Research and Publication Ethics

The Journal of Wellbeing Management and Applied Psychology (JWMAP), owned, managed, and published by KODISA Foundation, is committed to maintaining high standards of research and publication ethics. JWMAP follows internationally recognized principles and guidelines of publication ethics, including those of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and applies them to all stages of manuscript submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, publication, correction, and post-publication management.

JWMAP requires all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and the publisher, to comply with ethical standards in scholarly publishing.

1. Author Responsibilities

1.1 Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that the submitted manuscript is original and has not been published elsewhere. The work, ideas, data, words, and results of others must be properly cited and acknowledged.

Plagiarism, including copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another work without proper citation, using unpublished results without permission, or presenting another person’s work as one’s own, is unacceptable.

JWMAP may use iThenticate, Crossref Similarity Check, KCI Similarity Check, or an equivalent plagiarism-detection system to screen submitted manuscripts for overlapping or similar text. Manuscripts with serious similarity or plagiarism concerns may be returned, rejected, or subject to further ethical review.

1.2 Data Accuracy and Transparency

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of the data presented in their manuscripts. Data must not be fabricated, falsified, manipulated, or selectively reported.

When authors use data collected by others, appropriate permission and acknowledgment must be obtained. The editor may request raw data or supplementary information when necessary for editorial decision-making or investigation of possible misconduct.

1.3 Research Involving Human Participants, Animals, or Biological Materials

Research involving human participants, human data, human materials, animals, or biological materials must comply with relevant laws, institutional guidelines, and ethical standards.

Where applicable, authors must state that the study was approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), or an equivalent ethics committee. For human participant research, informed consent must be obtained where required, and the privacy, confidentiality, dignity, and rights of participants must be protected.

1.4 Conflict of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial, personal, institutional, or other conflicts of interest that could influence the research, interpretation, review, or publication of the manuscript. All sources of funding and support must be clearly acknowledged.

1.5 Authorship

Authorship must be limited to those who have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the study, data collection, analysis, interpretation, drafting, or critical revision of the manuscript.

All listed authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to its submission. Changes in authorship after submission, including addition, deletion, or rearrangement of authors, require a clear explanation and written consent from all authors.

1.6 Special Relationship Authors

If a manuscript includes authors who have special relationships, such as minors, family members, or other persons with close personal relationships, the authors must disclose the relationship and provide evidence of each author’s substantial contribution.

JWMAP may request additional documentation to verify authorship contribution. If inappropriate authorship is confirmed, JWMAP may take editorial actions, including rejection, correction, retraction, notification to related institutions, or restriction of future submissions.

1.7 Multiple Submission and Redundant Publication

Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. Manuscripts that have been published or are under review elsewhere must not be submitted to JWMAP.

Redundant publication, duplicate publication, or submission of substantially similar work without proper disclosure is not permitted.

1.8 Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Generative artificial intelligence tools, including large language models and multimodal AI systems, cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the content, accuracy, originality, research integrity, or ethical compliance of a manuscript.

If authors use generative AI tools in manuscript preparation, translation, editing, data processing, image generation, coding, or other research-related work, they must disclose the use of such tools where appropriate.

Human authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, validity, citation, ethical compliance, and final content of the manuscript.

1.9 Notification of Errors

Authors must promptly notify the editor if they discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their submitted or published work. When necessary, authors must cooperate with the editor in issuing corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions.

2. Reviewer Responsibilities

2.1 Confidentiality

Reviewers must treat all manuscripts and related review materials as confidential. They must not disclose, discuss, share, or use the manuscript outside the peer-review process without permission from the editor.

2.2 Objectivity and Constructive Review

Reviewers should evaluate manuscripts objectively and provide clear, constructive, and evidence-based comments. Personal criticism of authors is inappropriate.

2.3 Conflict of Interest

Reviewers must inform the editor of any potential conflict of interest arising from competitive, collaborative, personal, financial, institutional, or other relationships with the authors or the manuscript. Reviewers should decline the review invitation when a conflict of interest exists.

2.4 Use of Unpublished Information

Reviewers must not use unpublished information obtained through the peer-review process for their own research, personal advantage, or the benefit of others.

2.5 Use of Artificial Intelligence in Review

Reviewers must not upload manuscripts, review materials, or confidential information to external AI tools or systems in a manner that may violate confidentiality. Reviewers remain fully responsible for the content and integrity of their review comments.

2.6 Promptness

Reviewers should complete their reviews within the agreed time frame. If they are unable to complete the review on time, they should notify the editor promptly.

3. Editor Responsibilities

3.1 Editorial Independence and Fairness

Editors are responsible for making editorial decisions based on the manuscript’s academic merit, originality, relevance to the journal, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, and contribution to the field.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by authors’ race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, gender, religion, institutional affiliation, political belief, financial status, or other irrelevant personal characteristics.

3.2 Confidentiality

Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, review comments, author information, and editorial discussions.

3.3 Conflict of Interest

Editors must not handle manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest. In such cases, another qualified editor should be assigned.

3.4 Ethical Oversight

Editors are responsible for responding to suspected research or publication misconduct, including plagiarism, duplicate submission, duplicate publication, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate authorship, conflicts of interest, citation manipulation, peer-review manipulation, and misuse of AI tools.

When necessary, JWMAP may follow COPE guidelines for investigation, correction, retraction, expression of concern, and other editorial actions.

4. Double-Blind Peer Review Policy

JWMAP operates a double-blind peer-review process. The identities of both authors and reviewers are kept confidential during the review process.

Authors must remove identifying information from the main manuscript file, including author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, and any other information that may reveal the authors’ identities.

All submitted manuscripts are initially assessed by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated handling editor for suitability for the journal. Manuscripts that meet the journal’s basic requirements are sent to at least two independent expert reviewers.

Reviewers provide recommendations, but the final decision regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection is made by the Editor-in-Chief or the Editorial Board.

5. Copyright and Open Access Policy

The copyright and publishing rights of articles published in JWMAP are owned and managed by KODISA Foundation.

By submitting a manuscript to JWMAP, authors agree that, upon acceptance for publication, the copyright and publishing rights of the article are transferred to KODISA Foundation. KODISA Foundation has the right to publish, reproduce, distribute, archive, index, and provide public access to the article in all formats, including PDF, XML/HTML, DOI registration, KCI indexing and metadata registration, and other scholarly database services, in accordance with the journal’s copyright and open access policy.

All articles published in JWMAP are made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0), unless otherwise stated. This license permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original authors and source are properly cited.

6. Self-Citation Policy

JWMAP discourages excessive and inappropriate self-citation. Self-citation is acceptable only when it is academically necessary and directly relevant to the manuscript.

Manuscripts may be returned for revision or rejected if excessive self-citation, coercive citation, citation manipulation, or irrelevant citation practices are identified.

7. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

JWMAP respects diversity, equity, and inclusion in scholarly publishing. Manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of academic merit, research integrity, originality, methodological rigor, and relevance to the journal, without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, nationality, citizenship, gender, religion, institutional affiliation, financial status, or other irrelevant personal characteristics.

8. Correction, Retraction, and Withdrawal

When errors, ethical concerns, or publication misconduct are identified before or after publication, JWMAP may take appropriate editorial actions, including correction, expression of concern, retraction, or withdrawal.

If research misconduct is confirmed, JWMAP may reject the manuscript, retract the published article, notify relevant institutions, restrict future submissions by the authors, or take other appropriate actions in accordance with the journal’s ethics policy and COPE guidelines.

9. Publisher Responsibilities

KODISA Foundation, as the owner, manager, and publisher of JWMAP, supports the editorial independence of the journal and works to ensure that editorial decisions are based on academic merit, research quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s aims and scope.

KODISA Foundation is responsible for supporting the journal’s publication process, maintaining publication ethics policies, preserving published scholarly content, and assisting the editorial board in addressing ethical concerns when necessary.

10. Contact

For questions about research and publication ethics, please contact:

KODISA Foundation Editorial Office
Email: kodisa@kodisajournals.org