Policies & Ethics

 

Contents

 

The Journal of Intelligent Digital Media and Communication (JIDMC) is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity, transparency, and responsibility throughout all stages of the scholarly publishing process. The journal recognizes that research quality extends beyond the originality of findings to include adherence to publication ethics, sound editorial practices, fair peer review, and respect for the rights and responsibilities of all participants involved in scholarly communication.

JIDMC maintains clear editorial and publishing policies governing the submission, review, and publication of manuscripts in accordance with internationally recognized best practices in scholarly publishing. These policies are designed to safeguard research integrity, ensure the reliability of the scholarly record, and strengthen the confidence of authors, reviewers, readers, and the wider academic community.

All editorial policies adopted by JIDMC are binding upon authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the Editorial Board. Compliance with these policies is a prerequisite for manuscript consideration, peer review, and publication.

These policies are applied consistently and without discrimination, regardless of the authors' nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, ethnicity, religion, or political beliefs.

Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

The Journal of Intelligent Digital Media and Communication (JIDMC) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, academic honesty, transparency, and responsible scholarly publishing. The journal publishes original and high-quality scholarly work and does not tolerate any form of research or publication misconduct, including plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, duplicate or redundant publication, simultaneous submission, inappropriate manipulation of images or data, citation manipulation, or other practices that compromise the integrity of the scholarly record.

All submitted manuscripts are screened for plagiarism and excessive textual similarity using appropriate detection tools. Manuscripts that raise substantial concerns regarding originality may be rejected or returned to the authors for clarification or appropriate corrective action.

The journal investigates suspected cases of research or publication misconduct in accordance with established scholarly publishing practices. Where misconduct is confirmed, JIDMC may take appropriate editorial action, including rejection of the manuscript, correction or retraction of a published article, and other measures deemed necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record. The nature of the editorial action will depend on the circumstances and severity of the violation.

JIDMC follows internationally recognized principles and best practices in publication ethics, including the guidance and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research complies with all applicable ethical and legal requirements. Where research involves human participants, authors must obtain appropriate ethical approval and/or informed consent, as required by the relevant institutional, national, or international standards, and must provide appropriate information regarding such approval or consent in the manuscript.

Responsibilities of Authors, Reviewers, and Editors

Authors are responsible for submitting original research, ensuring the accuracy of their data and findings, disclosing all sources of funding and any potential conflicts of interest, and cooperating fully throughout the editorial and peer-review process. Reviewers are expected to maintain strict confidentiality, provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluations, and disclose any conflicts of interest that may affect their impartiality. Editors are responsible for managing the peer-review process fairly, independently, and transparently, making editorial decisions solely on the basis of academic merit, originality, methodological rigor, and relevance to the journal's scope.

All listed authors must have made a substantial contribution to the research and manuscript and must approve the final version of the work.

Editors and reviewers are required to treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents and must not disclose or use unpublished information for personal advantage.

Peer Review Policy

JIDMC employs a double-blind peer-review process to ensure fairness, impartiality, and confidentiality.

All submitted manuscripts first undergo an initial editorial screening to assess their relevance to the journal's scope, originality, academic quality, and compliance with the journal's submission requirements. Manuscripts that pass the initial screening are assigned to two independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

During the double-blind review, the identities of authors and reviewers are kept confidential. Reviewers evaluate the manuscript's academic quality, originality, methodological soundness, relevance, and overall contribution.

Editorial decisions may include Accept, Minor Revisions, Major Revisions, or Reject. When revisions are requested, authors are given an opportunity to respond to the reviewers' comments and submit a revised manuscript. Revised manuscripts may be returned to the reviewers for further evaluation.

The final publication decision is made by the editor based on the reviewers' recommendations and the manuscript's academic and ethical standards. If the reviewers provide conflicting recommendations, the editor may seek an additional independent review before making a final decision.

JIDMC aims to complete the initial editorial screening and, where appropriate, send manuscripts for peer review within 14–21 days of submission.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any actual, potential, or perceived conflicts of interest that could influence the objectivity of the research or publication process. The journal takes appropriate measures to ensure that conflicts of interest are managed transparently and do not compromise the fairness and integrity of editorial and peer-review decisions.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

JIDMC recognizes the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) in research and scholarly publishing. Authors may use AI tools for language editing and technical assistance, but any substantial use of generative AI should be disclosed.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and content of their manuscripts, including verifying AI-generated information, citations, data, and analyses. AI must not be used to fabricate or falsify research data, results, references, or scientific conclusions.

Reviewers and editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and must not use generative AI to generate or assist in preparing peer-review reports or editorial assessments. Generative AI tools should not be cited as sources.

JIDMC is committed to open access and provides immediate and unrestricted access to all published articles. Authors retain copyright of their work and grant JIDMC the right of first publication.

All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits sharing, redistribution, adaptation, and commercial or non-commercial reuse, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and publication.

Publication Fees – 2026

Journal of Intelligent Digital Media and Communication (JIDMC) does not charge authors any submission fees, article processing charges (APCs), peer-review fees, or publication fees for manuscripts submitted and published in 2026. All articles accepted for publication are published without any charges to the authors.

Transparency and Scholarly Record Correction 

The journal promotes transparency throughout the publication process by encouraging appropriate disclosure of research funding and encouraging authors, where applicable, to make supporting research data available, subject to ethical, legal, and privacy considerations. JIDMC maintains clear procedures for issuing corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern when necessary to preserve the accuracy, reliability, and integrity of the scholarly record. Corrections are issued when significant errors can be corrected without invalidating the main findings of an article. Retractions may be issued when published work is found to be unreliable or affected by serious research or publication misconduct.

A retracted article will remain part of the journal's scholarly record and will be clearly marked as RETRACTED, with a notice explaining the reason for the retraction. Articles will not be silently removed from the journal website. In exceptional circumstances, an article may be withdrawn for serious legal, ethical, or technical reasons, while an appropriate bibliographic record and withdrawal notice are maintained.

Editorial actions are undertaken in a transparent and timely manner to maintain the integrity and reliability of the scholarly record.

Complaints and Appeals

The journal provides a fair and transparent mechanism through which authors, reviewers, and readers may submit complaints or appeal editorial decisions. All cases are handled confidentially, impartially, and in accordance with the journal's established procedures. Final decisions are made after careful consideration of all relevant evidence and documentation.

Policy Review and Updates

JIDMC regularly reviews and updates its editorial and publication policies to reflect developments in scholarly publishing and internationally recognized best practices. Any revisions become effective upon approval by the Editorial Board, reinforcing the journal's ongoing commitment to academic excellence, research integrity, transparency, and responsible publishing.

By submitting a manuscript to JIDMC, authors confirm that they have read, understood, and agreed to comply with all editorial, ethical, and publication policies of the journal. Failure to comply with these policies may result in editorial action, including rejection, withdrawal, or retraction of the manuscript, where appropriate.