Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Tarunateach: Journal of Elementary School is a peer-reviewed journal committed to ensuring the highest standards of publication ethics. All parties involved in the act of publishing—including authors, peer reviewers, editors, and the publisher—must agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior.

Our ethical statements are based on the guidelines and core practices defined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to ensure academic integrity and prevent publication malpractice.

  1. Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-Assisted Technologies

Tarunateach acknowledges the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) and their potential to assist in academic writing and research. We do not prohibit the use of AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, GrammarlyGo, etc.); however, to maintain academic integrity, their use must strictly adhere to the following principles:

  • Authorship: AI tools, language models, or any automated systems cannot be credited or listed as an author or co-author. Authorship implies moral and legal accountability, which a non-human entity cannot assume.
  • Absolute Human Accountability: The human author(s) bears full and sole responsibility for the entire content of the manuscript. Authors must carefully review, verify, and take responsibility for any text, figures, code, or data generated or translated by AI. Authors are fully accountable for ensuring that AI-assisted content is accurate, unbiased, and free from plagiarism, copyright infringement, or "hallucinations" (false/fabricated information).
  • Transparency and Disclosure: If authors use AI tools for drafting, editing, data analysis, or generating graphical elements, they must explicitly disclose this in the manuscript. A clear statement should be added before the "References" section (e.g., under a heading like “Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process”). The disclosure must specify the name of the tool/model, the version used, and the exact capacity in which it was employed. (Note: Using essential tools for basic grammar/spelling checking does not require formal disclosure).
  1. Duties of Authors
  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original works. If authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. The maximum similarity index allowed is 20% (checked via Turnitin).
  • Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior.
  • Acknowledgement of Sources: Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
  • Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors are included in the author list and have approved the final version of the paper.
  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors must disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.
  1. Duties of Editors
  • Publication Decisions: The editor is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The editor is guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
  • Fair Play: An editor evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
  • Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.
  1. Duties of Reviewers
  • Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.
  • Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.
  • Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
  • Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
  • Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge must be reported to the editor.
  1. Retraction and Correction Policy

Tarunateach is committed to maintaining the integrity of the academic record. If a published paper is found to contain significant errors, fabricated data, or evidence of severe plagiarism, the editorial board will follow COPE guidelines to issue a formal Correction, Expression of Concern, or Retraction of the article.

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