Publication Ethics

The Editor and Editorial Board of Science and Engineering Connect are committed to maintaining the high publication standard and integrity of the journal. The following ethical guidelines apply to all the parties involved in the whole publication process. All the authors and reviewers of the journal are requested to adhere strictly to these guidelines when submitting the manuscript to and reviewing the manuscript for the journal.

Roles of the Editor and Editorial Board:

  • Providing a rapid and fair treatment to all submitted manuscripts. All submissions are preliminary reviewed by the Editor and/or Editorial Board for suitability; the decision is rapidly made on whether a submitted manuscript would be accepted for a formal peer review.
  • Maintaining confidentiality of all information related to a submitted manuscript. The information would be shared only with the corresponding author, potential reviewers, reviewers, and publisher as deemed suitable.
  • Maintaining a fair treatment to all authors and evaluating a submission only on its intellectual basis without regards to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the author(s).
  • Monitoring and avoiding publication misconducts in relation to plagiarism, data fabrication and/or falsification, duplicate submission, and citation manipulation. A submitted manuscript of the aforementioned nature would be withdrawn or rejected. An accepted article suffering the aforementioned violations would be retracted from the journal.
  • Publishing errata when appropriate.
  • Communicating with and seeking help and advices from the Editorial Board members on a regular basis. All the members shall be informed of the status and changes made to the journal.

Roles of the Authors:

  • Ensuring that a submitted manuscript contains original work that has not been published and/or under consideration elsewhere. Proper citations and references with accurate and sufficient details must be provided.
  • Noting and following the globally accepted guidelines on plagiarism, data fabrication and/or falsification, duplicate submission, and citation manipulation.
  • Providing accurate and sufficient details of all authors, along with their affiliations.
  • Providing proper acknowledgement of research funding.
  • Declaring any possible conflicts of interest.

Roles of the Reviewers:

  • Agreeing to review a submitted manuscript only when being knowledgeable and able to give fair, unbiased, and scientifically sound comments on the manuscript.
  • Maintaining confidentiality of all information related to a submitted manuscript during the whole review process.
  • Reviewing a submitted manuscript and providing feedback and decision to the Editorial Office in a timely fashion.
  • Advising the Editor when noting or suspecting any possible misconducts in relation to plagiarism, data fabrication and/or falsification, duplicate submission, and citation manipulation.
  • Not utilizing unpublished reviewed materials in own research without proper written permission of the authors.

Statement of Publication Ethics and Misconduct 
Science and Engineering Connect strictly adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Manuscripts found to involve misconduct would be rejected; published articles that violate these principles would be retracted. Publication misconduct includes, but not limited to, plagiarism (similarity index exceeding 30%), data fabrication or falsification, duplicate publication, and inappropriate authorship practices (including ghost authorship, gift authorship, or misrepresentation of authorship roles).

Ethics Consideration and Investigation Process 
The journal follows a structured and impartial process when investigating an allegation of ethical misconduct.

1. Forming a Committee
An independent committee is assigned to review each case to ensure fairness and objectivity.
2. Reviewing Evidence
The committee reviews an allegation through the use of plagiarism detection tools and content analysis to ensure a thorough evaluation.
3. Author's Response
Authors who are the subject of an allegation will be given an opportunity to respond to the allegation.
4. Confidentiality
All investigations are conducted with strict confidentiality throughout the process to ensure fairness for all parties involved.
5. Final Decision and Actions
If misconduct is confirmed, the journal will take appropriate actions in line with COPE guidelines, which may include rejecting a manuscript or retracting a publication. If no misconduct is found, the journal will notify all relevant parties of the outcome.

AI-generated Contents
The Editor advises that the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) or AI-assisted technologies in the writing process must be approached with caution. All AI-generated contents must undergo thorough review and careful editing by all authors to ensure accuracy, completeness, and objectivity. Such AI technologies used must be explicitly disclosed in a manuscript; the disclosure would be included in the published version of an article. Authors hold full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their works.