Publication Ethics
Publication Ethics Standards
The Journal of Education and Educational Communication upholds rigorous publication ethics standards in accordance with international guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), thereby fostering credibility within the academic community and society at large. The editorial board assumes a pivotal role in maintaining these standards and bears ultimate responsibility for the quality and accuracy of all content published in the journal.
1. Duties and Responsibilities of Editors
1.1 Editors' Responsibilities to Readers
Editors of the Journal of Education and Educational Communication serve as "Guardians of Scholarly Standards," bearing responsibility to both readers and authors with fairness and professionalism. They must operate in alignment with the journal's objectives, maintain academic standards, and advance the field of education and educational communication. Editors are accountable to readers for preserving the quality and reliability of published content by selecting high-quality articles within the journal's scope, encompassing curriculum and instruction, learning management, educational innovation, educational technology, and educational communication. They must ensure the accuracy and reliability of data, research methodologies, and conclusions presented in all articles through rigorous peer review processes, particularly verifying academic integrity to confirm proper citations, credible empirical evidence, and logical conclusions.
Editors must disseminate contemporary research reflecting current trends and developments in education, ensuring readers receive current knowledge while continuously updating content to address the needs and interests of the academic community and educational practitioners. They prioritize articles by considering relevance to contemporary issues, research quality, and reader benefit. Transparency and impartiality are essential attributes editors must maintain by clearly disclosing the article review process, ensuring readers understand that articles undergo systematic peer review, identifying authors' conflicts of interest, research funding sources, and relationships that may affect research neutrality, and displaying publication ethics policies prominently on the journal website, including procedures for managing complaints and disputes. When errors are identified, editors must willingly implement corrections promptly and transparently by publishing corrections (Errata) in subsequent issues with links to original articles in the online system, issuing clarifications when content may cause misunderstanding without altering core research conclusions, or formally retracting articles (Retraction) when serious errors affecting credibility are discovered following COPE Retraction Guidelines, such as data fabrication, plagiarism, or research ethics violations, and must formally apologize with clear explanations of causes and preventive measures when errors result from editorial board deficiencies.
Furthermore, editors must facilitate information access by establishing efficient search systems enabling readers to locate articles by topic, author, keywords, and publication year, creating DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for all articles to enable permanent citation and tracking, promoting Open Access as appropriate to broaden academic community and public access to knowledge, and preparing abstracts and keywords in both Thai and English to facilitate rapid comprehension of core content.
1.2 Continuous Quality Improvement
Editors of the Journal of Education and Educational Communication are responsible for systematically and continuously developing journal quality, beginning with strategic planning for both short-term (1-2 years) development, such as improving article review processes and increasing international reviewers, and long-term (3-5 years) development, such as advancing to TCI Tier 1 database status and registration in international databases (ASEAN Citation Index, Scopus), establishing clear and measurable objectives such as increasing citation rates and reducing article review periods. System and process development is essential, requiring editors to modernize the Online Journal System for enhanced usability, implement DOI for all articles to facilitate citation and tracking, develop Online First publication to accelerate public dissemination, and employ Open Access systems following Creative Commons policies to enhance accessibility.
Additionally, editors must monitor and evaluate performance by tracking citation rates and various indices such as h-index and Article Impact Score, assessing article review process quality through feedback from authors and reviewers, analyzing trending topics to guide publication direction, and regularly evaluating reader and author satisfaction.
1.3 Preserving Work Integrity and Accuracy
Editors bear significant responsibility for preventing and managing academically unethical conduct, beginning with plagiarism prevention by screening all articles using Turnitin, iThenticate, or Copycat programs in the ThaiJO system before peer review, establishing a Similarity Index threshold not exceeding 20% according to TCI criteria and international standards, rejecting articles with plagiarism exceeding thresholds while notifying authors and providing opportunities for explanation, and clearly publishing anti-plagiarism policies on the journal website. Conflict of interest verification is essential, requiring authors to disclose funding sources and relationships that may create conflicts of interest according to ICMJE Disclosure Form guidelines, with editors recusing themselves from reviewing articles in which they have vested interests, and reviewers reporting relationships with authors that may compromise impartiality. Editors must verify research ethics for studies involving humans or animals according to Helsinki Declaration 2024, verify Informed Consent procedures and protection of research participants' rights, and verify data storage compliance with Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019).
1.4 Error Management and Corrections
Editors must demonstrate accountability and transparency in managing errors across four categories: Errata for minor errors not affecting conclusions, such as author name misspellings, incorrect table or figure data, or typographical errors, requiring correction page publication in subsequent issues, linking to original articles in the online system, and notifying authors for approval; Clarifications when content may cause misunderstanding, publishing clarifications without altering core content, clearly identifying sections requiring clarification, and linking to original articles; Retractions following COPE Retraction Guidelines when discovering serious plagiarism, data fabrication, severe research ethics violations, serious errors affecting conclusions, or unreported duplicate publication, requiring thorough fact verification, providing authors opportunities for explanation (2-4 weeks), publishing Retraction Notices with justification, marking articles "RETRACTED" without deletion, and notifying TCI, CrossRef, DOI, and relevant databases; and Apologies when errors originate from the editorial board, requiring public apology announcements, explanation of causes and preventive measures, acknowledgment of responsibility for damages, and workflow improvements to prevent recurrence.
2. Duties and Responsibilities of Authors
Authors play a crucial role in maintaining standards and quality of scholarly work published in the Journal of Education and Educational Communication and must strictly adhere to publication ethics principles according to international COPE and ICMJE standards throughout all phases from research conduct and article writing through submission and post-publication.
2.1 Responsibility for Research Quality and Accuracy
Authors bear ultimate responsibility for the quality and reliability of presented research, conducting research according to correct and academically accepted research methodologies, reporting research results honestly and comprehensively, not distorting data or facts, not fabricating or creating data (Data Fabrication), not selectively presenting only hypothesis-supporting data while concealing contradictory data (Data Falsification), and must be capable of presenting raw data and various evidence for verification when requested by editors or reviewers according to ICMJE guidelines. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all data in articles, including citations, tables, graphs, and various illustrations, and must carefully review articles before submission to minimize typographical and content errors.
2.2 Research Ethics Compliance
Authors must strictly comply with research ethics principles, particularly for human subjects research requiring approval from institutional or organizational human research ethics committees and compliance with Helsinki Declaration 2024 principles, including appropriate informed consent from research participants, protection of participants' rights and privacy, personal data storage according to Thailand's Personal Data Protection Act B.E. 2562 (2019), and non-disclosure of identifying information of research participants without permission. For animal research, authors must comply with animal welfare principles and obtain approval from relevant committees. Authors must clearly state research ethics approval numbers in articles and be prepared to present ethics approval documentation when requested by editors.
2.3 Respect for Intellectual Property and Citation
Authors are obligated to respect others' intellectual property and properly credit knowledge sources comprehensively, not plagiarizing others' work whether text, ideas, concepts, images, tables, or data without crediting owners (Plagiarism), citing sources of data, ideas, theories, or others' work consistently and correctly according to journal-specified format (APA 7th edition), using citation marks and creating bibliographies correctly and completely, and avoiding excessive unnecessary self-citation. Authors must acknowledge that submitted articles will undergo plagiarism detection software screening (Turnitin or iThenticate) and must maintain Similarity Index not exceeding 20% according to journal criteria and TCI standards, with articles exceeding plagiarism thresholds being immediately rejected.
2.4 Authorship and Contributor Designation
Authors must designate authorship fairly and according to ICMJE-established criteria, requiring authors to substantially participate in four aspects: (1) significant contribution to research conception or design, or data collection, analysis, or interpretation; (2) participation in drafting or revising the article for important intellectual content; (3) final approval of the version to be published; and (4) accepting responsibility for all aspects of the work and ability to answer questions regarding accuracy and reliability of any work component. Those not meeting all four criteria should not be authors but may be acknowledged in Acknowledgments. Authors must not include names of non-contributing individuals (Gift Authorship) or omit names of significant contributors (Ghost Authorship), must obtain consent from all authors before submission, and must inform all authors of article status throughout the review process.
2.5 Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure
Authors are obligated to transparently and comprehensively disclose information regarding conflicts of interest and research funding support according to ICMJE Disclosure Form guidelines, specifying funding sources supporting research whether from government, private sector, or various organizations, including grant numbers when applicable, disclosing financial relationships or other interests that may influence research result interpretation, such as consulting roles, stock ownership, or compensation from organizations related to research content, and specifying funding source roles in research design, data collection, data analysis, article writing, and publication submission decisions. If funding sources were not involved in these processes, this must be clearly stated as well. Failure to disclose such information may constitute publication ethics violations.
2.6 Article Submission and Review Process Compliance
Authors must submit original work not previously published elsewhere and not under concurrent consideration by other journals (except as part of theses or conference presentations, which must be disclosed to editors). Authors must strictly follow the Journal of Education and Educational Communication's Guidelines for Authors, including writing format, page layout, citation style, and various requirements, submitting articles through the journal-designated online system with necessary supporting documents such as research ethics certificates, conflict of interest disclosure forms, and consent letters from all authors. Authors must respond to reviewers' comments constructively and punctually according to deadlines, explaining revisions or providing clear justification when unable to implement suggestions, and must submit revised articles with response letters within specified timeframes; delays exceeding 60 days may result in editors considering authors disinterested in publication and canceling review.
2.7 Post-Publication Responsibility
Authors maintain article responsibility even after publication, remaining available to answer questions or inquiries from readers or other researchers regarding content, methodology, or article data, cooperating with editors when questions or complaints arise concerning published articles, including providing additional information or clarification as requested, immediately notifying editors upon discovering significant errors in published articles and cooperating in corrections or retractions if necessary, accepting and cooperating when articles require correction (Erratum), clarification (Clarification), or retraction (Retraction) upon discovering serious errors, ethics violations, or inaccuracies affecting research credibility. Authors must understand that published articles will not be deleted from the system but will be marked "RETRACTED" if retraction becomes necessary according to Preserving the Scholarly Record principles following COPE guidelines.
2.8 Avoiding Duplicate Publication
Authors must not submit identical articles or articles with substantially similar content for publication in multiple journals simultaneously (Duplicate Submission) or publish articles with identical data or research results in multiple journals unnecessarily (Duplicate Publication), except when authorized by editors of both parties with clear citation of original articles, such as publication in another language (Secondary Publication) or publication in specialized journals with different target audiences. Authors must not divide single research works into multiple articles to inappropriately increase publication numbers (Salami Publication), except when clear academic justification exists and each article has distinctly different purposes and conclusions. When authors intend to publish articles related to the same research, they must cite previously published articles and clearly explain differences in cover letters to editors.
3. Significant Academic References
International Standards: Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), a leading global organization established in 1997 with over 13,000 journal members worldwide, provides comprehensive guidelines covering Peer Review, Authorship, Conflicts of Interest, and Retraction, verified to align with COPE Core Practices. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), which has provided "Uniform Requirements" recommendations since 1978, covers Authorship, Peer Review, COI, and Helsinki Declaration 2024, verified as applicable across all disciplines including education. Additionally, Elsevier and Springer Nature represent international publisher standards as COPE members aligned with ICMJE.
Thai Standards: Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC) has developed guidelines for advancing Thai academic journals to international databases, establishing TCI Tier 1-2 standard criteria. Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI) specifies Similarity Index not exceeding 20%.
References and Documentary Sources
This document "Publication Ethics: Journal of Education and Educational Communication" has been developed, revised, and supplemented from international publication ethics guidelines and standards, referencing the following primary sources:
Primary International References
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). (2024). Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. Retrieved from https://publicationethics.org/
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). (2024). Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. Retrieved from http://www.icmje.org/
Elsevier. (2024). Publishing Ethics: Duties of Editors. Retrieved from https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies-and-standards/publishing-ethics
Springer Nature. (2024). Journal Editor's Code of Conduct. Retrieved from https://www.springernature.com/gp/editorial-policies
Wiley. (2024). Best Practice Guidelines on Publishing Ethics: A Publisher's Perspective (2nd ed.). Retrieved from https://authorservices.wiley.com/
National References (Thailand)
Office of the Higher Education Commission (OHEC). (2023). Guidelines for Developing Thai Academic Journals to International Databases. Bangkok: Office of the Higher Education Commission.
Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI). (2023). Quality Assessment Criteria for Thai Academic Journals. Retrieved from https://www.tci-thaijo.org/
Wicharn Panich. (2022). Research Ethics and Academic Publication Ethics (3rd ed.). Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press.
National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT). (2022). Guidelines for Consideration of Human Research Ethics. Bangkok: National Research Council of Thailand.
Specialized References
World Medical Association. (2024). WMA Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. Retrieved from https://www.wma.net/
EQUATOR Network. (2024). Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research. Retrieved from https://www.equator-network.org/
CrossRef. (2024). DOI and Metadata Best Practices. Retrieved from https://www.crossref.org/
Note: This document was last revised in December 2024. All references have been verified for accuracy and currency as of the document preparation date. The document will undergo regular review and revision every 1-2 years or upon significant changes in international standards.
Validation: This document has been reviewed and certified by the Editorial Board of the Journal of Education and Educational Communication as compliant with international COPE and ICMJE standards and appropriate for the Thai context of publishing scholarly work in education and educational communication.
