Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Open Access

ACIG is fully open access, i.e. research articles and any other content are available free of charge. The articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0).

Archiving & Repository Policy

All articles published by ACIG are assigned a digital identifier object (DOI). Manuscripts are submitted to Crossref and are archived in Portico, which provides permanent digital archiving for scholarly journals. Authors may self-archive their manuscripts and/or archive them in an institutional repository without embargo time.

Publication Ethics Statement

ACIG enforces a rigorous peer review together with strict ethical policies and standards to ensure the highest quality scientific work. ACIG takes publishing ethics issues very seriously at all stages of manuscript review and publication. The Editors proceed with a zero-tolerance policy to enforce COPE’s Core Practices and Guidelines and swiftly handle complex cases of plagiarism, data falsification, authorship credit, and the like. Any allegations of research or publication misconduct are not tolerated, and further sanctions will be taken once the evidence of misconduct is confirmed, including retractions and corrections of published material. To verify the originality of content submitted to our journals, we use iThenticate to screen all submissions for plagiarism prior to publication.

ACIG is strict about data fabrication (i.e. intentional misrepresentation of research results), data falsification (i.e. the manipulation of research data with the intention of creating a false impression), and image manipulation. The authors of submitted manuscripts or published articles in which the results are found to have been fabricated, falsified, or subjected to image manipulation, will be sanctioned, and their published articles will be retracted immediately. ACIG will follow the flowcharts recommended by COPE on handling suspected cases:

Fabricated data in a submitted manuscript

Fabricated data in a published article

Image manipulation in a published article

ACIG is committed to observing the highest ethical standards in scientific research. All studies involving human subjects or human-related data or material must always adhere to the professional code of conduct as well as COPE’s Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines. Experiments performed using animals, cell lines and plants must be conducted under strict ethical standards and rigorous protocols.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence their judgment or objectivity in the evaluation and publication process. Potential conflicts may include relationships such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, paid expert testimony, patent applications or registrations, and grants or funding. The disclosures should be made as early as possible in the submission process. If a conflict of interest arises, each case is individually reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief. In the event of a severe conflict, the article will not be published.

The Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in their manuscript. This includes a clear explanation of how these tools were used in the writing process. Such a declaration should be included in the Methods or Acknowledgments section of the manuscript.

AI tools, including large language models (LLMs), do not meet the requirements for authorship under ACIG’s guidelines. As such, AI tools may not be listed as an author or co-author on any work submitted to the journal. Authorship entails accountability for the content, which can only be assumed by human authors. Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of their manuscripts. Authors must ensure that their work complies with ACIG's ethical standards, particularly concerning originality and plagiarism. Manuscripts must be the authors' original work and must not present others' ideas, data, or words without proper citation and transparent referencing. Authors should be vigilant to avoid unintentional plagiarism that might arise from the use of AI-generated content.

ACIG does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or modify images, figures, or graphics within manuscripts, except where such use is an integral part of the research design.

Editors and peer reviewers must not use AI tools to process or analyze unpublished manuscripts or their components, such as images or data, due to risks concerning confidentiality and intellectual property rights. All manuscript content should remain confidential throughout the peer review process.

Data Sharing and Reproducibility

ACIG promotes transparency by encouraging authors to share data in publicly accessible repositories that follow FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) principles, unless restricted by legal or ethical concerns. A link to the data repository, along with a data availability statement, should be provided at the time of manuscript submission.
Authors are encouraged to provide detailed descriptions of their methodologies to ensure that experiments or studies can be replicated accurately by other researchers.

Authors' Responsibilities

• Authors are obliged to ensure that the manuscript is original and authentic. Authors are accountable for following discipline-specific guidelines;
• Two minimum requirements define authorship across all definitions – making a substantial contribution to the work and being accountable for the work and its published form. Any form of authorship or scientific misconduct is prohibited. Editors will take disciplinary action as per COPE recommendations if a case of misconduct has been reported;
• Authors need to declare that the submission is an original, unpublished work that does not infringe upon the copyrights of any third parties, and in whole or part, is not simultaneously under consideration elsewhere;
• Authors must list all sources of research support relevant to the manuscript. All grant funding agency abbreviations should be completely spelled out;
• All papers submitted for publication in ACIG are subject to double-blinded review performed by at least two independent academics appointed by the Editors;
• The corresponding author takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process. Furthermore, they ensure that all ACIG’s administrative requirements (i.e. providing details of authorship, ensuring ethical integrity of research) have been met;
• Should any errors be detected upon the paper publication, the Authors are obliged to immediately report them to the Editors. All corrections will be included in the journal’s electronic version with an appropriate disclaimer;
• Authors must not submit defamatory or confidential content, infringe proprietary rights, disclose state secrets, or violate the privacy or publicity rights of third parties, as well as breach any applicable laws, as this will result in the rejection of their manuscript;
• By submitting their work, authors confirm that it does not infringe any copyright, proprietary rights, or privacy, and does not contain libelous material. Authors also agree to indemnify and protect the journal from any damages, expenses, or costs arising from such violations.

Editors’ Responsibility

ACIG upholds the right of authors to be treated fairly and professionally throughout the peer review process and beyond. To uphold this right, the Editors have the responsibilities detailed below.

Confidentiality

• Submitted manuscripts will be handled with due respect for the authors’ confidentiality. Information about manuscripts and their content will not be disclosed to anyone other than the authors and reviewers until a decision has been taken as to whether the manuscript is to be published;
• Confidentiality of the names and other details of reviewers is ensured. Reviewers can choose to voluntarily sign their comments to authors if they wish. See our policy on reviewer anonymity for more information;
• We are fully compliant with data protection regulations, as appropriate.

Professionalism

• Editors are responsible for ensuring the efficient, fair and timely assessment of submitted manuscripts. They are deeply committed to upholding the highest standards in the submission, review, and publication process;
• Editors shall make the final decision concerning the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript in a timely and efficient manner. The decision will be based upon the manuscript’s importance, originality, clarity, scientific value, and its relevance to the journal;
• Editors must not be a party to any conflict of interest with regard to the manuscript or the Author. A potential conflict of interest arises when Editors have financial or personal relationships that could inappropriately influence their actions. In cases where an editor is an author of a submitted manuscript, the manuscript must be passed to another editor for independent peer review;
• Editors must respect the intellectual independence of authors;
• Editors will consider the use of an Author's suggested reviewers for their submitted article. However, Editors have the right to invite reviewers of their own choice. Editors will not invite reviewers which an Author has requested not to be consulted, unless the Editor reasonably considers there to be a significant over-riding interest in so doing.

Editors will respond to any suggestions of scientific misconduct or to convincing evidence regarding the manuscript, usually through consultation with the Author. This may require the publication of a formal ‘retraction’ or correction. We follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Flowcharts as the basis for our best practice guidelines when investigating allegations of misconduct. An Author’s appeal against the rejection of a submitted manuscript will be fairly dealt with.

ACIG is committed to maintaining the highest publication ethics standards and takes all necessary actions to prevent publication malpractice. Scientific misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, ghostwriting, guest authorship, and other breaches of ethical research practices. If misconduct is suspected, the editors may reject or retract the manuscript and notify relevant authorities or institutions. ACIG is also prepared to issue corrections, clarifications, or retractions when required.

Complaints

Editors promptly address complaints. Complaints are handled by the Editor-in-Chief, with decisions communicated via email and recorded in the Editorial System. The process follows COPE's guidelines: https://publicationethics.org/node/19631.
Complaints may involve issues such as plagiarism, copyright violations, research fraud, conflicts of interest, biased reviews, delays in manuscript processing, unsatisfactory peer-review, or authorship disputes. Handling complaints against editors also adheres to COPE standards.
Process for dealing with complaints against the editors is in compliance with COPE guidelines: COPE’s Code of Conduct

Ethical Business/Marketing Practices

ACIG operates under a transparent, ethical business model, fully funded by the NASK-National Research Institute. ACIG does not engage in advertising or email marketing. Our funding sources do not influence editorial decisions, ensuring the integrity and academic independence of the publication process.

All manuscripts undergo professional proofreading and editing prior to publication. Editors hold the right to modify and shorten papers as part of the editing process. ACIG also reserves the right to withdraw acceptance of a paper if significant issues with its scientific content or violations of ACIG publishing policies are identified after acceptance.

The views expressed by the authors in this journal are their own and do not reflect the positions of NASK-National Research Institute, the editors, or ACIG, who assume no responsibility for them.

We welcome post-publication discussion on our fanpages or through letters to the editor, fostering academic dialogue. Nonetheless, offensive, inappropriate, or disrespectful remarks are not permitted. All interactions must maintain professionalism and respect, ensuring a constructive exchange of ideas.