The IJCSCM and its Editors are fully committed to ethical publication practice. IJCSCM supports the practical application of ethical standards that are consistent throughout all scholarly publications. IJCSCM follow closely the standards and guidelines for best practices set by the Directory of Open Access Journals DOAJ and Committee on Publication Ethics COPE and other industry associations. The subtopics below outline the ethical publication practice followed by IJCSCM.

Publication and Authorship

The published articles are to be original, not submitted elsewhere and not under consideration with any other publication outlet. No part of the articles shall contain fraudulent information/data, neither shall articles be construed as been malicious to individuals, groups and organisations, in any form. Proof of consent have to be obtained for any named individuals, groups or organisations. Due permission are to be received for any third party material before they are published.

Authorship is limited to persons that have made substantial contribution to the paper. The corresponding Author must have obtained permission from all contributors for each version of the paper submitted for review and for any authorship changes. The corresponding Author is to ensure that no one has been ‘gifted’ authorship or denied credit as an author. In multi-authored papers, it is important that all authors that have made a significant contribution to the paper are listed. Those who provided support but have not contributed to the research should be acknowledged in an Acknowledgement section. The Acknowledgement section should also contain information on any financial support or grant in aid for the research work being published.

Author’s Responsibilities

Authors submitting manuscripts to IJCSCM attest that the manuscripts represent their original and significant contributions, and that all information data therein are real and authentic. Authors acknowledge that submitted manuscripts have not been previously published or concurrently submitted elsewhere. Manuscripts must be original, have not included copied or plagiarized materials in whole or in part from other works. Manuscripts should contain appropriate citations and references for all information and data sources in accordance to IJCSCM reference style guidelines.

Authors submitting manuscripts for consideration oblige to participate in an objective and fair double-blind peer review process followed by IJCSCM. It is the responsibility of Authors to ensure that actual or potential conflict of interests are prevented and where observed are reported. It is the responsibility of Authors to retract or correct any mistakes at any stage in the review process and after publication. Authors submit their works to IJCSCM on the understanding that basic publication principles have been adhered to. If discovered that there is a breach in these basic principles, the Committee on Publication Ethics COPE guidelines shall be followed to address any ethical issue.

Peer Review/Responsibility for Reviewers

IJCSCMs peer review process is critical and ensures that the quality of published articles compare well with other international publications. The editorial board and reviewers have been pooled internationally to assure the quality of accepted publications. All submitted manuscripts are pre-reviewed by the Editor, and when considered appropriate, are sent for the blind peer review. The peer review involves an objective and fair double-blind peer review process. The reviewers’ reports constitute recommendations to the Editor, who then makes the decision on submitted manuscripts.

IJCSCM Reviewers have the responsibility for objectivity in their judgements. Reviews will be constructive and follow IJCSCM specific guidelines. Other responsibilities of IJCSCM Reviewers include the following:

• To approach all review in a timely manner.
• To respect the intellectual independence of authors.
• To treat reviewed manuscripts confidentially. Information acquired by a Reviewer from manuscripts is not to be disclosed or cited until the article is published.
• To provide written reports on the appropriate IJCSCM review template. The report should explain and support Reviewers’ judgements so that the Editor and authors understand the basis of their comments. Reviewers may provide reference to published work, where appropriate.
• To point out relevant published works that have not be cited during the review process.
• To have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or research funders. Any such interest whether real or perceived are to be reported to the Editor, who is to take appropriate steps, so that this does not bias the review process.