Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Neopte Journal of Applied Mobility (NJAM) is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. We follow the core practices outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Our standards for authors, editors, and reviewers are as follows:

1. Responsibilities of Authors

  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original. If the work of others is used, it must be appropriately cited. Plagiarism in any form constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

  • Data Integrity: Authors must provide accurate data and an objective discussion of its significance. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are unethical.

  • Multiple/Redundant Publication: Authors should not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently.

  • Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study.

  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors must disclose any financial or professional conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.

2. Responsibilities of the Editorial Board

  • Fair Play: The Editorial Board evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

  • Confidentiality: The editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and the publisher.

  • Editorial Independence: Per the Neopte Foundation bylaws, editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of scholarly and technical merit. The Foundation’s Board of Directors provides fiscal oversight but does not influence specific editorial outcomes.

  • Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations: Editors will take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper.

3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and may also assist the author in improving the paper.

  • Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.

  • Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

4. Dealing with Misconduct

In instances of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication, or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. This includes the prompt publication of an erratum, clarification, or, in the most severe cases, the retraction of the affected work.

5. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

The Neopte Journal of Applied Mobility (NJAM) recognizes the role of emerging technologies in the research process. However, the following standards apply to the use of Generative AI (such as ChatGPT, Midjourney, or similar tools):

  • Authorship: AI tools and Large Language Models (LLMs) cannot be listed as authors. They do not meet the criteria for authorship as they cannot take legal or ethical responsibility for the integrity of the work.

  • Disclosure Requirement: Authors who use AI tools in the writing, image generation, or data analysis phases of their manuscript must disclose this in a "Declaration of AI Use" section within the paper. This disclosure must specify which tool was used and for what purpose.

  • Responsibility for Accuracy: The human authors are ultimately responsible for the accuracy and originality of the content. AI-generated text must be carefully fact-checked, as these tools can produce "hallucinations" or incorrect citations.
  • Prohibition on Plagiarism: Using AI to rephrase existing work without proper attribution is considered a form of plagiarism. The submission must represent the author's original synthesis and contribution.

  • Peer Review Confidentiality: Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading submitted manuscripts into Generative AI tools. Doing so violates the confidentiality of the peer-review process and the intellectual property rights of the author.