Ethics and Integrity Policy

Chitkara University Publications (CUP) journals are committed to upholding the highest standards of ethics, integrity, and transparency in scholarly publishing. Our policies are designed to promote responsible conduct in research and maintain trust in the academic record.

Ethical Compliance

All authors must adhere to international, national, and institutional standards for ethical research and reporting. This is particularly essential for studies involving human participants, animals, biological materials, or sensitive data. Authors are responsible for:

• Securing ethics committee or institutional review board approval where applicable.
• Obtaining informed consent from participants.
• Ensuring confidentiality, data protection, and respectful treatment of subjects.

Publication Ethics and COPE Membership

CUP journals follow the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), of which they are members. All stakeholders—authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers—are expected to uphold the principles of transparency, accountability, and fairness.

Competing Interests

To safeguard objectivity and research credibility, authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any competing financial, institutional, or personal interests that may influence their work or judgment. Any conflicts must be transparently declared at the time of submission or review.

Plagiarism and Originality

CUP journals maintain strict policies against plagiarism and redundant publication. All submissions are screened using plagiarism detection software. Suspected cases are handled according to COPE’s recommended procedures. Authors must ensure that submitted work is original, properly cited, and not under consideration elsewhere.

Peer Review Integrity

All manuscripts undergo a rigorous double-blind peer review process to ensure scholarly quality, fairness, and impartiality. Reviewers are selected for their subject expertise and are expected to maintain confidentiality, objectivity, and constructiveness in their evaluations.

Misconduct Handling

CUP journals take allegations of research or publication misconduct seriously, including issues such as data fabrication, image manipulation, authorship disputes, and unethical experimentation. All concerns will be thoroughly investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines to protect the integrity of the published record.

By publishing with CUP, authors agree to abide by these ethical standards and contribute to a trustworthy scholarly ecosystem.