Publication Ethics | Interaction: Sociology of Communication Journal

Ethical Commitment

Interaction: Sociology of Communication Journal is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in academic publishing. We adhere to the principles set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Editorial Board Commitments

The Editorial Board of Interaction pledges to:

✓ Publication Transparency
Publish all necessary corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies

✓ Evaluation System Openness
Provide open access to the evaluation system and criteria used in the external peer review process

✓ Regular Updates
Regularly update criteria to ensure published articles meet standards of scientific relevance, originality, clarity, and accuracy

✓ Complete Confidentiality
Maintain complete confidentiality during the evaluation process

✓ Anonymity Protection
Protect the anonymity of authors and reviewers, content under review, reviewer reports, and all communications issued by the editorial board

Integrity of Published Works

Interaction is committed to respecting the integrity of all published works and is highly vigilant in identifying and addressing cases of plagiarism.

Actions Against Plagiarism

Manuscript Withdrawal
Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism will be withdrawn from the journal or prohibited from publication

Swift Action
The journal will act swiftly in handling such cases

Plagiarism Detection
All submitted manuscripts will be checked using plagiarism detection software

Thorough Investigation
Any suspected plagiarism will be investigated thoroughly and fairly

Author Declaration

By agreeing to the journal's terms, authors ensure that:

Their submitted articles and all related materials contain only original work
Do not infringe upon third-party rights
In cases of joint authorship, a clear statement must be made that all authors have approved the manuscript's content
The work has not been previously published in any form

Authorship

Authorship Principles

Authors submitting articles for publication in Interaction must ensure that their submitted material is original.

Manuscript Originality

Original Work
Manuscripts must not contain sections from previously published works by the authors or others

Data Accuracy
Authors must guarantee the accuracy of the data presented in the manuscript

No Manipulation
Data should not be manipulated or altered to support proposed hypotheses

Research Integrity
All research procedures must be reported accurately and honestly

Author List

Authors must identify all individuals who contributed significantly to:

Contribution Aspect	Description
Conceptualization	Conceptual design of the research
Research Planning	Methodology and research design
Results Interpretation	Data analysis and interpretation
Article Writing	Manuscript preparation and revision

Authorship Hierarchy

The authorship list should be arranged hierarchically to reflect each author's level of responsibility and role in the research
Author order should be agreed upon by all parties before submission
Changes to authorship after submission require written approval from all authors

Author Responsibilities

Full Responsibility
All authors bear full responsibility for the content of the submitted manuscript

Final Approval
All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission

Communication
The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal during the editorial and publication process

Authorship Criteria

To be credited as an author, an individual must meet ALL of the following criteria:

✓ Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
✓ Be involved in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content
✓ Give final approval of the version to be published
✓ Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved

Non-Author Contributors

Individuals who contribute but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section with their written permission.

Sources and References

Use of Sources

Authors must use current and relevant sources in sociology and communication when drafting articles to ensure research is based on up-to-date theoretical and empirical foundations.

Reference Guidelines

Relevance
Use literature relevant to the research topic

Currency
Prioritize recent sources (last 5-10 years) to demonstrate understanding of current developments

Credibility
Prioritize sources from accredited journals, academic books, and reputable scholarly publications

Diversity
Include diverse perspectives and theoretical approaches

Proper Citation

✓ All sources used must be properly cited
✓ Use consistent citation format according to journal guidelines
✓ Avoid over-citation (unnecessary excessive citations)
✓ Avoid under-citation (failure to acknowledge others' work)

Self-Citation

Self-citation is permitted if:

Relevant to the research topic
Provides necessary context or foundation
Not excessive (avoid unnecessary self-citation)
Written in third person in anonymous manuscripts

Correct Example:
"Previous research (Smith, 2020) demonstrated that..."

Incorrect Example:
"We previously demonstrated (Smith, 2020) that..."

Conflict of Interest

Conflict of Interest Statement

All authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence the interpretation or presentation of research results.

Types of Conflicts of Interest

Type	Examples
Financial	Research funding, stock ownership, paid consulting
Professional	Employment relationships, organizational affiliations
Personal	Family or personal relationships with research subjects
Academic	Academic competition, methodological bias

How to Report

If there is NO conflict of interest:
"The authors declare no conflict of interest in this research."

If there IS a conflict of interest:
"The authors disclose that [specify the conflict of interest]."

Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication

Definitions and Policy

Interaction follows COPE and DOAJ guidelines on duplicate submission and redundant publication.

Duplicate/Concurrent Submission

Duplicate submission occurs when the same manuscript is submitted to two or more journals simultaneously or nearly simultaneously without notifying the editors.

STRICTLY PROHIBITED
Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time

Why This is Problematic:

Wastes editors' and reviewers' time
Can cause conflict if both journals accept the manuscript
Violates scholarly publishing ethics
Can artificially inflate citations and reviews

Redundant/Duplicate Publication

Redundant publication is when a published work (or substantial sections from a published work) is published more than once without clear, visible reference to the previous publication, with at least one common author.

DUPLICATION NOT PERMITTED
Publishing the same or very similar work in multiple venues without proper disclosure

Negative Impacts of Redundant Publication:

Can be harmful when such studies are included in evidence synthesis such as systematic reviews and meta-analyses, as they may skew the evidence
Increases bias in scholarly literature
Misleads readers who consider separate publications as independent studies
Can lead to erroneous recommendations for practice

Statement in Instructions for Authors

By submitting a manuscript, authors declare that their manuscript is original and has not been submitted elsewhere.

Authors Must Declare:

✓ The manuscript has not been previously published in any form
✓ The manuscript is not under consideration for publication in another journal
✓ All related publications or similar work must be disclosed
✓ The manuscript does not contain previously published material without proper citation

Mandatory Disclosure

Authors MUST disclose in the cover letter if:

Situation	Explanation
Conference Presentations	If data or findings have been presented at conferences (oral or poster)
Related Publications	If there are related manuscripts that have been published or are under review
Preprints	If a preprint version has been posted in an online repository
Thesis/Dissertation	If the manuscript is based on a thesis or dissertation
Prior Publication	If parts of the manuscript have been previously published

Acceptable Secondary Publication

Acceptable secondary publication is publication of the same work but with clear reference to its first publication and is usually intended for a different audience.

Requirements for Secondary Publication:

✓ Authors have approval from the journal that first published the article
✓ The secondary publication must be a faithful reflection of the original publication
✓ Must clearly reference the primary publication – as a note in the article and in the title of the secondary article
✓ At least one week has elapsed since the primary publication
✓ For a different audience (e.g., different language, different specialty)
✓ The secondary publication must be clearly identified on the title page

Examples of Acceptable Secondary Publication:

Translation of article into another language
Version for a different audience (e.g., practitioner version of research article)
Clinical guidelines based on original research

What is NOT Redundant Publication

The following are NOT considered redundant publications:

✓ Structured abstracts under 500 words
✓ Registration of trial results in public trial registries
✓ Conference abstracts or proceedings
✓ Theses or dissertations published in institutional repositories
✓ Preprints clearly identified as pre-publication versions

Salami Slicing

Definition: Salami slicing is the practice of breaking one study into several small publications to increase publication count.

When This is Problematic:

❌ When data from one study is fragmented without strong scientific justification
❌ When closely related results are published separately without cross-referencing
❌ When it misleads readers about the size or scope of the research

When Separate Publication is Acceptable:

✓ When each article addresses a different and substantial research question
✓ When the dataset is very large and complex requiring separate analyses
✓ When there is clear cross-referencing between related publications
✓ When each article makes a significant and stand-alone contribution

Investigation Process

If duplicate submission or publication is suspected, the journal will follow this procedure:

Stage 1: Identification

Detection through plagiarism checking software
Reports from reviewers or readers
Notification from other journal editors

Stage 2: Verification

Comparing manuscript with other publications
Assessing the degree and nature of overlap
Checking similarities in data, images, and text

Stage 3: Author Contact

Contact authors for clarification
Request explanation of overlap
Provide deadline for response (usually 2 weeks)

Stage 4: Decision and Action

Based on findings, editors may take the following actions:

Violation Level	Action
Minor	Warning to authors about journal policy
Moderate	Manuscript rejection + notification to author's institution
Severe	Rejection + submission ban + reporting to institution and other journals
Very Severe	Article retraction (if already published) + public notification

Consequences of Violation

For Manuscripts Under Review:

Automatic rejection without further review
Submission ban to the journal for a specified period (usually 2-5 years)
Written notification to all authors
Information to author's institution about misconduct

For Published Articles:

Publication of retraction notice by the journal that most recently published the article
Article marked as "RETRACTED" in databases
Notification to indexing databases
Institutional investigation may be conducted
Author's academic reputation affected

Detection and Prevention

Detection Tools Used by Interaction:

Plagiarism Software
All manuscripts are checked using plagiarism detection software

Cross-Journal Screening
Manuscripts may be compared across journals to prevent redundant publication

Image Forensics
Checking for image reuse as well as other forms of duplication

Reviewer Scrutiny
Reviewers help identify duplication that may be missed

Prevention:

✓ Clear instructions to authors about policies
✓ Requiring authors to verify that their manuscript is original and has not been submitted elsewhere
✓ Submission forms requiring declarations
✓ Systematic checking during review process

Sharing Information with Other Editors

For investigations between different journals, Interaction refers to COPE guidelines on sharing information among editors-in-chief regarding possible misconduct.

When Information is Shared:

When duplicate submission is suspected
When patterns of misconduct are detected
To protect the integrity of scholarly literature
While maintaining appropriate confidentiality

Advice for Authors

To Avoid Problems:

✓ Submit to One Journal at a Time
Wait for a decision before submitting to another journal

✓ Disclose All Related Publications
Mention all related work in the cover letter

✓ Provide Proper References
If building on previous work, provide appropriate citations

✓ Consult with Editors
If unsure, ask the editor before submitting

✓ Keep Good Records
Document where and when your work has been submitted or published

If You Become Aware of Overlap:

Contact the editor as soon as possible
Explain the situation honestly
Provide complete information about the other publication
Follow the editor's guidance on how to proceed

Errors in Published Articles

Corrections

For minor errors that do not affect the main findings or conclusions:

Corrections will be published and linked to the original article
The original article remains online with a correction notice

Retractions

Retractions are necessary for:

Serious errors in research or analysis
Plagiarism or data fabrication
Research ethics violations
Undisclosed duplicate publication
Illegitimate authorship

Retraction Process:

Thorough investigation by the Editorial Board
Communication with all authors
Publication of retraction notice
Retracted article remains online with clear "RETRACTED" marking

Research Ethics

Ethical Approval

Research involving human subjects must:

✓ Obtain approval from relevant ethics committee
✓ Obtain informed consent from participants
✓ Protect participant privacy and confidentiality
✓ Comply with international research ethics standards