Ethical Guidelines

Human Participants Research

Studies involving human participants must include:

• Institutional Ethics Committee approval
• Informed consent statement
• Compliance with ethical research standards

Authorship Criteria

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant scholarly contributions to the conception, design, execution, analysis, or interpretation of the study.

Plagiarism Policy

The journal strictly prohibits the following forms of academic misconduct:

• Plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism
• Data fabrication
• Data falsification
• Citation manipulation
• Duplicate publication

All manuscripts are screened using plagiarism detection software before being considered for peer review.

Similarity Criteria

AI-Generated Content Policy

Authors are strictly advised not to submit manuscripts containing substantial AI-generated content. The use of AI tools for generating academic text, interpretation, analysis, literature reviews, research findings, or scholarly conclusions is considered unacceptable.

All submitted manuscripts may undergo AI-content screening during the editorial evaluation process.

If significant AI-generated content is detected, the manuscript may be:

• Rejected without peer review
• Returned to the authors for revision
• Removed from the publication process at any stage

Authors are fully responsible for the originality, authenticity, accuracy, and academic integrity of the submitted work.

Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could influence the research, interpretation, or publication of the manuscript.

If no conflict exists, authors should include the following statement:

Funding Disclosure

All funding sources, grants, institutional support, and sponsorships related to the research must be clearly acknowledged within the manuscript.

If no funding was received, authors should include the following statement:

The journal follows ethical publishing standards and COPE guidelines in handling:

• Plagiarism
• Duplicate publication
• Citation manipulation
• Research misconduct
• Ethical complaints

Editorial Independence and Ethical Safeguards

The Indian Journal of Psychological Science (IJPS) is committed to maintaining transparency, fairness, integrity, and independence in the peer-review and editorial decision-making process. To avoid conflicts of interest and ensure unbiased editorial practices, the journal follows strict safeguards in situations involving author–editor overlap.

Author–Editor Overlap

Author–editor overlap refers to situations in which an author submitting a manuscript holds an editorial role within the journal, including but not limited to:

• Editor-in-Chief
• Associate Editor
• Guest Editor
• Editorial Board Member
• Advisory Board Member

Author–editor overlap may also include circumstances involving close professional, institutional, research, collaborative, supervisory, or personal relationships with members of the editorial team that could create a real or perceived conflict of interest.

Recusal Policy

In all cases involving actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest, the following procedures shall apply:

1. The concerned editor shall be completely recused from the editorial and peer-review process relating to the manuscript.
2. The editor-author shall not:
   • Select or recommend reviewers;
   • Access reviewer identities or confidential reviewer reports;
   • Participate in editorial discussions regarding the manuscript;
   • Influence editorial recommendations or publication decisions;
   • Access confidential manuscript records during the review process.
3. The manuscript shall be assigned to an independent handling editor who has no conflict of interest with the author(s).
4. Editorial decisions shall be made independently and exclusively on the basis of:
   • Reviewer evaluations;
   • Scientific and scholarly merit;
   • Originality and contribution to knowledge;
   • Methodological quality;
   • Ethical compliance;
   • Journal scope and relevance.

Peer Review Safeguards

To ensure impartiality, objectivity, and fairness throughout the review process, IJPS adopts the following safeguards:

Disclosure and Transparency

Where relevant and appropriate, the journal may disclose within the published article that conflict-of-interest management procedures were implemented in accordance with the journal's editorial ethics and governance policies.

Compliance with Publication Ethics

IJPS follows internationally recognized principles of publication ethics relating to editorial independence, transparency, confidentiality, fairness, accountability, and conflict-of-interest management.

All editors, reviewers, authors, and editorial staff are expected to adhere to these ethical principles throughout the submission, review, and publication process.