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Editorial and Ethics Policies

Since International Journal of Physical Education, Fitness and Sports is a member of COPE (https://publicationethics.org/members/international-journal-physical-education-fitness-and-sports) for the quality standards, the journal follows CORE practices that are formulated by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices). Moreover, it also follows the guidelines provided by ICMJE (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/).

Authorship and Contributorship

According to ICMJE, authorship can be applicable if it meets the following four benchmarks (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html)

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
  3. Final approval of the version to be published
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Authors who did not meet any of the four criteria cannot be considered for authorship, and they can only be added in the acknowledgment section. Authors should not acknowledge their co-authors /corresponding authors (Usually supervisor) in a acknowledge section.

  • The above guidelines facilitate a flawless reviewing process and remind the authors of the crucial factors for acceptance of the manuscript.
  • With no restriction on the number of authors, the journal expects each author to substantially contribute to the conceptualization, writing, review, editing, data analysis, and interpretation with utmost transparency. For more details regarding the author's contribution statement, we encourage the authors to read the following article (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/leap.1210)
  • All the authors of the manuscript are entitled the accountability for plagiarism, piracy, and Genuity of the concept.
  • In case of collaborative research work of authors admits various agencies, institutions, or countries, the collaboration should seem justifiable. The mere inclusion of members may impact the authenticity of the work.
  • As the journal's scope focuses on research involving human samples, details on informed consent or ethical approval of participants' appropriate disclosure are to be mentioned in the manuscript, or a certificate may also be enclosed with the manuscript.

For more details regarding authorship and contributorship, we encourage the authors to read COPE policies (https://publicationethics.org/authorship).


Peer Review

All submitted articles are reviewed by the editorial team (at least two editors) to verify they match our editorial standards. Only those likely to satisfy our requirements are forwarded for formal evaluation, saving authors and peer-reviewers time. Articles judged uninteresting or improper are immediately discarded, with no external assessment. Articles deemed potentially interesting by our readers are forwarded for formal evaluation, normally to two or three reviewers (double-blind review process) who are familiar with the relevant title, but occasionally to more if particular guidance is required. The editors then make a choice based on the suggestions of the reviewers. Outlining the benefits and drawbacks of publication might be more beneficial than a simple advice, which provides editors with the information they need to make an informed choice. When reviewers agree to analyze a paper, they promise to watch for subsequent updates. Editors will not return resubmitted work to reviewers if authors do not appear to have addressed comments. Further, ARA follows the ethical guidelines formulated by the COPE (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/cope-ethical-guidelines-peer-reviewers) (https://publicationethics.org/peerreview).

If the article is published by the Editor-in-Chief or any of the editors, then the publisher forms a committee where the publisher, one of the editors, and one anonymous subject expert appointed by the publisher will lead the review process and will intimate the decision of the article to the EIC/Editor/Board member. Anonymity will be maintained throughout the process.

Confidentiality

  • The editors of the journal are advised to maintain anonymity during the pre and post-publication process.
  • Since the journal follows a double-blind peer review system, the details of the reviewers will be kept secret. Moreover, the articles will be sent to the reviewers without the information of authors and affiliations.
  • If the article is not accepted/published in our journal, then the details will not be made public and will be deleted after a year from our system.
  • ARA maintains the right to notify funders, regulatory organizations, journals, and the authors' institutions in situations of suspected research or publishing misconduct.

Ethics and Malpractices Policies

Data Sharing Policy

ARA instigate the authors to freely and openly share their contents, data, code, and related methods with readers. Any restrictions on the availability of resources or information must be communicated to the editors both during the submission process and in the article itself.
If authors refuse to follow these principles after publication, readers may contact the chief editor of the journal. If the problem cannot be resolved, the authors' funding institution may be contacted, and a formal statement of correction may be issued online, saying that readers were unable to access the required materials.


Ethics policies for participants (Vulnerable Populations)

We prioritize the ethical treatment of vulnerable participants in our research publication. We strictly adhere to international standards and guidelines given by US Department of Health and Human Services (https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/belmont-report/read-the-belmont-report/index.html), UNESCO, Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights (https://en.unesco.org/about-us/legal-affairs/universal-declaration-bioethics-and-human-rights) ensuring that studies involving vulnerable populations undergo rigorous ethical scrutiny. Authors must provide explicit details on how they address the welfare, autonomy, and informed consent of vulnerable participants. We advocate for studies that contribute positively to vulnerable communities, respecting their dignity and minimizing potential harm. Our commitment to ethical practices fosters a scholarly environment that upholds the highest standards of integrity and sensitivity towards vulnerable participants.


Plagiarism and Manipulation of Data

Plagiarism and misleading data are not permitted in any journal publication. ARA has a stringent anti-plagiarism policy, which is enforced by two methods: reviewer checks and plagiarism prevention technology (iThenticate). Before sending the articles to the reviewers, all submissions will be checked and validated by our editorial staff. Further, the authors are suggested to read the COPE policy on Plagiarism for submitted and post-published articles. For more details, the authors are suggested to read COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts/plagiarism-submitted-manuscript).
It is strictly forbidden to publish the same research paper in several journals. The authors will be held accountable for producing retractions or corrections if an article contains incorrect information. Currently, ARA follows COPE and ICMJE guidelines, and the authors are suggested to read the guidelines. (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines) (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/corrections-and-version-control.html). Further ARA follows the COPE policies on manipulation of Data and images, and the authors can find more details on the COPE platform (https://publicationethics.org/data)


Corrections, Retractions and Research Misconduct

The ARA Journal is responsible for the Corrections, retraction notifications, and other post-publication alterations to published content. An Author Correction may be published to rectify substantial mistakes made by the author(s) that might imperial the scientific integrity of the published work, the publishing record, or the authors' or the journal's reputation.
A Publisher Correction may be issued to remedy substantial errors made by the journal that might jeopardize the scientific integrity of the published work, the publishing record, or the authors' or the journal's reputation.
In addition to the published article, if significant additional data has to be added, a postscript is frequently published that is critical to the reader's understanding.
The publication may be withdrawn if the integrity of the published work is considerably undermined owing to flaws in the study's design, analysis, and/or reporting or violations of publishing or research ethics. The original article will be withdrawn, but readers can still access a PDF version, and the retraction statement will be linked in both ways to the original published work. The authors' agreement or disagreement may be included in retraction notices. ARA further encourages the authors to read COPE policies on retractions (https://publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/retraction-guidelines-cope.pdf)
On the HTML webpage of a published article as well as in the PDF of the published article, the readers can find out the Crossmark button, and just by clicking them, it enables the readers to identify the current version of the record they are reading, including corrections/modifications.
The ARA Journal maintains certain regulations in extreme circumstances to withdraw an article, chapter, book, or other content from varied online platforms. If ARA Journal is notified that the content is calumnious, violates a third party's intellectual property right or right to privacy, or is otherwise unlawful, or if a court or government order requiring the removal of such content has been issued or is likely to be issued, or if the content would pose an immediate and serious risk to health, this action may be taken. Depending on the degree of defamation, the removal may be temporary or permanent, and also noting why the item was deleted will be maintained. The following COPE Guidelines will be followed for Retracting Articles (https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines) and Allegations of Research Misconduct (https://publicationethics.org/misconduct).


Conflict of interest

For Authors:

Contributors must declare any genuine or potential conflict of interest, including any financial, personal, or other connections with other people or institutions that could unfairly influence, or be perceived to influence, their work within three years of starting it. For more details, the authors are directed to read ICMJE and COPE guidelines(https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/author-responsibilities--conflicts-of-interest.html) (https://publicationethics.org/competinginterests).

For Editors:

Duty to the Journal: Editors of the International Journal of Physical Education, Fitness and Sports (IJPEFS) are committed to maintaining the integrity, impartiality, and credibility of the journal. They ensure that their primary responsibility is to the journal and its readers.
Impartial Decision-Making: Decisions are based solely on the merit of submissions, free from personal or professional influences.
Disclosure of Conflicts: Editors promptly disclose potential conflicts of interest, ensuring impartial manuscript handling.
Recusal from Decision-Making: Editors abstain from decisions involving manuscripts with personal or professional connections.
Transparency: Editors maintain transparency by communicating relevant conflicts of interest to authors, reviewers, and readers.
These principles(https://publicationethics.org/resources/forum-discussion-topics/editorial-conflicts-interest) aim to uphold high editorial standards and ensure the credibility of the IJPEFS journal.

For Reviewers: click here
For Publisher Responsibilities: click here

Ethical guidelines for study involving humans

The ensuing moral requirements must be followed in any experiments with Humans, and they must all be done in conformity with the Helsinki Declaration (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/). Authors are encouraged to provide ethics approval number for their study based on clinical trials. Or from the Institutional Ethics Committee. The declaration that the experiment was carried out with the understanding and permission of the human subjects, as well as a statement that the responsible, ethical committee has approved the experiment, must both be included in manuscripts reporting experimental work that poses a danger to or harms humans. Further, we encourage the authors to read ICMJE guidelines (https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/manuscript-preparation/preparing-for-submission.html).


Acknowledgements

The acknowledgment part is designed to express gratitude to anyone who assisted with the research work but did not fulfill the authorship criteria and to provide details about the grant and technical/instrumental support.


Fees

All accepted papers will be published for free, and authors will not be charged any submission or publishing costs.


Copyright and Open Access Policy

The author(s) retain total ownership of the publication rights. The ARA work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License granting permission for anyone to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the content for any lawful purpose, with the condition that the original work and source are appropriately cited.


Digital Archiving / Sharing Policy

Being a Portico member, all the journal contents will be preserved permanently and remain accessible to the scientific community (https://www.portico.org/publishers/ara/?keyword=&filter_by%5B%5D=e-journal). Apart from PORTICO, the contents are also preserved in the J-Gate database (https://jgateplus.com/admin/footer-html/PublisherPartners.jsp) and indexed in the Keepers Registry (https://keepers.issn.org/).
ARA follows the green archiving policy formulated by Sherpa/Reomeo's, and since all the articles are published under CC BY 4.0 license, which allows the authors to deposit their pre and post-publications in institutional and other repositories.


Advertising & Marketing Policy

ARA does not publish any commercial and non-commercial advertisements on any of our journal websites as well as printed subscribed copies.
All the information regarding new issues, published issues, and indexing-related alerts is delivered only to the registered users of our website who have agreed to receive the update through email. And journal promotion is also done through social networks.


Complaints Policy

The authors and readers may directly send their complaints to the Editorial Office via support@asianresassoc.org, and it will be solved in a maximum of 3 weeks. All the complaints received by the ARA will be addressed based on the guidelines proposed by the COPE (https://publicationethics.org/).


Journal Management and Revenue Sources

Publisher / Editorial office

International Journal of Physical Education Fitness and Sports,
614-1, Opposite to Universe Fitness Center, Vanjima Nagar, Palamalai Road,
Coimbatore-641020, Tamil Nadu, India
Email: contact@ijpefs.org
Ph: +91 95973 81128


Co-Publisher and Maintained by

Asian Research Association
5/342, Angalamman Street, Naicken Palayam, Coimbatore-641020, Tamil Nadu, India
Ph: +91 422 299 5626
Regd.No : R/PN/BK-4/71/2021 (Indian Trust Act 1982)
PAN Card No: AAITA6320M
Organization Website: https://asianresassoc.org/
Email: contact@asianresassoc.org
Currently, the journal generates its revenue through membership and hardcopy subscriptions to the Individuals and Institutional libraries.