Ethical Considerations and Plagiarism Policy

The American Journal of Data Science and Analytics (AJDSA) is firmly committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in scholarly publishing. All stakeholders involved in the publication process—including authors, reviewers, editors, and readers—are expected to adhere to principles of integrity, transparency, accountability, and academic responsibility. Ethical conduct is fundamental to maintaining trust in data-driven research, particularly in fields where analytical results and algorithmic decisions can have significant scientific, societal, and policy implications.

AJDSA follows the ethical guidelines and best practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and adheres to internationally recognized standards for responsible research and publication.

Ethical Considerations

AJDSA enforces strict ethical requirements to ensure the credibility and reliability of published research. Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal must ensure that:

ü  Research integrity is upheld. All submissions must be based on original, accurate, and verifiable data and analyses. Data fabrication, falsification, manipulation, or selective reporting of results is strictly prohibited.

ü  Authorship and contributions are properly recognized. All listed authors must have made substantial intellectual contributions to the conception, design, analysis, or interpretation of the research. Ghost authorship, honorary authorship, or guest authorship is not permitted.

ü  Conflicts of interest are fully disclosed. Authors, reviewers, and editors must declare any financial, professional, or personal relationships that could influence the research or editorial decision-making process.

ü  Ethical approval is obtained where applicable. Research involving human participants, personal data, sensitive datasets, or experimental interventions must comply with institutional and legal ethical requirements, including informed consent and data protection regulations.

ü  Peer review is conducted fairly and objectively. AJDSA employs a double-blind peer review process to ensure that manuscripts are evaluated solely on scholarly merit, without bias related to authorship, institutional affiliation, nationality, or funding source.

ü  Confidentiality is maintained. Submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, and editorial communications are treated as confidential and are not disclosed to unauthorized parties.

Plagiarism Policy

AJDSA maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism to safeguard academic originality and intellectual honesty. Plagiarism in any form is considered a serious breach of publication ethics and is strictly prohibited.

Plagiarism is defined as presenting another person’s ideas, data, methods, or words as one’s own without proper attribution. This policy applies to both published and unpublished materials.

 

Types of Plagiarism Considered Unacceptable

The following practices are considered unethical and unacceptable by AJDSA:

  • Direct Plagiarism – Copying text, figures, tables, algorithms, code, or data from another source without proper citation or permission.
  • Self-Plagiarism (Redundant Publication) – Republishing one’s own previously published work, in whole or in part, without significant modification or appropriate citation.
  • Mosaic Plagiarism – Borrowing phrases, structures, or ideas from multiple sources without citation, even if the text has been partially reworded.
  • Improper Paraphrasing – Making superficial changes to wording or sentence structure while retaining the original meaning without acknowledging the source.
  • Fabrication and Falsification – Inventing data, manipulating datasets, altering experimental results, or misrepresenting analytical outcomes.
  • Undisclosed AI-Generated Content – Presenting content generated by artificial intelligence tools as original human-authored material without disclosure, where such disclosure is required by journal policy.

Plagiarism Detection and Consequences

All manuscripts submitted to AJDSA undergo plagiarism screening using advanced detection tools prior to peer review. Submissions with similarity levels exceeding acceptable thresholds or exhibiting unethical overlap will be flagged for editorial review.

If plagiarism is identified, the following actions may be taken:

 

  • Before publication:
    • Immediate rejection of the manuscript.
    • Request for revision in cases of minor, unintentional overlap.
    • Temporary or permanent restriction on future submissions in serious cases.
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  • After publication:
    • Issuance of a correction, expression of concern, or retraction, depending on severity.
    • Public notification of the retraction in accordance with COPE guidelines.
    • Notification of the authors’ affiliated institutions, funding bodies, or regulatory authorities in cases of serious misconduct.

 

Authors who believe that a plagiarism determination is incorrect may submit a formal appeal with supporting documentation. Appeals are reviewed carefully to ensure fairness and due process.

 

How to Avoid Plagiarism

AJDSA encourages authors to follow best practices for ethical writing and responsible scholarship:

  • Properly cite all sources for ideas, data, code, algorithms, and methodologies using standard citation styles.
  • Use quotation marks and citations for verbatim text excerpts.
  • Paraphrase effectively by substantially reworking sentence structure and language while accurately citing the original source.
  • Maintain clear documentation of data sources, analytical workflows, and prior publications.
  • Check manuscripts for similarity before submission using plagiarism detection tools.
  • Understand and comply with copyright and fair-use laws, including obtaining permission for copyrighted materials such as figures, datasets, or extended excerpts.

 

Reporting Ethical Violations

AJDSA encourages authors, reviewers, and institutions to report suspected cases of plagiarism, data manipulation, authorship disputes, or other ethical violations. All reports are handled confidentially and investigated thoroughly to ensure fairness, accuracy, and due process.

Concerns, ethical complaints, or appeals may be submitted to the AJDSA Editorial Office at:

editor.ajdsa@americanscholarly.us

Commitment to Ethical Publishing

By enforcing strict ethical and plagiarism policies, the American Journal of Data Science and Analytics seeks to promote trustworthy, reproducible, and responsible research. These standards protect the integrity of the scholarly record and reinforce AJDSA’s mission to advance data science and analytics as disciplines that serve science, industry, and society with transparency and accountability.