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Editorial Policies

Contents

Open Access Policy

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering (IJCCCE) is an open-access journal. All articles are freely available to read, download, and share immediately upon publication, without registration or subscription fees. Readers worldwide may access the full content without charge.

To support open access costs, an article processing charge (APC) applies to accepted articles submitted by authors based in Iraq. No APC is charged for authors from other countries. Please see the Author Guidelines page for details.

Copyright Statement

Copyright is retained by the authors for all articles published IJCCCE. Authors grant IJCCCE a non-exclusive license to publish, reproduce, and distribute the work in all formats.

Licensing

All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This license permits others to copy, distribute, display, and adapt the work for any purpose, including commercial use, provided that appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and the original source is cited, and any changes are indicated.

Publishing under the CC BY 4.0 supports wide dissemination and reuse of published research while ensuring that authors receive proper attribution.

Affiliations

Authors must list all relevant affiliations to attribute where the research was approved and/or supported and/or conducted. For non-research articles, authors must list their current institutional affiliation. In cases where an author has moved to a different institution before the article has been published, they should list the affiliation where the work was conducted, and the current affiliation and contact details should be listed in the acknowledgment section. Change of affiliation alone is not a valid reason to remove an author from a publication if he or she meets the authorship criteria.

Appeals and Complaints

Appeals

Authors may appeal editorial decisions when there is a clear basis for reconsideration. An appeal should present substantive new evidence, data, or information that was not available or was not assessed during the original evaluation. Appeals must include a concise justification and a point-by-point response addressing the editor’s and reviewers’ comments. The journal will consider appeals that raise material issues affecting the validity, reliability, or ethical integrity of the work; appeals based solely on differences of opinion or priority judgments are unlikely to be successful. As a result, appeals are expected to be uncommon.

Complaints

Concerns about authorship, conflicts of interest, the conduct or management of peer review, editorial handling, or post-publication issues should be submitted to the Editors-in-Chief. The Editors-in-Chief will review the complaint by gathering relevant information from the parties involved and will determine appropriate actions consistent with Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) principles. Where necessary, editorial processing may be paused while the matter is assessed. If a complaint involves an Editor-in-Chief, the investigation and decision will be managed by the most senior available editorial board member(s) to ensure independent oversight.

First Point of Contact

Appeals and complaints should be sent to the Editorial Office at ijccce@uotechnology.edu.iq. Receipt will be acknowledged within 7 working days, and the journal will aim to address the matter as promptly and fairly as possible.

Acknowledgment

Individuals who participated in the development of a manuscript but do not qualify as an author should be acknowledged. Organizations that provided support in terms of funding and/or other resources should also be acknowledged.

Any assistance from AI tools for content generation (e.g. large language models) and other similar types of technical tools which generate article content, must be clearly acknowledged within the article. It is the responsibility of authors to ensure the validity, originality, and integrity of their article content. Authors are expected to use these types of tools responsibly and in accordance with our editorial policies on authorship and principles of publishing ethics.

Advertisements

The journal does not accept any advertising from third parties.

Authorship

Authors are strongly advised to ensure the correct author group, the Corresponding Author, and the order of authors at submission. All listed authors must have made a substantial contribution to the work, participated in drafting or critical revision, approved the final version, and agree to be accountable for the work. Individuals who contributed but do not meet these criteria should be acknowledged (with permission).

Changes of authorship by adding or deleting authors, and/or changes in Corresponding Authors, and/or changes in the sequence of authors are not accepted after acceptance of a manuscript. Adding and/or deleting authors at the revision stage is generally not permitted, but in some cases, it may be warranted. The reasons for these changes in authorship should be explained. Approval of the change during revision is at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief. To request such a change, the Editor-in-Chief must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in the author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of the addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

If author affiliation changes between the time that the research is conducted or the paper is written and the time of publication, the author's current affiliation should be listed, and where appropriate, the previous affiliation acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section at the copy-editing stage.

Citations

Research and non-research articles must cite relevant, timely, and verified literature (peer-reviewed, where appropriate) to support any claims made in the article.

You must avoid excessive and inappropriate self-citation or prearrangements among author groups to inappropriately cite each other’s work, as this can be considered a form of misconduct called citation manipulation. Read the COPE guidance on citation manipulation.

If you’re the author of a non-research article (e.g. a Review or) you should ensure the references, you cite are relevant and provide a fair and balanced overview of the current state of research or scholarly work on the topic. Your references should not be unfairly biased toward a particular research group, organization, or journal.

If you are unsure about whether to cite a source you should contact the journal editorial office for advice.

Conflicts of Interest

As part of the journal’s updated policy, all new submissions must include a Conflicts of Interest statement. Authors should disclose any financial or non-financial relationships that could be perceived to influence the work. If no competing interests exist, authors should include the statement: “The authors declare no competing interests.”

Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential. IJCCCE will not disclose a manuscript or its contents to anyone outside the editorial process, except to individuals directly involved in its evaluation and production (if accepted), including editorial staff, corresponding authors, reviewers, and editors. Reviewers and editors must not share, discuss, or use any unpublished information from a submitted manuscript for personal advantage.

In case of suspected misconduct, the journal may share relevant information with appropriate parties (e.g., the journal’s ethics committee and/or the authors’ institutions) when necessary to investigate and resolve the matter. The journal follows relevant COPE guidance and flowcharts when handling such cases.

Data Sharing Policy

IJCCCE supports transparency, openness, and reproducibility in scholarly research. Where ethically and legally possible, authors are encouraged to make the data (and, where applicable, code and materials) underlying their findings available to readers to enable verification and reuse.

IJCCCE recognizes that data sharing is not always feasible or appropriate (e.g., due to confidentiality, privacy, security, contractual obligations, or IP restrictions). A Data Availability Statement is not mandatory for publication. However, authors are strongly encouraged to (a) deposit relevant data in a suitable repository and provide access information in the manuscript, or (b) when public sharing is not possible, make data available to qualified researchers upon reasonable request, subject to ethical and legal requirements.

Where data cannot be shared, authors should be prepared to explain the reason (e.g., privacy, confidentiality, security, or IP constraints). The journal may request access to underlying data, code, or related materials for editorial assessment or to support investigations relating to the integrity of the scholarly record.

Funding

As part of the journal’s updated policy, all new submissions must include a Funding statement that discloses all sources of financial support for the work (including grant numbers and the funder’s name), as well as the role of the funder (if any) in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and publication decisions. If the work received no specific funding, authors should state it.

Images and Figures

Figures, images, and other visual materials should be included only when they are directly relevant and add scholarly value to the work. Purely decorative or illustrative visuals that do not contribute to the scientific/technical content should be avoided.

Authors must ensure they have the necessary rights to use all figures, images, tables, and other third-party materials included in the manuscript. Where permission is required, authors must obtain written permission from the rights holder before submission and provide appropriate credit lines in the manuscript. This applies to third-party content in any format, including (but not limited to) text excerpts, illustrations, tables, datasets, audio/video, film stills, screenshots, musical notation, and supplementary files.

Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

IJCCCE recognizes that publication is not the end of scholarly evaluation. The journal welcomes ongoing, good-faith dialogue about published work and takes seriously any concerns raised about accuracy, integrity, ethics, or transparency. When credible issues are identified, IJCCCE will assess them and, where needed, take appropriate action to support post-publication discussion and maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, guided by COPE principles and relevant flowcharts.

Post-Publication Discussions and Corrections

IJCCCE recognizes that publication is not the end of scholarly evaluation. The journal welcomes ongoing, good-faith dialogue about published work and takes seriously any concerns raised about accuracy, integrity, ethics, or transparency. When credible issues are identified, IJCCCE will assess them and, where needed, take appropriate action to support post-publication discussion and maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, guided by COPE principles and relevant flowcharts.

Post-Publication Discussions

IJCCCE encourages constructive post-publication feedback that is evidence-based and focused on the content of the work. Post-publication discussions may be submitted through direct communication with the Editorial Office. Submissions should include the article citation/DOI, a clear description of the concern or comment, and supporting documentation where available.

All post-publication communications received by the journal will be acknowledged and assessed. Depending on the nature of the issue, the journal may (as appropriate) invite the authors to respond, seek input from reviewers or independent experts, request additional data/clarifications, publish an editorial note, or proceed with a formal notice (e.g., Correction, Expression of Concern, or Retraction).

IJCCCE also recognizes the value of constructive, moderated discussion on external platforms (e.g., PubPeer). When concerns raised on external platforms are brought to the journal’s attention, the Editorial Office will evaluate the information and may initiate the same assessment process described above, including contacting the authors and/or relevant parties and taking action when warranted.

Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

When post-publication issues are verified or reasonably substantiated, IJCCCE may publish formal notices to ensure the scholarly record is accurate, transparent, and trustworthy. Notices are published in a timely manner when possible, are clearly labeled, are linked to the original article, and describe the reason for the action without defamatory language.

Corrections: A Correction may be issued when an honest error is identified that affects the clarity, accuracy, or reproducibility of the article but does not invalidate the main findings or conclusions. Corrections describe what is being changed and why, and are linked to the original article. Where applicable, updated versions may be posted with clear versioning and an accompanying Correction notice.

Expressions of Concern: An Expression of Concern may be published when there are serious questions about the integrity, reliability, or ethics of a publication, but the available evidence is not yet conclusive (for example, when an investigation is ongoing, delayed, or unable to reach a timely outcome). The notice will summarize the nature of the concern and, when appropriate, will be updated or replaced by a subsequent Correction or Retraction.

Retractions: A Retraction may be issued when findings are unreliable due to major error, fabrication/falsification, unethical research, plagiarism, duplicate publication, compromised peer review, or other serious breaches that undermine the validity or integrity of the work. Retracted articles are typically retained online to preserve the scholarly record, but are clearly marked as retracted and linked to the Retraction notice.

Final decisions on Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions are made by the Editor-in-Chief (or an appropriate independent editor/oversight route when conflicts exist). IJCCCE follows COPE guidance and flowcharts in assessing cases, requesting explanations and evidence, consulting institutions or funders when appropriate, and determining the most suitable outcome to protect research integrity and the scholarly record.

Publication Ethics

IJCCCE adopts a high level of ethical standards that can officially improve the quality of provided contents and keep the rights in safe stage. The ethics in terms of publication includes numerous responsibilities to Editors, Reviewers, Authors and Publisher. Each of which has distinct points that can be summarized as follow.

Responsibilities of Editors

  1. Confidentiality: Editors are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts including contents and related information except of the requirement of expert advice. They are also required to ensure confidentiality throughout the reviewing process by Reviewers.
  2. Fair Play and Editorial Independence: Editor are responsible on ensuring that the journal operates fairly and impartially, and that all submissions are considered objectively, without discrimination or bias regardless the race, gender, religion, nationality, or other personal characteristics of authors. They are required to confirm that the peer review process is performed in double-blind policy strict and honest as well as avoiding conflicts of interest in their editorial decisions.
  3. Conflicts of Interests: Editors are responsible in revealing any conflicts of interest that can make any effects on their decisions including personal and financial relationship to authors, in which they should avoid the reviewing process in case of conflict of interest.
  4. Publication Decisions: Editors are responsible for giving their decision regarding the submitted manuscripts in terms of originality, quality, relevance to IJCCCE scope, suitability, meeting the journal standards and importance.
  5. Participation in Investigations: Editors bear the responsibility of cooperating with investigations of any claiming of misbehave or ethical violations in the published, reviewed, or submitted manuscripts by providing related documents and required information. In case of proving the misbehave or ethical violations, Editors should take actions including restricting manuscripts or requiring revising.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

  1. Contributions: Reviewers are responsible on providing scientific, solid, and unbiased evaluation of the submitted manuscript and cooperating with the editorial decisions. They are also required to provide detailed comments that can improve the quality of the submitted manuscript.
  2. Conflict of Interest: Reviewers are responsible on disclosing any possible conflicts of interest that may affect the manuscript assessment including personal and financial relationships to authors and avoiding the reviewing if there is a conflict of interest.
  3. Confidentiality: Reviewers are responsible on maintaining the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts including contents and related information except in case of requiring expert advices with the permission of Editors.
  4. Standards of Assessment: Reviewers are responsible on providing thematic and impartial evaluation of the submitted manuscripts based on its intellectual merit and without consideration of their biases as well as authors’ race, gender, religion, nationality, or other personal characteristics.
  5. Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers are responsible of confirming the admitting of authors to all used sources in the submitted manuscripts including reference citations, arising the concerns to Editors for any unverified resources.
  6. Response Speed: Reviewers are responsible on performing and completing the review of the submitted manuscripts at the time lines according to the reviewing forms. They are required to notify the Editors in case of apologizing on the performing of reviewing process for any reasons.

Responsibilities of Authors

  1. Originality and Plagiarism: Authors are responsible on declaring that the submitted manuscripts present original research work and has not submitted or published anywhere else as well as the manuscripts do not have any plagiarized material. The allowed similarity ratio is 20% for text and contents as well as 25% for AI similarity. They are required to ensure that the manuscript cites all the used resources and has a valid acknowledgement.
  2. Peer Review Process: Authors are responsible on responding to the Editors and Reviewers comments and submitting the revised manuscript within the time deadlines. The revised manuscripts should address all comments and provide full details of added information.
  3. Authorship: Authors are responsible on including all significantly participated individuals in the submitted manuscripts as authors. They all should be agreed on submitting their manuscript to the journal for publication.
  4. Conflicts of Interest: Authors are responsible on declaring any conflict of interest that can affect their manuscript including personal and financial relationships. The acknowledgement of conflict of interested should be included in the submitted manuscript.
  5. Acknowledgment of Sources: Authors are responsible on citing the used sources of information and material.
  6. Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects: Authors are required to declare any hazards or ethical issues that might be included in their manuscripts. If these manuscripts include human or animal subjects, they should be following the ethical standards and are proved by related ethic committee.
  7. Data Access and Availability: Authors are responsible on proving description details on the used data and methods in the submitted manuscripts with the available access to them in case of Reviewers requests. They should keep them available for period of time after publication with valid access.

Responsibilities of the Publisher

  1. Accessibility and Availability: The publisher is responsible on maintain the accessibility of IJCCCE contains and keep them available for readers and researchers.
  2. Publishing Ethics: The publisher is required to consider high standards of publishing ethics including editorial policies transparency in terms of fair and unbiased assessment, plagiarism freeness of contents, professional peer-reviewed manuscripts, and following human and animal subjects’ ethical standards.
  3. Ethical Duties for Authors: The publisher is responsible on declare that authors are following the ethical standards in their research and writing. Specifically, the publisher has to ensure that the authors disclose the conflict of interest, cite all used resources, obtain human and animal subjects ethics committee approval, and avoid any form of scientific misbehave in the research work.

Misconduct

IJCCCE treats suspected research and publication misconduct seriously and will take appropriate action to protect the integrity of the scholarly record. The journal handles concerns in line with COPE guidance and relevant flowcharts, applying fair process and maintaining confidentiality wherever possible.

Types of misconduct

Misconduct includes unethical practices that compromise the reliability, transparency, or integrity of research and publishing, including (but not limited to):

  • Data fabrication or falsification: inventing data, altering results, selectively omitting data to mislead, or misrepresenting analyses.
  • Inappropriate image handling: using manipulated, duplicated, or fabricated images/figures, or making undisclosed adjustments that change the meaning of the data.
  • Plagiarism (including self-plagiarism): unattributed copying or close paraphrasing of others’ work, or substantial reuse of one’s own published text/data without proper citation and justification.
  • Duplicate submission: submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time.
  • Redundant publication: publishing the same or substantially overlapping work in multiple venues without transparent disclosure and appropriate referencing.
  • Fragmentation (“salami” publishing): splitting one study into multiple papers with overlapping hypotheses/data/conclusions in a way that misleads readers or distorts the literature.
  • Citation manipulation: adding irrelevant citations, excessive self-citation, citation stacking, or coordinated citation practices intended to distort metrics rather than support scholarship.
  • Improper authorship practices: honorary/gift authorship, ghost authorship, undisclosed contributions, or disputes arising from failure to meet the journal’s authorship requirements.
  • Compromised editorial or peer review: interference with peer review, falsified reviewer identities, or other attempts to improperly influence editorial decisions.

Duplicate Submission/Publication

Authors are required to declare upon submission that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere, and as such the detection of a duplicate submission or publication is typically considered to be a deliberate act. This includes articles previously published in another language. For acceptable forms of secondary submissions or publications (e.g. an article translated into English), authors must seek permission from the publisher and copyright holder of the original article and must inform the Editor of the receiving journal about the history of the original article. It must also be made clear to readers that the article is a translated version, with a citation provided to the original article.

Handling Allegations of Misconduct

When a concern is raised (pre- or post-publication), IJCCCE follows a structured process:

  1. Initial assessment: The editorial team evaluates whether the allegation is within scope, credible, and supported by sufficient information to proceed. Potential conflicts of interest are assessed, and handling may be reassigned if needed.
  2. Contacting authors and requesting evidence: If the concern warrants further review, the corresponding author is contacted (on behalf of all authors) and asked to provide an explanation and, where relevant, supporting materials (e.g., raw data, ethics documentation, image originals, analysis files). A reasonable deadline is provided.
  3. Expert review where appropriate: The journal may consult independent reviewers or specialists (e.g., statistical or image-integrity reviewers) to evaluate the evidence.
  4. Institutional involvement: Because institutions typically have primary responsibility for investigating research misconduct, IJCCCE may refer the matter to the relevant institution(s), funder(s), or other appropriate bodies and may request updates on outcomes where permissible.
  5. Editorial decision and actions: After considering the evidence, author responses, and any external findings, the EiC determines the outcome. Actions may include rejection, request for corrections/clarifications, notification to institutions, publication of a Correction, Expression of Concern, or Retraction, and other measures needed to safeguard the scholarly record.
  6. Record integrity and transparency: When formal notices are issued, they will be clearly labeled, publicly accessible, and linked to the original article. Retracted articles are generally retained online with clear marking to preserve the scholarly record.

Throughout the process, IJCCCE aims to be fair, timely, and consistent. Confidentiality is maintained as far as possible, and authors are given a reasonable opportunity to respond. Decisions are guided by COPE principles and applicable flowcharts.

Peer Review Process

All manuscripts are subjected to peer review and are expected to meet the standards of academic excellence. If approved by the editor, submissions will be considered by peer reviewers, whose identities will remain anonymous to the authors and vice versa, identities of authors will remain anonymous to the reviewers (Double-blind peer review). The decision regarding the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript is the responsibility of the editorial board and is based on the recommendations of the reviewers (peer-reviewed process).

Our Research Integrity team will occasionally seek advice outside standard peer review, for example, on submissions with serious ethical, security, biosecurity, or societal implications. We may consult experts and the academic editor before deciding on appropriate actions, including but not limited to recruiting reviewers with specific expertise, assessment by additional editors, and declining to further consider a submission.

Workflow and Stages

  1. Initial editorial screening (desk assessment): The editorial office conducts an initial check for scope fit, completeness, basic quality, compliance with author instructions, and ethical requirements. Manuscripts may be declined at this stage without external review.
  2. Reviewer selection and invitation: Submissions that pass screening are assigned to an editor and sent to at least two independent reviewers with appropriate expertise. The journal aims to avoid conflicts of interest and to ensure balanced, informed assessment.
  3. External review: Reviewers evaluate the manuscript’s originality, methodology, validity of results, presentation quality, and contribution to the field. They provide comments for the authors and confidential guidance for the editor.
  4. Author revision: If revisions are requested, authors submit a revised manuscript along with a point-by-point response indicating how each comment was addressed. Revised manuscripts may be returned to reviewers when needed.
  5. Final evaluation and decision: The handling editor evaluates reviewer reports and author responses and may seek additional advice when necessary. The final decision is made under the authority of the Editor-in-Chief.

Editorial Decisions

The decisions that are considered in IJCCCE are:

  1. Accept.
  2. Major revision is required.
  3. Minor revision is required.
  4. Reject.

Review of Supplementary Materials

Authors may submit supplementary files (e.g., datasets, code, multimedia, appendices). These files may be shared with reviewers and considered as part of the evaluation; however, the depth of review may vary by file type. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, completeness, and integrity of all supplementary content.

Editorial Oversight

Manuscripts are handled by an assigned editor, with overall oversight and final responsibility held by the Editor-in-Chief. The journal’s processes are designed to support consistent, fair, and timely decisions based on scholarly merit, ethical compliance, and the quality of evidence presented.

Desk Rejection Policy

IJCCCE may decline a submission without external review when it is unlikely to be suitable for publication or does not meet baseline requirements. Common reasons include:

  • out of scope or misaligned with journal aims
  • incomplete submission or non-compliance with author instructions
  • insufficient originality or substantial overlap with published work
  • major methodological or data-quality issues unlikely to be resolved through revision
  • ethical concerns (e.g., integrity of data/images)
  • promotional or commercial content

Where feasible, the journal provides brief reasons for desk decisions to support author understanding and next steps.

Submissions by Editors

Editors may submit manuscripts to IJCCCE. To protect the integrity of peer review and editorial decision-making, any submission authored or co-authored by an editor is handled by an independent editor who has no conflict of interest. The submitting editor has no access to reviewer identities or reports beyond what is provided to authors and takes no part in editorial discussions or decisions on that manuscript. The same review standards and procedures apply as for all other submissions.

Conflicts of Interest for Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers must disclose any actual or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence, or reasonably be seen to influence, their handling or assessment of a manuscript (e.g., recent collaboration, institutional affiliation, personal relationships, financial interests, competitive or adversarial positions). Individuals with a relevant conflict must decline the assignment or recuse themselves. When an editorial conflict exists, the manuscript will be reassigned to an alternative editor to ensure independent oversight.

Plagiarism Policy

IJCCCE does not accept plagiarism in any form and handles suspected cases in line with COPE guidance.

What is considered plagiarism?

Plagiarism includes:

  • copying text, ideas, methods, data, figures, or tables without proper citation/credit
  • close paraphrasing (“patchwriting”) without attribution
  • reuse/translation of content without acknowledgment
  • substantial self-plagiarism/text recycling without citation and justification
  • redundant publication or undisclosed significant overlap with prior work

Screening and assessment

Submissions may be checked using similarity-detection tools such as iThenticate and editorial assessment at any stage, including after acceptance or post-publication. Similarity reports are interpreted in context; legitimate overlap (e.g., properly cited quotations or standard methods text) may be acceptable.

Actions

If plagiarism is suspected, the journal may request an explanation and supporting information from authors. Depending on severity, outcomes may include revision, rejection, withdrawal of acceptance, or post-publication actions (Correction, Expression of Concern, or Retraction), and notification of relevant parties where appropriate.

Self-Archiving and Repository Deposit Policy

IJCCCE supports broad access to published research and encourages authors to share their work widely. Consistent with the journal’s copyright and licensing terms and common open access practice, authors may deposit their manuscripts in repositories of their choice without embargo, including institutional, disciplinary, funder, or personal repositories, and on personal or departmental websites. This policy is intended to support institutional and funder open access requirements.

Permitted Versions

Authors may deposit the following versions:

  • Preprint (submitted version before peer review)
  • AAM (accepted version after peer review, before journal production/formatting)
  • VoR (final published article as it appears on the journal website)

Conditions of deposit

Preprints

  • May be posted at any time.
  • Must be identified as a preprint and noted as not yet peer reviewed.
  • Must not include journal branding or formatting that could be confused with the published article.
  • After publication, authors should add the full citation and DOI and link to the VoR.

AAM

  • Must be clearly labeled as the accepted version.
  • Must not include journal branding or publisher layout/formatting.
  • Should include appropriate credit to the author(s) and IJCCCE and reference the applicable license.
  • After publication, authors should update the record with the full citation and DOI and link to the VoR.

VoR

  • May be deposited and shared.
  • Deposited copies must include full citation details and the DOI and link back to the article page on the journal website, consistent with the journal’s licensing terms.

Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in Writing

Authors who incorporate AI and AI-assisted technologies into their writing process should do so with the intention of enhancing readability and language, rather than substituting essential authoring tasks such as generating scientific, pedagogic, or medical insights, drawing scientific conclusions, or offering clinical recommendations. The application of this technology should always be under human oversight and control, and all work should be subjected to careful review and editing. AI has the potential to produce content that sounds authoritative but may be incorrect, incomplete, or biased. Ultimately, authors bear the responsibility and accountability for the content they produce.

Authors must openly disclose their use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in their manuscripts, and a statement to this effect will be included in the published work. Such transparency fosters trust among authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors and ensures compliance with the terms of use for the relevant tools or technologies.

Authors should refrain from attributing authorship to AI or listing AI as a co-author. Authorship entails responsibilities and tasks that can only be fulfilled by humans. Each author is responsible for addressing inquiries regarding the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work and for approving the final version of the work and consenting to its submission. The authors also have a duty to ensure the originality of the work, that the stated authors meet the criteria for authorship, and that the work does not infringe upon the rights of third parties.

Reproducing Material Published Elsewhere

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all content in their manuscript (including text, figures, tables, images, screenshots, and supplementary files) can be legally reproduced and published. If any material is owned by a third party and is not in the public domain or covered by a license that permits the intended reuse, authors must obtain written permission from the copyright holder before publication and provide evidence of permission upon request.

When permission is typically required

Permission is usually required to reuse or adapt third-party material, including (but not limited to):

  • photographs, diagrams, maps, and other images not created by the authors;
  • figures, tables, charts, schemes, or artworks reproduced exactly or with only minor changes;
  • substantial extracts of text from copyrighted works;
  • content previously published by the authors where copyright was transferred to another publisher.

When permission may not be required (citation/credit still required)

In some cases, reuse may be possible without obtaining permission, for example:

  • material that is in the public domain;
  • material distributed under a reuse license that permits the intended use (e.g., certain Creative Commons licenses), provided the license terms are followed;
  • use of brief quotations where permitted under applicable copyright exceptions (authors must still provide proper citation and quotation marks where relevant);
  • newly created figures/tables produced by the authors based on their own analysis, even when informed by previously published data, provided the original source is clearly cited.

Credit lines and attribution

All reused or adapted material must include an appropriate credit line in the caption (e.g., “Reproduced from …” or “Adapted from …”), together with the full citation and any license information required by the rights holder.

Relationship to the journal’s license (CC BY 4.0)

Articles in IJCCCE are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Unless explicitly stated otherwise, this license applies to the article content. However, third-party material included in an article may not be covered by CC BY 4.0 if the rights holder’s terms restrict reuse. Such material must be clearly identified in the caption/credit line, and reuse beyond what is permitted by law or the stated license requires permission from the copyright holder.

Obtaining permission

Authors should request permissions as early as possible to avoid delays. If there is any doubt about whether permission is needed, authors should obtain permission in advance. The journal may decline to publish third-party content if permission and/or correct attribution cannot be provided.

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