TEJAS Journal of Technologies and Humanitarian Science

Scope of the Statement

This statement applies to all parties involved in the publishing lifecycle:

• Authors and co-authors
• Independent Peer Reviewers
• Editors and Editorial Board members
• Editorial Office staff and Publishers
• Submitted manuscripts, review reports, supplementary data, and published articles

Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are based strictly on the academic, scientific, and ethical evaluation of submitted manuscripts. Relevant considerations include scope alignment, originality, methodological reliability, clarity, and compliance with ethical guidelines.

Editorial decisions are completely independent of commercial influence, sponsorship, author identity, nationality, institutional status, or financial considerations. Payment or waiver of an Article Processing Charge (APC) never influences peer review or acceptance decisions.

Editorial Board Member Recusal Policy

TEJAS Journal of Technologies and Humanitarian Science (TJTHS) is committed to maintaining an independent, transparent, and unbiased editorial decision-making process. The journal ensures that all manuscripts are evaluated solely on the basis of academic merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s scope.

To safeguard editorial integrity and prevent potential conflicts of interest, Editorial Board Members, Editors, and reviewers are required to recuse themselves from the editorial process whenever their involvement may compromise the objectivity or impartiality of manuscript evaluation.

Manuscripts Submitted by Editors or Editorial Board Members

Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, other editors, or Editorial Board members are subject to the journal’s normal editorial standards and peer-review requirements.

An editor who is an author of a manuscript must not participate in its editorial assessment, reviewer selection, review management, evaluation of revisions, or acceptance decision.

The manuscript will be assigned to a suitably qualified handling editor without a competing interest that could compromise impartial assessment. If no suitable independent editor is available within the journal, an appropriately qualified external handling editor will be appointed.

The independent handling editor will oversee peer review and make the editorial decision based on the manuscript’s merits, ethical compliance, reviewer reports, and the journal’s published criteria.

Author-editors will receive only the information normally provided to authors. They must not access confidential reviewer identities, internal editorial discussions, or other restricted records relating to their own submission.

Published articles authored by editors or Editorial Board members will include a statement identifying their journal role and confirming independent handling.

Conflict-Based Recusal of Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers must disclose relationships or interests that could reasonably compromise, or appear to compromise, impartial assessment.

Relevant circumstances include current or recent shared institutional affiliations, active or recent research collaborations, supervisory relationships, close personal relationships, financial interests, significant professional disputes, or other competing interests relevant to the manuscript.

Where a conflict affects impartial assessment, the individual must not handle or review the manuscript, and an alternative qualified editor or reviewer will be appointed.

Conflict declarations, reassignment decisions, and relevant safeguards will be documented in the journal’s confidential editorial records.

Duties of Authors

• Originality & Integrity: Submit original, unpublished work free from fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism.
• Exclusive Submission: Manuscripts must not be under simultaneous consideration by another journal.
• Accurate Attribution: Cite and acknowledge all supporting literature and third-party sources appropriately.
• Authorship Criteria: All listed authors must meet the journal’s authorship criteria, including substantial scholarly contribution, drafting or critical revision, approval of the final manuscript, and accountability for their contributions and cooperation in resolving integrity concerns. All authors must agree to the author list and order before submission.
• Competing Interests: Disclose all financial, personal, or institutional conflicts of interest.
• Ethics & Consent: Obtain institutional ethics committee approval and participant consent where applicable.
• Error Reporting: Inform the Editorial Office promptly if a significant error is discovered in submitted or published work.

Duties of Reviewers

• Objectivity: Provide independent, constructive, confidential, and evidence-based reviews.
• Confidentiality: Treat submitted manuscripts as confidential documents and avoid unauthorized sharing or AI-system uploading.
• Conflict Disclosure: Recuse themselves from evaluating manuscripts where a competing interest exists.
• Misconduct Reporting: Report suspected plagiarism, data manipulation, or ethical concerns confidentially to the editor.

Duties of Editors & Publisher

• Fair Evaluation: Evaluate manuscripts solely on scientific merit and ethical compliance without discrimination.
• Peer Review Oversight: Research manuscripts normally undergo double-blind peer review by at least two independent subject experts, in accordance with the journal’s Peer Review Policy. Any permitted exceptions must be justified, documented, and consistent with that policy.
• Confidentiality Maintenance: Protect the anonymity of reviewers and the confidentiality of unpublished materials.
• Editorial Integrity: Recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where an editor has a conflict of interest.
• Post-Publication Stewardship: The journal takes appropriate action, including corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and post-publication discussions, when research integrity issues or scholarly concerns are identified.

Plagiarism & Research Misconduct Policy

TJTHS does not accept plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, deceptive image manipulation, duplicate publication, or manipulation of the peer-review process.

All submitted manuscripts are screened using similarity-detection software before external peer review. Similarity reports are assessed in context; a similarity percentage alone does not establish plagiarism.

Where a concern is identified, the journal will assess the available evidence and seek an explanation from the relevant parties where appropriate. Manuscript processing may be paused while a concern is investigated.

Depending on the findings, the journal may take no further action, request revisions or clarification, reject a submission, publish a correction or expression of concern, retract an article, or refer relevant concerns to the authors’ institution or another appropriate body.

Actions will be proportionate to the evidence and the effect on the reliability and integrity of the scholarly record.

For more details, please review our dedicated Plagiarism Policy, Research Misconduct Policy, and Post Publication Discussion Policy.

Reporting Ethical Concerns

Ethical concerns should normally be submitted to editor@tejasjournals.com, with the manuscript or article details, a clear description of the concern, and relevant supporting evidence.

Where a concern involves the Editor-in-Chief, an author-editor, or a person who would normally receive the complaint, the matter must be referred to an uninvolved person with appropriate authority and expertise.

The Administrative Office at admin@tejasjournals.com may be contacted to request referral to an uninvolved handler. Administrative referral does not authorise the Administrative Office to override scholarly editorial decisions.

Relevant parties will be given an appropriate opportunity to respond, and confidential information will be shared only as necessary for fair assessment or a legitimate investigation.

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Generative AI systems (e.g., ChatGPT, LLMs) cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot assume legal or ethical accountability for published work. Human authors remain fully accountable for all content, data accuracy, citations, and ethical compliance.

Any substantive use of generative AI tools in text preparation, image generation, or data analysis must be transparently disclosed within the manuscript. View our Generative AI Policy for full guidance.

Corrections, Retractions & Appeals

When material errors, ethical concerns, or scholarly issues are identified after publication, TJTHS preserves the integrity of the scholarly record through appropriate actions, including corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and post-publication discussions where applicable. All editorial decisions may be appealed through a formal written request to the Editorial Office.

Please consult our Corrections and Retractions Policy and Complaints and Appeals Policy for detailed procedures.

Post Publication Discussion

TJTHS recognizes that scholarly communication continues after publication. The journal provides a mechanism for readers, researchers, and other stakeholders to raise questions, provide academic comments, or communicate concerns regarding published articles.

Post-publication discussions support transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement of the scholarly record. Comments or concerns should be based on academic evidence and relevant information related to the published work.

Readers may submit post-publication comments or concerns by providing:

• Article title and DOI or publication details.
• A clear explanation of the concern, observation, or scholarly comment.
• Supporting evidence or relevant references where applicable.
• Contact details for further communication.

All post-publication communications are reviewed by the Editorial Office. Where necessary, the journal may consult authors, reviewers, or subject experts before determining an appropriate response.

Possible editorial actions may include:

• Publication of corrections or clarifications.
• Author response or editorial comments.
• Expression of concern.
• Retraction of published articles in cases of confirmed serious issues affecting research integrity.

For detailed procedures, please refer to the Post Publication Discussion Policy.

Related Ethics and Publishing Policies

TJTHS maintains the following policies to support ethical and transparent scholarly publishing:

• Authorship Criteria
• Conflict of Interest Policy
• Funding Disclosure Policy
• Data Availability Policy
• Plagiarism Policy
• Research Misconduct Policy
• Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy
• Corrections & Retractions Policy
• Complaints and Appeals Policy
• Post Publication Discussion Policy

Editorial Office