JournalPolicy

 Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

This journal, respecting the laws of ethics in publications, adheres to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and follows the executive regulations of the "Law on Preventing and Combating Fraud in Scientific Works." The ethical policies of this journal are based on the principles of COPE and the ethical charter for publications set forth by the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology of Iran.

Ethical Charter of the Journal of Psychological Empowerment

This charter is a statement of commitment that outlines the ethical boundaries and responsibilities related to conducting and publishing scientific-research activities. Its purpose is to prevent intentional or unintentional research misconduct by authors.

This charter is derived from the "Charter and Standards of Research Ethics" approved by the Vice-Presidency for Research and Technology of the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology, internationally accepted publication standards, and existing experiences in the field of scientific-research journals.

Introduction

Authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and editors-in-chief are obligated to know and commit to all principles of research ethics and their related responsibilities in publishing. The submission of a manuscript by authors, the review of manuscripts by reviewers, and the decision-making process for acceptance or rejection by the editorial board and editor-in-chief signify awareness of and adherence to these rights and responsibilities. Should any of these parties fail to adhere to these principles, the journal reserves the right to take any necessary legal action.

Duties and Responsibilities of the Publisher (The Journal)

1. This journal is committed to ensuring that decisions made regarding submitted manuscripts are based solely on professional and expert judgment, free from personal interests.

2. This journal is committed to preserving the integrity of the academic and research record.

3. This journal monitors the adherence to ethical principles by the editor-in-chief, associate editors, editorial board, and reviewers.

4. This journal continuously analyzes articles for plagiarism, fraud, and potential misconduct.

5. This journal will issue corrections, clarifications, and retractions when necessary.

6. This journal will take appropriate action in response to any proven misconduct.

Duties and Obligations of Authors

1. Submitted manuscripts must fall within the specialized scope of the journal and be prepared in a scientific and coherent manner, adhering to the journal's standards.

2. Submitted articles must represent the Original Research of the author(s). Accuracy in research, correct data reporting, and citation of sources encompassing others' research are mandatory. The journal, at the discretion of the editor-in-chief and editorial board, also reviews review and qualitative articles.

3. The author(s) are responsible for the accuracy and precision of their article's content.

4. The author must consider the ethical implications of using artificial intelligence (AI) based on APA guidelines.

5. Authors do not have the right of Duplicate Submission. In other words, the article or parts of it must not have been published or be under consideration for publication in any other journal, domestically or internationally.

6. Authors are not permitted to engage in Overlapping Publication. This refers to publishing data and findings from their previous articles with minor changes under a new title.

7. When using the work of others, author(s) are obliged to cite them accurately (Citation) and, if necessary, obtain explicit written permission from the source. When the exact wording of another researcher is used, direct quotation methods and marks (e.g., “...”) must be employed.

8. The corresponding author must ensure the inclusion of the names and information of all co-authors (after obtaining their approval) and confirm the exclusion of any individual not involved in the research and preparation of the article.

9. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have read the manuscript and agree to its submission and their designated position in the authorship.

10. Submission of an article implies that the authors have obtained the consent of all financial or institutional supporters and have acknowledged all such supporters.

11. Author(s) are obliged to inform the journal authorities of any errors or inaccuracies in their article and subsequently act to correct them or retract the paper.

12. Author(s) are required to retain samples and raw data used in the preparation of the article for one year after its publication to respond to potential critiques or questions from readers.

Note 1: Avoid Gift Authorship (listing an individual who did not contribute) and Ghost Authorship (omitting an individual who did contribute).

Note 2: Publication of an article does not imply endorsement of its contents by the journal. The journal merely evaluates the article from a scientific structure perspective and cannot directly confirm or deny the veracity of the information presented.

Research and Publication Misconduct

Author(s) are obliged to refrain from Research and Publication Misconduct. If any of the following are proven at any stage (submission, review, editing, or post-publication), it will be considered misconduct, and the journal reserves the right to take legal action.

1. Fabrication: This is the reporting of fictitious content and the presentation of fabricated data or results as laboratory findings, experimental studies, or personal findings. Falsely recording what did not occur or transposing results from different studies are examples of this violation.

2. Falsification: This refers to the manipulation of research materials, equipment, or processes, or the alteration or omission of data, in such a way that the research results differ from the actual findings.

3. Plagiarism: This is the unintentional, knowing, or reckless use of the words, ideas, phrases, claims, or citations of others without acknowledgment and proper attribution to the work, its owner, or the speaker of the idea.

4. Scientific "Rental" (Contract Cheating): This refers to when an author hires another person to conduct the research and then publishes it in their own name with minor modifications.

5. False Affiliation: This refers to the false attribution of the author(s) to an institution, center, or educational/research group that had no role in the original research.

Duties of Reviewers

Reviewers must consider the following points when reviewing manuscripts:

1. Conducting qualitative, content-based, and scientific review of articles to improve their quality.

2. Informing the editor-in-chief of their decision to accept or decline the review (e.g., if the article's topic is outside their expertise) and suggesting an alternative reviewer if declining.

3. The necessity of declining to review manuscripts where personal, institutional, or corporate interests are involved, where personal relationships exist, or where the reviewer has participated in the research, analysis, or writing.

4. Reviewing manuscripts based on scientific evidence and sufficient reasoning, avoiding personal, subjective, professional, racial, religious, or other biases.

5. Providing a precise evaluation of the article, communicating its strengths and weaknesses in a constructive, explicit, and educational manner.

6. Demonstrating responsibility, accountability, timeliness, diligence, and commitment to professional ethics and respecting the rights of others.

7. Refraining from correcting or rewriting the article based on personal taste.

8. Ensuring complete citation for all research, topics, and quotations used in the article, and noting any relevant published research not cited.

9. Striving to report any suspected "Research and Publication Misconduct" and sending relevant documentation to the editor-in-chief.

10. Refraining from disclosing information and details from the articles to others.

11. The reviewer must not use data or new concepts from the article for their own or others' research, or to criticize or discredit the authors, prior to its publication. After publication, the reviewer may not publish details beyond what is printed by the journal.

12. The reviewer must not delegate the review to another person (including colleagues or graduate students) without the editor's permission. The name of anyone who assisted in the review must be mentioned in the review report to the editor and recorded in the journal's records.

13. The reviewer is not permitted to contact the authors directly regarding the article under review. All communication with authors will be conducted only through the journal office.

Duties of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board Members

1. The editor-in-chief and editorial board members must prioritize the preservation and quality enhancement of the journal as their primary goal.

2. They must strive to promote the journal within academic and international communities and prioritize the publication of articles from other universities and international forums.

3. They must not exhibit entitlement or excess in publishing their own articles.

4. The authority and responsibility for selecting reviewers and accepting or rejecting an article, after seeking reviewer opinions, rest with the editor-in-chief and the editorial board.

5. They must be professionally esteemed, experts, and have numerous publications, as well as possess a spirit of responsibility, accountability, truth-seeking, fairness, impartiality, and commitment to professional ethics and respecting the rights of others, and actively participate in achieving the journal's goals and its continuous improvement.

6. They are expected to create and regularly update a database of suitable reviewers based on their performance.

7. They must take care in selecting qualified reviewers based on their specialized field, excellence, scientific and professional experience, and ethical commitment.

8. The editor-in-chief must welcome in-depth and well-reasoned reviews, prevent superficial and weak reviews, and address biased, baseless, or derogatory reviews.

9. They must take necessary steps to register and archive manuscript review documents as scientific records and maintain the confidentiality of the reviewers' names for each article.

10. They are obligated to promptly inform the corresponding author of the final decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.

11. They must treat all information within submitted manuscripts as confidential and refrain from sharing or discussing details with others.

12. They are obliged to prevent conflicts of interest (personal, commercial, academic, financial) that could potentially influence the acceptance and publication of submitted articles during the review process.

13. The editor-in-chief must diligently and seriously investigate works accused of violating publication and research ethics, which are reported by reviewers or otherwise, and take action if necessary.

14. The editor-in-chief is obliged to quickly retract published articles found to contain "Research and Publication Misconduct" and to transparently inform readers and relevant indexing services.

15. They are obliged to review and promptly publish corrections and transparently inform readers about published articles in which errors have been found.

16. They must continuously seek feedback from authors, readers, and reviewers regarding the improvement of the journal's publication policies and its formal and content quality. 

Examples of Breach of Publication Ethics by Authors

1. Plagiarism: The intentional use of another person's articles or ideas as one's own. Even using a single sentence from another person or one's own previous sentences without citation is considered plagiarism. All manuscripts submitted to this journal are checked by plagiarism detection software.

2. Fabrication and Falsification: Fabrication occurs when a researcher has not actually conducted a study but provides data and conclusions. Falsification occurs when a researcher has conducted a study but alters its data and results.

3. Simultaneous Submission: When one manuscript is submitted to two different journals at the same time.

4. Duplicate Submission: Occurs when two or more articles share the same hypotheses, data, and conclusions.

5. Redundant (Salami) Publication: The practice of dividing one study into multiple articles and submitting them.

6. Improper Author Contribution: All authors listed in the article must have contributed to the research.

7. Citation Manipulation: When numerous sources are listed in the references section of a manuscript, but they are not cited within the text.