Allegation of Research Misconduct

Journal of Education and Pedagogy (JEP) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity and publication ethics. The journal takes allegations of research misconduct seriously and investigates them in a fair, transparent, and confidential manner.

Definition of Research Misconduct

Research misconduct refers to violations of responsible research practices, including but not limited to:

  • Fabrication — making up data, results, or other research information and reporting them as genuine.
  • Falsification — manipulating research materials, processes, data, images, or results so that the research record is inaccurately represented.
  • Plagiarism — using another person's ideas, words, data, figures, or other intellectual contributions without appropriate acknowledgment or attribution.
  • Duplicate or redundant publication — publishing substantially the same work in more than one publication without appropriate disclosure or justification.
  • Manipulation of citations — inappropriate practices intended to artificially increase citation counts or journal metrics.
  • Authorship misconduct — including guest, honorary, or ghost authorship, as well as unauthorized changes to authorship.
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest that could improperly influence the research or publication process.
  • Ethical violations involving research participants, including failure to obtain appropriate ethical approval or informed consent where required.
  • Manipulation or misuse of peer review, including interference with the peer-review process or the submission of fraudulent reviewer information.
  • Other serious violations of accepted standards of research integrity and publication ethics.

Reporting Allegations

Allegations of research misconduct may be submitted to the Editorial Office by authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, or other concerned parties.

Reports should provide sufficient information and, where possible, supporting evidence to allow the journal to assess the allegation. Allegations will be treated confidentially and handled without prejudice to the individuals concerned.

Investigation Procedure

When an allegation is received, JEP may take the following steps:

  1. Initial assessment
    The Editor-in-Chief or designated editor conducts a preliminary assessment to determine whether the allegation is sufficiently credible and falls within the journal's responsibility.
  2. Request for clarification
    Where appropriate, the journal may contact the corresponding author or other relevant parties to request an explanation, clarification, or supporting documentation.
  3. Further investigation
    If the allegation appears credible or cannot be resolved through clarification, the journal may conduct a further investigation and may seek advice from independent experts, reviewers, editors, or the relevant author's institution.
  4. Institutional involvement
    For serious allegations, particularly those involving fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or ethical violations, JEP may refer the matter to the relevant institution or research organization for formal investigation.
  5. Editorial decision
    Based on the available evidence and the outcome of the investigation, the journal may determine appropriate corrective or disciplinary action.

Possible Actions

Depending on the nature and severity of the misconduct, JEP may:

  • reject a manuscript that is under review;
  • suspend or terminate the peer-review or publication process;
  • request corrections or clarification;
  • publish a Correction or Expression of Concern;
  • retract a published article when the findings or publication process are seriously compromised;
  • notify the author's institution or relevant research authority;
  • restrict future submissions from individuals found to have committed serious misconduct; and
  • take other appropriate actions consistent with accepted publication-ethics practices.

Any retraction, correction, or expression of concern will be clearly identified and linked to the original article to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

Fairness and Confidentiality

JEP will handle allegations objectively and confidentially. The journal will provide authors and other concerned parties with a reasonable opportunity to respond to allegations before a final editorial decision is made, where appropriate.

The journal will not treat an allegation as proof of misconduct until the available evidence has been assessed and an appropriate determination has been made.

JEP follows established principles of research and publication ethics and may refer to the guidelines and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when handling allegations of research misconduct.