Publishing Ethics

Ethical Statement

Margalla Papers establishes and maintains the highest quality of research work. It promotes freedom of expression within the cultural, constitutional, and legal framework. Margalla Papers maintains impartiality, novelty, diversity of opinion, and avoidance of fallacies. It encourages new ideas and suggestions from readers, authors, peer reviewers, and members of editorial and advisory boards.

Margalla Papers is committed to publishing original material only, i.e., material that has neither been published nor is under review elsewhere. Margalla Papers uses Turnitin software to detect overlapping/ similar text in submitted manuscripts. Duplicate Submission, Citation Manipulation, Data Fabrication/ Falsification, Improper Author Contribution or Attribution, and Redundant Publications are strictly prohibited and discouraged. In case of any such violations, the manuscript will be rejected.

Obligations of Editor(s)

  • No self-publication as per the HEC policy.
  • Neutrality:   The submitted manuscripts are evaluated regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, ethnicity, and political philosophy of the authors.
  • Confidentiality:   All manuscripts are confidential documents and should not be shared/ shown to anyone except the editorial team and potential reviewer(s). 
  • Disclosure of Information and Conflict of Interest:   Unpublished data in the submitted manuscript will not be used by the editor(s) or reviewer(s) in their research without the author(s) explicit consent.
  • Decision on Publication:   The Editorial Team decides on the publication of submitted research papers after due consideration of legal and professional obligations. In the event of any rejection of any research paper by the reviewer(s), the editor(s) may solicit a new reviewer.
  • COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editor(s) to be followed .

Obligations of Reviewer(s)

  • Editorial Decisions:  Reviewer(s) assists editorial staff in making decisions and may help the author(s) improve the manuscript's quality.
  • Delays and Deadlines: When a reviewer does not feel competent enough to evaluate the research presented in the manuscript or cannot provide his/ her report in time, he/ she must inform the editor(s) without delay to give time to contact other reviewers.
  • Standards of Objectivity, Civility and Respect:   Review reports must be objective. Personal remarks and criticisms directed at the author(s) or hurtful remarks about the contents must be avoided. The reviewer's opinion must be clear, well-argued and respectful of the author(s).
  • Indication of Sources:   A reviewer must identify appropriate publications not cited by the author(s). A relevant comment must accompany any such indication. A reviewer should draw the editor's attention to any similarity or overlap between the manuscript and previously published data.
  • Disclosure of Information and Conflict of Interest:   Information and ideas obtained through anonymous replay are confidential and should not be used for the reviewer(s) personal benefit. Reviewer(s) should not accept reviewing manuscripts that may result in a conflict of interest with the author(s).
  • COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers to be followed.

Obligations of Author(s)

    • Information Validity: The information in the manuscript submitted for publication must present the author(s) research results and an objective discussion of such results and their importance. The underlying data must be presented correctly. Fraudulent and consciously inaccurate information is considered unethical and unacceptable.
    • Originality and Plagiarism: Author(s) must ensure that his/ her study is entirely original. If he/ she has used other persons' books or content/ material, that must be cited appropriately. The similarity index must be less than 19%, and the single-source similarity index must not exceed 5%.
    • Multiple Publications: Author(s) should not submit manuscripts representing the same study to multiple journals (or books). In the case of multiple publications, the author(s) must give the reference of the first publication and be free from the copyright of the original publisher.
    • Paternity of the Manuscript: Only the person(s) who contributed significantly to the study in question should be the author(s). If other people have been involved in some aspects of the research project, they should be mentioned in the acknowledgements. The principal author must ensure that all co-authors are included in the list of authors of the manuscript, that they have seen and approved the final version, and that they agree to submit the manuscript.
    • Number of Authors: A Research Paper should not exceed 3 Authors, and the Principal/ Lead Author should provide each author's research contribution.
    • Disclosure of Information and Conflict of Interest:  All authors must indicate any conflicts of interest affecting their proposed publication in their biographical presentation. Funding for research projects (if any) that made the study possible must be indicated. There should be no conflict of interest among authors regarding the paper submitted.
    • Errors in Publishing: If the author(s) discovers a critical error or inaccuracy in its publication, it is his/ her obligation to inform the editor(s) quickly and to consider, in agreement with the person in charge, the withdrawal of the article or the publication of the information about the error.
    • Authors must ensure that the manuscripts contain nothing abusive, defamatory, libellous, obscene, fraudulent, or illegal. These are not against any institution/ university, armed forces, or federal/ provincial governments.