Research & Publication Misconduct

Policy Statement

PJN is committed to the highest standards of publication ethics and is guided by the COPE Core Practices and Code of Conduct for Journal Editors in handling ethics complaints, allegations of misconduct, conflicts of interest, and editorial governance. 

Suspected misconduct, including but not limited to plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate or redundant publication, and undisclosed conflicts of interest, is investigated following COPE's established processes, and may result in rejection, correction, or retraction as appropriate. All submissions are screened for textual similarity using plagiarism-detection software prior to peer review.

1. Scope and Applicability

This policy applies to all authors, reviewers, and editors, and to any manuscript or published article where misconduct is suspected, at any point before or after publication.

2. Definitions

Misconduct: Includes plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, duplicate or redundant publication, and undisclosed conflicts of interest.

COPE: Committee on Publication Ethics, the international organization whose guidance PJN follows in handling ethics complaints and misconduct.

Plagiarism-Detection Screening: Automated similarity checking run on every submission before peer review.