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Editorial Policies in JSCCA

The Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications (JSCCA) maintains a strong commitment to ethical publishing practices and has implemented rigorous procedures to ensure compliance with these standards. JSCCA follows the guidelines outlined in the Code of Conduct (COPE) provided by https://publicationethics.org.
The publication process of JSCCA involves meticulous and systematic procedures that demand effective and skilled management from publishers and editors. Upholding the integrity of the publication, the publishers aim to foster close collaboration with editors, authors, and peer reviewers throughout the entire process. The key principles that govern our publishing process and uphold publishing ethics can be succinctly summarized as follows:

Affiliations

Authors are required to disclose all pertinent affiliations that are relevant to indicate where the research was approved, supported, or carried out. In the case of non-research articles, authors should provide their present institutional affiliation. If an author has changed institutions before the article's publication, they should indicate the affiliation where the work was conducted. The current affiliation and contact details should be included in the acknowledgments section. It is important to note that a change in affiliation alone does not justify the removal of an author from a publication if they meet the criteria for authorship.

Appeals and Complaints

The journal adheres to the guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding appeals regarding editorial decisions and complaints related to the editorial management of the peer review process. We encourage legitimate appeals against editor decisions. However, it is necessary to provide compelling evidence or new data/information in response to the comments made by the editor and reviewers.

Acknowledgment

People who contributed to the creation of a manuscript but did not meet the criteria for authorship should be recognized and acknowledged. Additionally, organizations that provide financial assistance or other forms of support should also be acknowledged.

Authorship

Listing the names of authors in an article serves as an important means of acknowledging and giving credit to those individuals who have made significant contributions to the work. It also promotes transparency by identifying those individuals who bear responsibility for the integrity of the content. To be listed as an author in an article, individuals must meet the following criteria:

  1. They must have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the work either severely, or tin all these aspects.
  2. They must have participated in drafting or writing the article or have provided substantial revisions or critical review of its content.
  3. They must have reached an agreement on the journal to which the article will be submitted.
  4. They must have reviewed and agreed upon all versions of the article during the submission, revision, final acceptance for publication, and any significant changes introduced during the proofing stage.
  5. They must be willing to take responsibility and be accountable for the content of the article, as well as share the responsibility for addressing any questions or concerns regarding the accuracy or integrity of the published work.

Any changes to the authorship, whether before or after publication, must be agreed upon by all authors, including those being added or removed. The corresponding author bears the responsibility of obtaining confirmation from all co-authors and providing a thorough explanation for the necessity of the change. If a change in authorship is required after the article has been published

Authorship Criteria

    Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to each of the three components mentioned below:
  1. Concept and design of study or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data
  2. Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
  3. Final approval of the version to be published.

Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. General supervision of the research group is not sufficient for authorship. Each contributor should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content of the manuscript. The order of naming the contributors should be based on the relative contribution of the contributor towards the study and writing the manuscript. Once submitted the order cannot be changed without the written consent of all the contributors. The journal prescribes a maximum number of authors for manuscripts depending upon the type of manuscript, its scope, and the number of institutions involved (vide infra). The authors should provide a justification if the number of authors exceeds these limits.

Rules pertaining to contributions

Authors should provide a description of the contributions each of them has made in producing the work. The description should be divided into the following categories, as applicable: concept, design, definition of intellectual content, literature search, clinical studies, experimental studies, data acquisition, data analysis, statistical analysis, manuscript preparation, manuscript editing, and manuscript review. The authors' contributions will be printed along with the article. One or more authors should take responsibility for the integrity of the work from conception to publication of the article and should be designated as 'guarantors'.

Citations

Research and non-research articles must cite relevant, timely, and verified literature (peer-reviewed, where appropriate) to support any claims made in the article. Excessive inappropriate self-citation or prior arrangements between groups of authors to cite each other's works inappropriately should be avoided, as this can be considered a form of misconduct called citation manipulation. Read the COPE guidance on citation manipulation.

If you’re the author of a non-research article (e.g. a Review or Opinion) you should ensure the references, you cite are relevant and provide a fair and balanced overview of the current state of research or scholarly work on the topic. Your references should not be unfairly biased toward a particular research group, organization, or journal.

If you are unsure about whether to cite a source, you should contact the journal editorial office for advice.

Conflicts of Interest

Both you and your co-authors are required to disclose any competing interests that are pertinent to or could be perceived as relevant to, the article. A competing interest arises when you (or your employer, sponsor, or acquaintances) have a financial, commercial, legal, or professional relationship with other organizations or individuals associated with them, which could potentially influence the research or interpretation of the results. Competing interests can encompass both financial and non-financial aspects. It is important to promote transparency by declaring any affiliations that others may perceive as constituting a competing interest.

Amending, expressing concerns about, or withdrawing an article.

Occasionally, it may be required to modify the final edited version of an article even after its publication. Such changes are made following careful deliberation by the Editor, with the assistance of the journal staff, to ensure compliance with the guidance provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Any necessary modifications will be accompanied by a lasting post-publication notice, which will be permanently connected to the original article.

Authors have the option to utilize a consent form to obtain publication consent, either using a form provided by their own institution or one suitable for their region. The consent form should clearly state that the information or images will be publicly available on the internet and may be viewed by the public. If requested, the consent form must be made available to the Editor, and it will be treated confidentially.

Confidentiality

A manuscript that has been submitted is considered confidential. Academic Journals are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and will not disclose them to anyone except those individuals involved in the processing and preparation of the manuscript for potential publication. These individuals may include editorial staff, corresponding authors, potential reviewers, actual reviewers, and editors. However, in cases where misconduct is suspected, the manuscript may be shared with members of Academic Journals' ethics committees and relevant institutions/organizations that may require it to address the misconduct. Academic Journals will adhere to the appropriate COPE flowcharts as necessary in handling such situations.

Copyright Policy and Open Access Statement

Philosophy of Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications
For more information, please see the Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications Aims and Scope page

Who Can Submit?

Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications welcomes the submission of original manuscript from anyone, under the condition that the submitter either holds the copyright to the work being submitted or is authorized by the copyright owner(s) to submit the article. In most cases, authors are considered the initial copyright owners of their works. However, it is worth noting that there might be exceptions in non-academic contexts where authors have agreed, as a condition of their employment, to transfer the copyright of their works to their employers.

User Rights

Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications operates as an Open Access journal, granting users the right to access, read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of articles, subject to the following conditions: CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Copyright statement stated here and embedded in each published article.

Open Access Statement

The Journal of Soft Computing and Computer Applications (JSCCA) is committed to publishing fully open access articles, ensuring that they are readily available to all users online once they are published. All articles published in JSCCA are accessible in their entirety, allowing readers to freely read, download, and share them under the following conditions: CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ which allows users to copy, distribute, and transmit an article, and adapt the article as long as the author is attributed. The CC BY license permits commercial and non-commercial reuse.
Authors benefit from open access in several ways, including free access for readers worldwide, retention of copyright without restrictions, increased visibility and readership, rapid publication, and the absence of spatial constraints.

Author rights

Authors will retain the copyright to their work, along with scholarly usage rights, while granting the Publisher non-exclusive publishing and distribution rights.

Data falsification/fabrication

Data falsification or fabrication involves intentionally manipulating or fabricating data with the aim of misleading others and undermining the integrity of the scholarly record, which has far-reaching and long-lasting consequences.

When submitting a manuscript to the journal, authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of all data presented and that it faithfully represents their work. To aid the journal in assessing the manuscript, authors are expected to retain all raw data associated with their research as evidence.

If requested, failure to produce the original data may result in the manuscript being rejected or a published paper being retracted.

Desk rejection policy

  1. The study's topic or scope does not align with the focus of the journal.
  2. There are issues related to publication ethics, non-compliance with international guidelines, and instances of plagiarism (with a similarity index exceeding 20 percent).
  3. The topic lacks sufficient impact and fails to contribute novel insights to the field.
  4. There are flaws in the study's design.
  5. The study's objective is not clearly articulated.
  6. There are deficiencies in the organization of the study or certain components are missing.
  7. There are problems with writing, grammar, or stylistic inconsistencies.
  8. The manuscript does not adhere to the submission guidelines specified by the journal.

Duplicate submission/publication

manuscript is not being considered for publication elsewhere. Therefore, the identification of a duplicate submission or publication is typically regarded as an intentional act. This also applies to articles that have been previously published in a different language. If authors intend to submit or publish a secondary version of their work (such as a translated article) in accordance with the guidelines provided by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), they must obtain permission from the original article's publisher and copyright holder. Additionally, authors must inform the Editor of the receiving journal about the publication history of the original article. It is essential to clearly indicate to readers that the article is a translated version, providing a citation to the original article.

Funding
Authors are obligated to disclose all sources of funding, including financial support, in their manuscript as per the journal's requirements. It is necessary for authors to elucidate the role played by the sponsor(s), if any, in various stages ranging from study design to manuscript submission for publication. Additionally, authors should specify if the sponsor(s) not been involved in these stages. It is important to ensure that the provided information is accurate and aligns with the requirements set forth by the funding organization(s).

Images and figures

When the article includes images and figures, it is necessary to ensure their relevance and value to the research presented. It is advised to avoid using purely illustrative content that does not contribute substantively to the scholarly work.

As part of the Journal Author Publishing Agreement, authors are required to obtain written permission to include any copyrighted material owned by a third party in their article. This includes, but is not limited to, proprietary text, illustrations, tables, and other materials such as data, audio, video, film stills, screenshots, musical notation, and any supplementary material. By obtaining the necessary permissions, authors provide assurance to the journal that they have met this requirement.

Misconduct

The journal treats all types of misconduct with utmost seriousness and will undertake appropriate measures, following the guidelines established by COPE, to safeguard the integrity of the scholarly record.

    Examples of misconduct include (but are not limited to):
  • Affiliation misrepresentation
  • Breaches in copyright/use of third-party material without appropriate permissions
  • Citation manipulation
  • Duplicate submission/publication
  • “Ethics dumping”
  • Image or data manipulation/fabrication

Peer review manipulation

  • Plagiarism
  • Text-recycling/self-plagiarism
  • Undisclosed competing interests
  • Unethical research

Duplicate Submission

If a manuscript is discovered to have been published or is currently under review elsewhere, it will face sanctions for duplicate submission/publication. In cases where authors have utilized their own previously published work or work that is currently under review as the foundation for a submitted manuscript, they must appropriately cite the earlier work and clearly demonstrate how their submitted manuscript contributes novel insights beyond what was presented in the previous work.

Citation Manipulation

If submitted manuscripts are discovered to contain citations primarily intended to artificially boost the number of citations for a specific author's work or articles published in a particular journal, they will be subject to sanctions for citation manipulation.

Data Fabrication and Falsification

If submitted manuscripts are found to have manipulated images or fabricated and falsified experimental results, they will face sanctions for data fabrication and falsification.

Improper Author Contribution or Attribution

All authors listed in the manuscript must have made a substantial scientific contribution to the research and have provided their approval for all claims made in the manuscript. It is crucial to acknowledge and include all individuals who have made significant scientific contributions, including students and laboratory technicians.

Redundant Publications

Redundant publications refer to the improper splitting of study outcomes into multiple articles.

Image Manipulation

Engaging in deliberate and inappropriate manipulation or fabrication of an image is a severe form of misconduct that aims to deceive others and harm the integrity of the scholarly record, with far-reaching and long-lasting consequences.

The journal expects all images included in manuscripts to be accurate and unaltered. Specific elements within an image should not be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced without appropriate disclosure of the modifications made. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable as long as they do not obscure, eliminate, or misrepresent the information originally present. If images from different parts of gels, western blots, or microscope images are grouped together, this must be clearly indicated in the arrangement of the figure or explained in the figure legend.

If the original, unedited images cannot be provided upon request, the acceptance of a manuscript or paper may be declined or retracted.

Publication Ethics

Duties of Editors

  • Publication decisions
    The responsibility of determining which articles should be published in the journal lies with the editorial board. They consider reviewer recommendations and engage in discussions to reach a decision. However, this decision-making process is bound by legal obligations concerning issues such as libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editorial decisions are impartial and do not consider factors such as the authors' nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, or religion.

  • Confidentiality, disclosure, and conflicts of interest

    Throughout the review process, editors are required to maintain confidentiality and refrain from sharing information regarding a submitted manuscript with anyone except the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and other editorial advisors. Unpublished materials disclosed in a manuscript must not be utilized in the editor's, reviewer's, or any other reader's personal research without obtaining explicit written consent from the author.

    Readers should be provided with information regarding the funding sources for the research or scholarly work, as well as any involvement of the funders in the research and its publication. This transparency ensures readers are informed about potential influences on the research process and its dissemination.

  • Author relations
    Editors are committed to upholding principles of fairness, impartiality, and timeliness in the peer review process of the journal. To ensure unbiased evaluation, the journal has implemented specific policies for handling submissions from members of the editorial board. Author instructions also offer guidance on the criteria for determining authorship.

  • Reviewer relations

    The Journal actively encourages reviewers to address ethical concerns and potential misconduct that may arise in submissions, such as unethical research design or inappropriate manipulation of data. Reviewers are also asked to be vigilant in identifying redundant publications and plagiarism. The reviewers' comments should be shared with the authors in their entirety, except for any offensive or libelous remarks.

    The contributions of reviewers to the journal are duly recognized and acknowledged. However, reviewers who consistently provide disrespectful, low-quality, or delayed reviews will no longer be engaged by the journal.

  • Quality assurance

    Editors have a responsibility to uphold the quality of the content they publish, understanding that different sections may have distinct objectives and standards. They should make efforts to ensure that the research being published has obtained necessary approval from an appropriate body, such as a research ethics committee or institutional review board, if applicable. Editors should also be vigilant regarding intellectual property concerns and collaborate with publishers to address any potential infringements of laws and conventions.

    In the event of errors, inaccuracies, or misleading statements, prompt and prominent corrections should be made to rectify the situation appropriately.

    • Duties of Reviewers

  • Contribution to editorial decisions Reviewers assist the editorial board in making editorial decisions. Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments so that authors can use them to improve the paper. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.

  • Qualification of reviewers Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

  • Confidentiality All manuscripts received for review must be treated with strict confidentiality. Any privileged information or ideas obtained during the peer review process should be kept confidential and should not be utilized for personal gain or advantage.

  • Acknowledgment of sources Reviewers should identify any pertinent published work that has not been referenced by the authors. When referring to the ideas or work of others, it is essential to include the appropriate citation. If a reviewer becomes aware of any significant similarity or overlap between the manuscript being reviewed and another published paper within their personal knowledge, they should bring this to the attention of the editor.

  • - Reporting standardsReviewers play a crucial role in aiding the editorial board with editorial decisions. It is expected that reviews are conducted impartially, presenting observations in a clear manner and providing supporting arguments to assist authors in enhancing their paper. Engaging in personal criticism of the author is considered inappropriate.

  • Originality, plagiarism, and concurrent publication If any chosen reviewer feels inadequate to assess the research presented in a manuscript or anticipates difficulties in conducting a timely review, it is important for them to inform the editor and decline the review request. Reviewers should refrain from evaluating manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the papers.

    • Duties of Authors

  • Disclosure and conflicts of interest All manuscripts received for review must be treated with strict confidentiality. Any privileged information or ideas obtained during the peer review process should be kept confidential and should not be utilized for personal gain or advantage.

  • Authorship of the paper The corresponding author holds the responsibility of ensuring that the paper includes all appropriate co-authors and excludes any inappropriate ones. It is their duty to confirm that all co-authors have reviewed and endorsed the final version of the paper and have consented to its submission for publication. Individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research should be listed as co-authors. Others who have participated in significant aspects of the research project should be acknowledged or recognized as contributors.

  • Fundamental errors in published works If an author identifies a substantial error or inaccuracy in their published work, it is their responsibility to promptly inform the journal editor and collaborate with them to either retract or rectify the paper.

    • Peer review process

    All manuscripts undergo a rigorous peer review process and are expected to meet high academic standards. If approved by the editor, submissions will be evaluated by peer reviewers. In a single-blind peer review system, the identities of the reviewers remain anonymous to the authors, and vice versa, ensuring an unbiased assessment.

    The final decision on the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript rests with the editorial board, considering account the recommendations provided by the reviewers through the peer-reviewed process.

    In certain cases, involving significant ethical, security, biosecurity, or societal implications, our Research Integrity team may seek external advice beyond standard peer review. This may involve consulting experts and the academic editor to determine appropriate actions, which may include engaging reviewers with specific expertise, additional assessment by editors, or deciding not to proceed with the submission.

    Plagiarism

    The journal adheres to a stringent policy against plagiarism, which prohibits the use of others' ideas, words, or work without proper acknowledgment. Submissions that contain plagiarism, whether in whole or in part, duplicate or redundant publication, or self-plagiarism (in the same or different language), will be rejected. However, it's important to note that submissions to the Preprint archive will not be considered duplicate publications.

    The corresponding author holds the responsibility for the manuscript throughout and after the evaluation and publication process and has the authority to act on behalf of all co-authors.

    To ensure originality, all submitted manuscripts undergo a plagiarism check through professional plagiarism-detection software. If a submitted manuscript exhibits an unacceptable similarity index due to plagiarism, it will be promptly rejected.

    Preprints policy

    Authors have the freedom to share their preprint openly and at any stage. If their preprint is accepted for publication, we strongly encourage authors to establish a connection between the preprint and the final published version by including a link to the formal publication via its Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Additionally, authors have the option to update their preprints on platforms such as arXiv or RePEc with the version of their manuscript that has been accepted for publication.

    Standards of reporting

    Authors are encouraged to promote verification and reproducibility in their research by providing thorough descriptions of the rationale, protocol, methodology, and analysis. This ensures that the research can be accurately understood and replicated by others.

    Use of third-party material

    Before submitting an article, it is important to obtain the necessary permission to reuse any third-party materials. This material may encompass various forms such as text, illustrations, photographs, tables, data, audio, video, film stills, screenshots, or musical notation.

    Short excerpts of text and some other types of material are usually permitted, to a limited extent, for purposes of criticism and review without official permission. But it is necessary to obtain written permission from the copyright owner if any material is included in the paper without copyright. This requirement applies to materials not covered by the informal agreement mentioned above.

    Use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in writing

    Please be aware that the policy mentioned only pertains to the writing process and does not cover the utilization of AI tools for data analysis and deriving insights as part of the research process.

    When authors incorporate AI and AI-assisted technologies into their writing process, it should be done with the aim of improving readability and language quality, rather than replacing essential authoring tasks such as generating scientific, pedagogic, or medical insights, drawing scientific conclusions, or providing clinical recommendations. The use of AI in writing should always be supervised and controlled by humans, and all work should undergo thorough review and editing.

    It is important to recognize that AI has the potential to generate content that may sound authoritative but could be incorrect, incomplete, or biased. Therefore, authors must take full responsibility and be accountable for the content they produce, even when utilizing AI technology.

    Authors are required to provide clear and transparent disclosure regarding their utilization of AI and AI-assisted technologies in their manuscripts. This disclosure will be included as a statement in the published work. Openly sharing this information promotes trust among authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors, and ensures adherence to the terms of use for the specific tools or technologies involved.

    It is important for authors to avoid attributing authorship to AI or including AI as a co-author. Authorship carries specific responsibilities and tasks that can only be fulfilled by human individuals. Each author is accountable for addressing inquiries related to the accuracy or integrity of any aspect of the work. Authors are also responsible for approving the final version of the work and providing consent for its submission. Additionally, authors have a duty to ensure the originality of the work, confirm that the listed authors meet the criteria for authorship, and ensure that the work does not violate the rights of third parties.