Publication ethics & malpractice statement
Research misconduct damages the credibility of researchers, institutions, and journals alike. JAHDEP applies the following standards to every submission, from first draft to published article, in order to uphold academic rigour and protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
Authorship
Everyone named as an author must have made a substantial contribution to the work and must be accountable for it. Two practices are considered misconduct and are not permitted: ghost authorship (a substantial contributor left unacknowledged) and guest authorship (a named author with no discernible contribution).
Plagiarism
Using another author's data, words, phrases, ideas, or concepts without permission, credit, or acknowledgment — whether through direct copying or close paraphrasing — is treated as a serious breach of publication ethics and will result in rejection or retraction.
Simultaneous submission
Manuscripts submitted to JAHDEP must be original and not under consideration, in whole or substantial part, at any other journal or publication. Submitting the same work to more than one outlet at the same time is not permitted.
Research fraud: fabrication & falsification
Fabrication — inventing data or results that were never actually generated — and falsification — manipulating data, images, equipment, or processes so that the research is not accurately represented — are both treated as fundamental violations of research integrity.
Salami slicing
Splitting a single study into the smallest possible number of "publishable units" so as to generate multiple papers from one dataset, population, and research question is discouraged. Authors should disclose any closely related publications or submissions arising from the same study.
Diversity of authorship
To preserve independence and broad credibility, JAHDEP aims to limit the proportion of published content originating from any single institution or country in a given issue. A journal seen to over-represent one department or one nation loses the standing needed for wider academic and institutional recognition.
Peer reviewer conduct
The purpose of peer review is to strengthen a manuscript, not to showcase a reviewer's ability to find fault. Reviewers are expected to identify genuine strengths as well as weaknesses, provide constructive and actionable feedback, respect the intellectual independence of authors, and maintain confidentiality throughout the process.
Timestamps & transparency
Every published article records its date of submission and date of acceptance. A meaningful interval between the two — reflecting genuine peer review, author revisions, and editorial reconciliation — is one of the clearest public signals of a journal's academic rigour, and JAHDEP will not compress this process to accelerate publication.