Secholian Publication upholds the highest ethical standards throughout the publishing process and expects all participants, including editors, reviewers, and authors involved with the Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), to comply with the core practices outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Editor Responsibilities

1. The Editors (Editor in Chief/Managing Editor/Editorial board members) are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published;
2. The Editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief/Managing Editors may discuss with other editors or reviewers in making this decision;
3. The Editors at any time evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political views of the authors;
4. The Editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate;
5. The Editors should ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process;
6. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has a view of the manuscript in his or her own research without the express written permission of the authors;
7. The Editors should secure the integrity of the published record by issuing corrections and retractions when needed and pursuing suspected or alleged research and publication misconduct.

Editorial Board Responsibilities 

1. The Editorial Board must keep information pertaining to submitted manuscripts confidential.
2. The Editorial Board must disclose any conflicts of interest.
3. The Editorial Board must evaluate manuscripts only for their intellectual content.
4. The Editorial Board is responsible for making publication decisions for submitted manuscripts.

Reviewers Responsibilities 

1. Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors should be kept confidential and be treated as confidential information;
2. Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should indicate their views clearly with supporting arguments;
3. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any evidence that had been previously reported elsewhere should be accompanied by the relevant citation;
4. Reviewers should seek to the Editors attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge;
5. In case, any reviewer feels that it is not possible for him/her to complete review of manuscript within stipulated time then the same must be communicated to the editors, so that the same could be sent to any other reviewer;
6. Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

Authors Responsibilities 

1. The authors should submit papers only on work that has been conducted in an ethical and responsible manner and that complies with all relevant legislation;
2. The authors present   their   results   clearly,   honestly,  and   without   fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation;
3. The authors should aim to discuss their methods clearly and unambiguously so that their findings can be confirmed by others;
4. The authors should adhere to publication requirements that submitted work is original, is not plagiarized, and has not been published elsewhere;
5. The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others this must be appropriately cited;
6. The authors should take collective responsibility for submitted and published work;
7. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to reproduce the work. Duplicitous or expressively inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are inappropriate;
8. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work;
9. The authors should ensure that the authorship accurately reflects individuals’ contributions to the work and its reporting; and where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged;
10. The authors should disclose relevant funding sources and any existing or potential conflicts of interest. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed;
11. When an author discovers a serious error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s responsibility to promptly notify the journal editors and the editor to retract or correct the paper.

Plagiarism 

The Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities rigorously screens each submitted manuscript for plagiarism through iThenticate to guarantee content authenticity. The journal maintains a strict anti-plagiarism stance, rejecting any manuscript that incorporates text, ideas, images, or data from another source, including the author's own previous work, without appropriate attribution.

Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism during the initial assessment or peer review may face rejection. Should plagiarism come to light post-publication, the article will be retracted. The journal also holds the authority to notify the authors' affiliated institutions about any plagiarism incidents discovered pre- or post-publication.

Authorship and Collaboration 

Authorship of academic papers should reflect only those who have significantly contributed to the research. As co-authors, they should have participated in the work to a substantial degree. Those who have contributed in specific, meaningful ways should receive acknowledgment or be noted as contributors. The primary author is responsible for including all qualifying co-authors and excluding those who do not meet the criteria. Moreover, every co-author must agree to the paper's content and endorse the final draft prior to its submission.

Conflict of Interest

A statement on conflict of interest must be included in the manuscript if authors receive any support that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Studies Involving Human Subjects

For research involving human participants, authors must identify the committee that approved the research, confirm that all research was performed in accordance with relevant guidelines/regulations, and include a statement at the end of the manuscript confirming that informed consent was obtained from all participants and/or their legal guardians. All personal identifiers as defined by HIPAA, such as names, addresses, and birth dates of human subjects, should be excluded from every part of the manuscript and any additional materials. Furthermore, to publish any details that might identify a participant, like photographs or video content, it is essential to secure written consent from the individual involved.

Withdrawal Policy

Sometimes after an article has been published it may be necessary to make a change to the Version published. This will be done after careful consideration by the Editor who is also supported by Secholian Publication staff to ensure any necessary changes are made with guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Any necessary changes will be accompanied by a post-publication notice which will be permanently linked to the original article so that readers will be fully informed of any necessary changes. This can be in the form of a Correction notice, a Retraction, and in rare circumstances a Removal. The purpose of this mechanism of making changes that are permanent and transparent is to ensure the integrity of the scholarly record.

Retractions

A Retraction notice will be issued where a major error (e.g. in the analysis or methods) invalidates the conclusions in the article, or where research misconduct or publication misconduct has taken place (e.g. research without required ethical approvals, fabricated data, manipulated images, plagiarism, duplicate publication, etc.). The decision to issue a retraction for an article will be made by COPE guidelines and will involve an investigation by Secholian Publication editorial staff in collaboration with the editor. Authors and institutions may request a retraction of their articles if their reasons meet the criteria for retraction.

• Add a "retracted" watermark to the published version of the article.
• Issue a separate retraction statement, titled "Retraction: [article title]", that will be linked to the retracted article.

Removal

Articles may be subject to removal under the following circumstances:

Legal concerns or copyright infringement: If an article violates copyright laws, includes unauthorized use of someone else's work or content, or raises legal concerns, the journal or publisher may decide to remove the article.

Ethical or compliance issues: If an article involves ethical or compliance issues, such as unapproved human or animal research, unauthorized use of personal data, or breaches of ethical guidelines, the article may be subject to removal.

Miscounduct Policies

Should there be any suspicion or allegations of possible misconduct pre-publication or post-publication, including plagiarism, data fabrication and falsification, and redundant publications, the Journal Editor will act in accordance with the principles and processes recommended in the relevant COPE guidelines.