Allegations of Misconduct

Research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or plagiarism in producing, conducting, or reviewing research and writing articles by authors, or in reporting research results. When authors are found to have engaged in research misconduct or other serious misconduct involving articles that have been published in a scientific journal, the Editor has a responsibility to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the scientific record.

In cases of suspected misconduct, the Editor and Editorial Board will use COPE best practices to help them resolve complaints and deal fairly with the misconduct. This will include an investigation of the allegations by the Editor. Manuscripts submitted that are found to contain such misconduct will be rejected. In cases where published papers are found to contain such misconduct, a retraction may be published and will be linked to the original article.

The first step involves determining the validity of the allegations and assessing whether they are consistent with the definition of research misconduct. This initial step also involves determining whether the individual alleging misconduct has a relevant conflict of interest.

If it is suspected that scientific misconduct or other substantial research misconduct is a possibility, the allegations are shared with the corresponding author, who, or on behalf of all co-authors, is asked to provide a detailed response. Once responses have been received and evaluated, additional review and involvement of experts (such as statistical reviewers) may be sought. For cases where misconduct is unlikely, clarification, additional analysis, or both, published as a letter to the editor, and often including a correction notice and correction to the published article, are sufficient.

Institutions are expected to conduct appropriate and thorough investigations into allegations of scientific misconduct. Ultimately, authors, journals, and institutions have an important obligation to ensure the accuracy of the scientific record. By responding appropriately to concerns about scientific misconduct, and taking appropriate action based on the evaluation of those concerns, such as corrections, retractions with replacement, and retractions, Economics & Islamic Finance (ECIF) will continue to fulfill its responsibility to ensure the validity and integrity of the scientific record.