freedom to evaluate the quality of the paper.
The result of the review may be any of the following: accept submission, revision required, resubmit for review, submit elsewhere and decline submission. The editor makes the decision after the receipt of at least two reviews. The decision of the editor is communicated to the corresponding author through email.
Accept submission. The paper is accepted for publication and will be sent to copyediting stage. The author signs the open access agreement form.
Revision required. Any accepted article with minor or major revisions is sent back to the author for corrections. The author is given ample time to comply depending on the severity of the corrections. If the time given is insufficient, the author is advised to formally request extension through email. The author then submits the corrected article for final evaluation by the journal manager. If the paper requires further revision, the journal manager provides further revisions request through email or through discussion forum in the portal. If the article is accepted, the author signs the open access publishing prior to online publication.
Resubmit for review. The comments and suggestions of the reviewers are sent to the author for compliance. The author is given ample time to comply depending on the severity of the corrections. If the time given is insufficient, the author is advised to formally request extension through email. The author then submits the corrected article for another round of review.
Submit elsewhere. The paper is not considered for publication in the journal and will advise the author to consider another journal.
Decline submission. The paper is rejected for publication in the journal.
The journal uses the OJS-PKP platform and workflow for the submission and review of articles. For guidance and assistance on the use of the portal, you can download the workflow guidelines here.
Editorial Independence
The editorial board has the sole right to accept and/or reject articles for publication without interference from the publisher and/or external bodies. However, the board must ensure that decisions are impartial and free from any bias, following the journal standards on quality publication.
Conflict of Interest
Any conflict of interest in the conduct of any review must be formally declared. Using the OJS/PKP submission portal, the reviewer must declare any potential conflict of interest by checking "I may have competing interest." Following the guidelines set by COPE, conflict of interest may arise from personal, financial, intellectual, professional, political or religious influences.
Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Review Process
The journal recognizes the ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the conduct of review. While the use of AI has valuable contribution to the reviewer on proper evaluation of the paper quality and writing the review report, the reviewer needs to maintain his/her integrity and the safety of the author manuscript. Hence, the reviewer needs to limit the use of AI as a tool to gather relevant assistance on the proper conduct of review. The reviewer must NOT upload any part of the manuscript in any AI tool to perform the review and must refrain from the deliberate use of AI in writing the review report. The use of any AI tool in grammar checking, proofreading and editing of the review report is acceptable.
Editorial Code of Conduct
The reviewer must uphold the following ethical conducts in their performance of review.
Confidentiality. The journal editors and reviewers must treat all submissions with strict confidentiality. Hence, they should not reveal any details of a manuscript or the review results during and after the peer review process, other than those contents published in the journal. Similarly, they should not use any part of the manuscript for personal gain or advantage.
Any certificate of merit received by the reviewer for the conduct of review can be uploaded and posted in any portal, websites or social media provided there is no disclosure of any details of the manuscript.
Timeliness. The editors and reviewers must take actions on review assignments in a timely manner. They must ensure that any issue related to the publication process is acted upon promptly.
Editorial Misconduct
This journal systematically handles issues and concerns related to editorial misconduct. All ethical complaints related to any editorial staff and reviewer must be communicated directly to the publisher through the president (president@iiari.org). The publisher forms a 3-member ethics ad hoc committee to hear the case. Misconduct includes, but not limited to: asking for bribe for the acceptance of the paper; discrimnation, harassment, intimidation, or demeaning comments; hateful verbal or written comments related to gender, race, religion, or disability; breach of confidentiality; negligence in the performance of editorial tasks; and deliberate intent not to perform any editorial tasks. Misconduct of editors and reviewers bears administrative sanctions including removal from the board.