Intelligence, Informatics and Infrastructure is committed to the highest ethical standards in publishing. Our policies follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and all parties — editors, reviewers, and authors — are expected to uphold them.
1. Responsibilities of Editors
- Fair evaluation of manuscripts on intellectual merit, without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
- Confidentiality of all submitted material.
- Editorial independence — decisions are made on scholarly grounds, free from commercial or political influence.
- Conflict-of-interest management — editors recuse themselves from manuscripts in which they have a competing interest.
2. Responsibilities of Reviewers
- Confidentiality — manuscripts under review are confidential documents.
- Objectivity — reviews are constructive, evidence-based, and respectful.
- No personal advantage — privileged information must not be used for personal gain.
- Disclosure — reviewers declare conflicts of interest and decline review where appropriate.
3. Responsibilities of Authors
- Originality & plagiarism. Manuscripts must be original and properly cite all sources. Plagiarism in any form is unacceptable. All submissions are screened for textual similarity by the editorial office using iThenticate (Crossref Similarity Check); suspected plagiarism is handled in accordance with COPE guidance.
- No duplicate or concurrent submission. Manuscripts must not be under consideration elsewhere; any related prior publication or preprint must be disclosed.
- Authorship. Authorship is limited to those who made a significant contribution. All listed authors must approve the submission, and all who qualify must be included.
- Conflicts of interest & funding. Authors must declare any competing interests and all sources of funding.
- Data integrity. Fabrication or falsification of data, and improper image or citation manipulation, constitute serious misconduct.
4. Conflicts of Interest
All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose financial or personal relationships that could be perceived to influence the work. Each published article includes a conflict-of-interest statement (or a declaration that none exists).
5. Authorship & Contributorship
Author contributions are recorded using CRediT roles. Any change to authorship (addition, removal, or reordering) after submission requires the written agreement of all authors and the approval of the handling editor.
6. Research Integrity & Misconduct
The journal treats plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, citation manipulation, and peer-review manipulation as serious breaches of integrity. Research involving human participants or personal data must comply with relevant laws and institutional approvals, and authors must confirm appropriate consent.
7. Policy on Generative AI
Authors may use generative-AI tools to improve language and readability under strict conditions:
- Disclosure of any use of such tools in the manuscript.
- Responsibility — authors are fully accountable for all content; AI tools cannot be authors.
- Images — generative AI must not be used to create or alter images, except where it is part of the research design itself.
This aligns with COPE's position on AI tools. See also the journal's Data, Code & AI Policy.
8. Submissions by Editors and Board Members
Manuscripts submitted by the Editor-in-Chief, editors, Editorial Board members, or their close collaborators are handled by an independent editor with no conflict of interest. The submitting editor is excluded from all editorial discussions and decisions and has no access to reviewer identities. (See the Peer Review & Editorial Process.)
9. Allegations of Misconduct
In cases of suspected misconduct, the Editorial Board follows the relevant COPE flowcharts. The allegation is investigated, the author is given an opportunity to respond, and, if misconduct is confirmed, appropriate action is taken, up to rejection or retraction.
10. Complaints & Appeals
Authors who wish to appeal a decision or raise a complaint may contact the Editor-in-Chief via the editorial office. Complaints are investigated by the Editorial Board and addressed in a timely manner.
11. Corrections, Retractions & Expressions of Concern
If a significant error is found in a published article, the journal will publish a Correction (Erratum). Where findings are invalidated or misconduct is confirmed, the journal will issue a Retraction; where matters are under investigation, an Expression of Concern may be published, in accordance with COPE guidelines.
12. Special Issues
Guest-edited special issues are subject to the same peer-review standards, editorial oversight, and ethical policies as regular issues. Guest editors declare conflicts of interest, and their own submissions are handled independently.
13. Third-Party Material & Permissions
Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce any copyrighted material (for example, figures, tables, photographs, or extended quotations) from other sources, and for any associated fees. The original source must be fully cited, and copies of permissions must be provided to the editorial office before publication. This also applies to the authors' own previously published material held by another publisher.
14. Advertising
Intelligence, Informatics and Infrastructure does not accept advertising. Should this change in the future, an advertising policy will be published here; advertisements would be clearly distinguished from editorial content and kept entirely separate from editorial decision-making.
15. Editorial Independence
Editorial decisions are based solely on the scientific quality, originality, and relevance of the work and on ethical considerations, and are made independently of the publisher, the society, and any commercial or financial interest. In particular, article processing charges, waiver or discount status, sponsorship, and any other revenue source play no part in peer review or in the decision to accept or reject a manuscript.