PUBLICATION POLICIES

Copyright and Licensing

IJMS is an open-access journal that provides immediate access to its published contents. Authors retain unrestricted copyright and publishing rights for all articles published. The authors also grant the publisher permission to publish the articles and be recognised as the original and the first publisher. Articles published are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0) which permits commercial re-use (download, copy, redistribute, translate, remix, adapt, and build upon materials published, etc.) of open access articles, as long as the original author and source are properly attributed. The authors grant the publisher permission to apply a DOI to their articles and to archive them in databases and indexes such as DOAJ, SABINET, J-Gate, Scopus, EBSCO, ERIC, among others.  Authors also grant other third-party users the right to use the article freely as long as its original authors and citation details are acknowledged without prior permission from the publisher or the author.   

Open Access and Author Self-Archiving Policy

IJMS provides immediate open access to readers and other users. This means that the readers and other users pay nothing to download, copy, read, print, distribute, link to the texts or use them for other lawful purposes. This is in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition of open access. 

IJMS permits and encourages authors to post items submitted to the journal on personal websites, institutional repositories, social-networking sites, ResearchGate, academia.edu, among others, both prior to and after publication while providing bibliographic details that credit, if applicable, its publication in this journal. 

Deposit Policy/Archiving Policy

For the purpose of preservation and restoration, this journal uses PKP Preservation Network, University of the Free State Library and Information Services and LOCKSS systems to ensure a secure and permanent archive among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent journal archives. Both pre-published and post-published or publisher's version/PDF can be archived without restrictions.

Submission Policy

Submission of an article is an indication that:

  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.
  • Where applicable, URLs or DOIs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is 1.15 spaced; uses an appropriate point font; employs italics rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines.
  • Authors are responsible for updating the archived preprint with the journal reference (including DOI) and a link to the published articles upon publication.
  • The authors complied with the plagiarism policy mentioned in the author guidelines. IJMS and ERRCDF do not tolerate plagiarism of all kinds, including self-plagiarism. Authors are responsible for ensuring that their articles' similarity index is less than ten per cent. Otherwise, articles are rejected on this basis.

Authorship and Contributorship Policy

Authorship Eligibility

Authorship is reserved for those who have made a meaningful contribution to the study’s conception, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation. Authors are also expected to have actively contributed to writing or critically revising the manuscript to enhance its intellectual content. Merely providing technical assistance, resources, or supervision does not meet the threshold for authorship.

All individuals who have significantly contributed to the work should be named as co-authors. Those who contributed in a more limited capacity but do not qualify for authorship should be recognised in the “Acknowledgements” section.

For articles that originate from master's or doctoral theses, the primary author of the thesis or dissertation must be listed as the first author, following the Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research (BERA), with seniority or academic status not being a determining factor.

The corresponding author holds the responsibility to:

  • Ensure that all listed co-authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
  • Obtain the consent of all co-authors for submission of the manuscript.

Submission of Authorship Details

A complete and final list of authors, in the correct order, must be submitted with the manuscript. The authorship details provided on the manuscript’s title page must exactly match the information entered during the submission process. In cases of inconsistency, the title page will be considered the official record.

Authorship Changes

Modifications to authorship, such as adding or removing authors, changing the corresponding author, or altering the order of authors, are generally not allowed after manuscript acceptance. However, during the peer-review process, these changes may be considered if there is a valid reason.

To request a change in authorship, the corresponding author must:

  • Notify the Editor-in-Chief.
  • Provide a clear and justified reason for the requested change.
  • Submit an Authorship Change Form and submit along with the request.

No authorship changes will be allowed after the manuscript has been accepted for publication.

Acknowledgements

Contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the relevant section of the manuscript. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that all contributors are properly acknowledged.

Post-Publication Policy: Corrections

Articles published in the Journal are intended to remain unaltered, with careful measures taken to ensure error-free content. Authors review proofs before publication to confirm accuracy. However, in certain cases, corrections to published papers may be necessary.

Corrections are categorised into two types:

  • Minor corrections: Spelling, grammatical, and similar errors that do not affect the scientific content.
  • Major corrections: Errors that impact the scientific validity or integrity of the article.

For minor corrections (e.g., spelling, grammar, punctuation, or author affiliations), changes may be made without issuing a formal "Correction Notice." These can be initiated by the Journal Editor or requested by the authors. Once corrected, the updated article will be published on the Journal website, and if necessary, the correction may be noted as a footnote.

For major corrections that affect content, interpretation or involve significant changes, such as the inclusion of omitted references, tables, or figures, a formal Correction Notice will be issued. Requests for such corrections must be supported by valid, justified reasons and are subject to review by the Editorial Board. If approved, the updated version of the article will be published along with a Correction Notice to inform readers of the changes. The correction will also be noted as a footnote in the updated article.

Post-Publication Policy: Retraction

In exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to retract a published article. Retractions are considered when an article contains plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, redundant publication, ethical violations, or significant errors that undermine the research's validity.

Article retractions will follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), including cases where:

  • Findings are unreliable due to errors or fabrication.
  • Plagiarism has occurred.
  • The work has been previously published without appropriate attribution.
  • Unauthorised use of data or infringement of copyright is detected.
  • Legal issues, such as libel or privacy concerns, arise.
  • Unethical research practices are identified.
  • The peer review process was compromised.
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest have unduly influenced the research.

A retraction may be initiated by the Journal Editors, authors, or third parties. The final decision rests with the Editorial Board, and in some cases, the authors may be asked for clarification, though their approval is not required.

When an article is retracted, a Retraction Notice will be issued. This notice will include the article’s title, author(s), reason for retraction, and will be linked to the original online version of the article.