TEJAS Journal of Technologies and Humanitarian Science

About the Policy

TEJAS Journal of Technologies and Humanitarian Science (TJTHS), ISSN 2583-5599, is committed to maintaining fairness, transparency, accountability, confidentiality, and academic integrity throughout its editorial, peer-review, and publication processes.

Authors, reviewers, readers, editors, institutions, and other stakeholders may submit a complaint or appeal concerning editorial decisions, peer-review procedures, publication ethics, published content, editorial conduct, administrative processes, or other matters related to the journal’s scholarly publishing activities.

All complaints and appeals are handled objectively, impartially, and confidentially. Individuals raising concerns in good faith will not be subjected to retaliation, discrimination, disadvantage, or unfair treatment in relation to current or future interactions with the journal.

Editorial Appeals and General Complaints

Editorial Appeals: An editorial appeal is a formal request for reconsideration of a final editorial decision concerning a submitted manuscript. Appeals should normally relate to a rejection decision or another substantive editorial determination and must be supported by clear academic, procedural, or factual grounds.

General Complaints: A complaint is a formal expression of concern regarding the journal’s policies, editorial procedures, peer-review process, publication timelines, ethical practices, staff conduct, published material, communication practices, or support services.

Matters Covered by This Policy

Complaints and appeals may include, but are not limited to:

• Concerns regarding manuscript rejection or possible errors in editorial assessment.
• Unreasonable delays in editorial handling or peer-review procedures.
• Alleged breaches of confidentiality or undisclosed conflicts of interest.
• Suspected plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, or other forms of research misconduct.
• Authorship, contributorship, or attribution disputes.
• Concerns regarding inaccurate or misleading journal, article, or website metadata.
• Allegations of inappropriate editorial, reviewer, or administrative conduct.
• Concerns relating to corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other post-publication matters.

Criteria for Editorial Appeals

Authors submitting an appeal should clearly demonstrate one or more substantive grounds for reconsideration, such as:

• A significant factual misunderstanding that may have affected the editorial or reviewer assessment.
• Relevant evidence, analysis, or methodological information within the manuscript that may have been overlooked.
• A material departure from the journal’s stated peer-review or editorial procedures.
• A demonstrable error that may have affected the final editorial decision.

Appeals must be evidence-based and academically reasoned. A general disagreement with reviewers or editors, without specific supporting evidence, will not ordinarily constitute sufficient grounds for reconsideration.

Submission Requirements

Complaints and appeals should be submitted through the journal’s official contact or editorial email address. The submission should contain sufficient information to enable an appropriate assessment, including:

• Full name and contact details of the complainant or appellant.
• Manuscript identification number, article title, or DOI, where applicable.
• A clear and concise description of the complaint or grounds for appeal.
• Relevant previous correspondence with the journal.
• Supporting documents, evidence, or other verifiable information.
• The resolution or corrective action being requested, where appropriate.

Anonymous complaints may be considered when they contain specific, credible, and independently verifiable information. However, anonymity may limit the journal’s ability to conduct a complete investigation or provide a direct response.

Initial Screening and Investigation

The journal aims to acknowledge receipt of a formal complaint or appeal within five working days.

Each case will undergo an initial review to determine its nature, seriousness, supporting evidence, and the appropriate procedure for resolution. Where necessary, the journal may review editorial records, peer-review documentation, correspondence, manuscript files, supporting data, or other relevant materials.

The journal may also seek clarification or additional information from authors, reviewers, editors, institutions, or other parties involved in the matter. Confidentiality of peer review and sensitive personal or research information will be protected throughout the investigation to the extent reasonably possible.

Management of Conflicts of Interest

Complaints and appeals will not be decided by an individual who is personally involved in the matter under consideration.

• Where a complaint concerns an editor, the matter may be referred to the Editor-in-Chief or another appropriately independent senior editorial representative.
• Where the complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief, it may be referred to the publisher, an independent member of the editorial board, or an appropriately constituted review panel.
• Where a complaint concerns the publisher or another senior decision-maker, independent senior editors or suitably qualified external advisers may be involved to preserve impartiality and procedural fairness.

Resolution and Review

The journal aims to provide a reasoned response within fifteen working days after obtaining the information reasonably necessary to assess the complaint or appeal.

Complex cases, particularly those involving allegations of research misconduct, institutional investigations, authorship disputes, or external ethics inquiries, may require additional time. In such circumstances, the complainant will be informed that the matter remains under review and, where appropriate, will receive updates on its progress.

Possible outcomes may include:

• Confirmation of the original decision.
• Reconsideration of an editorial decision.
• Additional peer review or editorial assessment.
• Correction of administrative or metadata errors.
• Publication of a correction, clarification, retraction, or other appropriate notice.
• Referral to an institution, ethics committee, research-integrity office, funding body, or other competent authority.
• No further action where the complaint is unsupported by sufficient evidence.

Final Internal Review

Where a complainant believes that a material procedural error occurred during the handling of a complaint or appeal, a request for one final internal review may be submitted within thirty calendar days of the initial resolution.

Where practicable, the final review should be conducted by an individual or panel that was not directly responsible for the original decision. The purpose of the review is to assess whether the matter was handled fairly, consistently, and in accordance with the journal’s policies and available evidence.

The outcome of the final internal review will normally represent the conclusion of the journal’s internal complaints and appeals process.

Research Misconduct and Institutional Responsibility

TJTHS may assess concerns relating to manuscripts and published articles and may take appropriate editorial action to protect the scholarly record. However, the journal does not replace the formal investigative authority of universities, research institutions, ethics committees, employers, funding agencies, or competent regulatory authorities.

Where allegations require institutional investigation, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant organization and may consider the findings of that investigation when determining appropriate editorial action.

Confidentiality

Information concerning complaints, appeals, investigations, and related correspondence will be shared only with individuals who require access for the fair and effective handling of the case.

The identity of complainants, respondents, reviewers, and other involved individuals will be protected where reasonably possible, subject to legal obligations, institutional requirements, and the principles of procedural fairness.

Protection Against Retaliation

Individuals who raise concerns honestly and in good faith will not be penalized for using the journal’s complaints and appeals procedure.

Complaints that are knowingly false, malicious, discriminatory, threatening, abusive, or intended primarily to harass individuals may be rejected or closed where appropriate.

Record Keeping, Transparency, and Editorial Independence

The TEJAS Journal of Technologies and Humanitarian Science (TJTHS) maintains appropriate confidential records of complaints, appeals, investigations, correspondence, decisions, and any resulting corrective editorial actions.

Where a complaint identifies a substantive error in the published scholarly record, the journal will take appropriate corrective action in accordance with its editorial policies.

Editorial decisions and the handling of complaints or appeals will remain independent of article-processing charges, financial relationships, institutional status, nationality, professional position, commercial considerations, or other inappropriate influences.

Decisions will be based on academic merit, verifiable evidence, procedural fairness, publication-ethics principles, and the integrity of the scholarly record.

Policy Alignment and Review

This policy is intended to reflect recognized principles of responsible scholarly publishing, including fairness, transparency, confidentiality, editorial independence, and appropriate handling of complaints and appeals. The journal seeks to maintain practices consistent with relevant Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) principles where applicable.

This Complaints and Appeals Policy will be reviewed periodically to reflect developments in scholarly publishing standards, research-integrity practices, publication ethics, and applicable editorial procedures.

The most current approved version of the policy should remain publicly accessible through the official website of the TEJAS Journal of Technologies and Humanitarian Science (TJTHS), ISSN 2583-5599.