Ethical Guidelines for Editors
Last updated: 2026-01-04
Editors of INFEDU are responsible for safeguarding editorial independence, the integrity of the scholarly record, and a fair peer review process.
1) Editorial independence and decision-making
- Editorial decisions are based on scholarly merit, relevance to INFEDU’s scope, and methodological rigor.
- Decisions must not be influenced by commercial interests, institutional pressure, or personal relationships.
- Editors must treat authors, reviewers, and editorial staff respectfully and professionally.
2) Fairness and non-discrimination
- Editors evaluate manuscripts without discrimination based on nationality, ethnicity, race, religion, gender, political views, or institutional affiliation.
- Editors should actively support inclusive and accessible scholarly communication.
3) Confidentiality
- Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and all peer review communications.
- Editors must not use unpublished materials for their own research without the authors’ written permission.
4) Managing peer review
- Editors select reviewers with appropriate expertise and expected impartiality.
- Editors monitor timeliness and quality of reviews and ensure reviewers provide constructive, evidence-based feedback.
- Editors should be vigilant against peer-review manipulation and other integrity risks.
5) Conflicts of interest
- Editors must declare and manage conflicts of interest.
- Editors must not handle manuscripts where they have a conflict (including manuscripts they authored, or authored by close collaborators, family members, or colleagues).
- Conflicted submissions are reassigned to an independent editor.
6) Handling allegations of misconduct
If suspected misconduct arises before or after publication (e.g., plagiarism, data fabrication, unethical research, undisclosed conflicts), editors will:
- Assess evidence and seek clarification from authors when appropriate;
- Request supporting information (e.g., data or ethics approvals) when needed;
- Consult independent experts where appropriate;
- Refer serious cases to relevant institutions or research governance bodies when warranted;
- Apply established publication ethics guidance in deciding outcomes.
7) Corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions
- Editors will publish Corrections when errors affect accuracy but do not invalidate findings.
- Editors may publish an Expression of Concern when an investigation is ongoing and readers need to be alerted.
- Editors will retract articles when findings are unreliable, unethical, plagiarized, or otherwise require removal from the trustworthy record, following established retraction best practices (including linked, clear notices).
8) Appeals and complaints
- Editors provide a mechanism for authors to appeal decisions based on substantive procedural or factual grounds.
- Complaints about editorial process or ethics are handled confidentially and fairly.
9) Use of AI tools in editorial work
- Editors must not upload manuscripts or confidential editorial materials to public AI systems or third-party tools that may retain content, unless explicitly authorised and confidentiality is protected.
- Editors should require transparent disclosure from authors regarding generative AI use in manuscript preparation and analysis.
Editorial Office: editorial@infedu.lt