Ethics and Malpractice Policy

Ethics guidelines are established to ensure scientific publications maintain high quality, earn public trust in research findings, and give authors proper credit for their work. The following practices should be avoided:

Falsification and Fabrication of Data

Data fabrication means the researcher did not actually perform the study but instead invented the data. Data falsification occurs when the researcher conducted the experiment but altered the data. Authors of manuscripts or published papers found to have fabricated or falsified results, including image manipulation, may face penalties and their work may be retracted.

Plagiarism

It is dishonest and unethical to use the work or ideas of other scientists without proper attribution. Plagiarism includes copying even one word from a manuscript or from previously published material without appropriate citation. Manuscripts identified as plagiarized will be rejected. For published work, retraction or correction of the article may be required.

Multiple Submission

Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously is unacceptable. It wastes the time of peer reviewers and editors and can harm the credibility of both authors and journals. Authors found to have submitted articles to more than one journal at the same time may face sanctions.

Redundant Publications

This occurs when multiple similar papers are published based on the same research idea. Your findings are more suitable for IJPAI if you consolidate them into a single comprehensive research paper. Redundant publication in IJPAI may result in sanctions.

Inaccurate Author Contributions or Author Attributions

All listed authors must have made a substantial scientific contribution to the research and must approve the work. All who contributed significantly should be added, including students and laboratory technicians. Do not grant “gift” authorship to individuals who did not contribute to the paper. If violations are found, your institution may be notified and your paper may be rejected. Submissions made by anyone other than the authors will not be considered.

Modification of Citation

Authors may face sanctions if their work includes references added solely to boost citation counts for specific authors or journals. Editors and reviewers must not ask authors to add citations to their own work, an associate’s work, or a journal they are affiliated with just to increase citations.

Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers should recuse themselves from submissions when they have a recent publication, a pending submission, or any relationship with any of the authors. In addition, they are required to disclose if they have previously discussed the manuscript with the authors.

Sanctions

For violations of our ethics guidelines, IJPAI may:

Ø    Reject the manuscript and all other submissions from the author(s). 

Ø    Ban the author(s) from submitting for 2 years.

Ø    Prohibit the author(s) from serving as an editor or reviewer. 

Additional sanctions may apply for serious violations.

Investigations

Suspected violations of our publication ethics policies, whether before or after publication, and concerns regarding research ethics, should be reported to the Editor-in-Chief (journal@paidef.org.ng) or the President of the Practical Artificial Intelligence Foundation (journal@paidef.org.ng).

Corrections and Retractions

For errors in published articles, the publisher will review the issue with the editors and the author’s institution. Authors can correct their own mistakes by amending the manuscript; publisher mistakes can be fixed with an Erratum. If misconduct is confirmed, the article may be retracted following COPE Retraction Guidelines.

GENERATIVE AI POLICY

The International Journal of Practical Artificial Intelligence prohibits the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) for writing, generating, paraphrasing, or substantively revising any portion of a manuscript submitted to the journal. This prohibition extends to the title, abstract, main text, discussion, conclusion, references, cover letter, and replies to reviewers. Manuscripts must constitute the original intellectual and written contribution of the authors. Any use of AI-assisted tools must be declared upon submission. Nevertheless, the use of GenAI for manuscript composition is deemed unacceptable and may lead to rejection, withdrawal, or retraction where appropriate. GenAI tools shall not be listed as authors, as they are incapable of assuming responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, or ethical compliance of the work. Reviewers and editors are prohibited from uploading manuscripts or confidential journal materials to public or unsecured AI platforms. To safeguard scholarly originality, transparency, and research integrity, the International Journal of Practical Artificial Intelligence maintains a zero-tolerance stance on AI-authored manuscripts.