Instructional Design and Ethical Pedagogy (IDEP) takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously. Concerns involving submitted, reviewed, accepted, or published manuscripts will be assessed fairly, confidentially, objectively, and without regard to the author’s institutional affiliation, nationality, seniority, religious background, or academic status.
The journal is committed to protecting the integrity of the scholarly record while ensuring that allegations are supported by reasonable evidence and that individuals involved are given an appropriate opportunity to respond before a final editorial action is taken.
Misconduct may include, but is not limited to:
- fabrication or falsification of research data, findings, participants, instruments, or results;
- plagiarism, inappropriate paraphrasing, or unattributed use of another person’s ideas, words, data, or intellectual work;
- duplicate publication, redundant publication, or simultaneous submission of substantially the same manuscript to more than one journal;
- inappropriate authorship, ghost authorship, guest authorship, honorary authorship, or unauthorized changes to authorship;
- citation manipulation or deliberate use of irrelevant citations for the purpose of artificially increasing citation indicators;
- manipulation, fabrication, or interference with the peer-review process;
- undisclosed financial, institutional, academic, or personal conflicts of interest;
- unethical treatment of research participants or failure to obtain required ethical approval, permission, or informed consent where applicable;
- inappropriate manipulation of images, tables, figures, transcripts, qualitative evidence, or other research records;
- misrepresentation of research methods, primary data collection, findings, or the actual contribution of the study;
- inappropriate or undisclosed use of artificial intelligence or automated tools in ways that compromise authorship responsibility, data integrity, originality, confidentiality, or the reliability of the scholarly record.
Allegations of misconduct may be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief or Editorial Office. Reports should be made in good faith and should contain sufficient information to allow the journal to understand and assess the concern.
Where possible, the report should identify the manuscript or published article concerned, describe the suspected misconduct, and provide supporting documentation, evidence, references, or other relevant information. Anonymous allegations may be considered when they contain sufficiently specific and credible evidence.
Allegations will be handled as confidentially as reasonably possible. Information concerning the allegation, complainant, respondent, manuscript, and investigation will be disclosed only to individuals or institutions whose involvement is necessary for a fair assessment or resolution of the matter.
The editor assesses whether the allegation concerns a matter within the journal’s responsibility and whether sufficient information exists to justify further examination.
Relevant manuscript files, correspondence, review records, metadata, submitted evidence, and other appropriate documentation may be preserved for assessment.
The individual or individuals concerned may be informed of the allegation and invited to provide an explanation, clarification, original data, ethical documentation, or other supporting evidence.
Where the matter cannot be resolved through editorial assessment alone, the journal may seek additional expert advice or refer the matter to the relevant institution, ethics committee, research-integrity office, funding body, or other competent authority.
The journal determines an appropriate editorial response based on the available evidence, seriousness of the concern, stage of publication, and outcome of any relevant investigation.
Depending on the nature and seriousness of the case, IDEP may take one or more of the following actions:
- request clarification, documentation, original data, or corrections from the author;
- suspend manuscript processing while an allegation is being examined;
- reject a manuscript when serious misconduct is established before publication;
- publish a correction or other appropriate notice when the integrity of part of the published record requires amendment;
- publish an expression of concern when substantial unresolved questions exist regarding the reliability or integrity of a published article;
- retract a published article when the findings or publication record are demonstrated to be seriously unreliable or affected by major misconduct;
- notify the authors’ institution, research-integrity office, ethics committee, funding organization, or other appropriate authority when justified;
- take other proportionate editorial measures necessary to protect the integrity of the journal and scholarly record.
Publication does not prevent subsequent investigation. Credible allegations concerning an article already published by IDEP will be assessed and, where necessary, may result in a correction, expression of concern, retraction, or other appropriate update to the scholarly record.
An editor who has a personal, professional, institutional, financial, or other significant conflict of interest related to an allegation must not lead the assessment of that case. Responsibility should be transferred to another qualified editor or independent individual who can handle the matter impartially.
The journal encourages legitimate concerns about research and publication integrity to be raised in good faith. A person making an allegation is not required to prove misconduct conclusively before reporting a reasonable concern.
Knowingly false, fabricated, malicious, or deliberately misleading allegations may themselves constitute unethical conduct and may be referred to an appropriate institution or authority when justified.
IDEP seeks to address allegations of misconduct through confidentiality, impartiality, evidence-based assessment, procedural fairness, appropriate opportunity to respond, and proportionate editorial action. The primary purpose of this policy is to protect research integrity and maintain the accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness of the scholarly record.