PUBLICATION ETHICS (COPE)

BUTA International Journal of Scientific Research is committed to maintaining high standards of academic integrity and publication ethics. The journal follows internationally accepted ethical principles and is guided by the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1). Duties of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal must ensure that:

•                     their work is original and has not been published elsewhere;

•                     the manuscript is not under consideration by another journal;

•                     all sources are properly cited;

•                     all listed authors have made a significant contribution to the research;

•                     any conflicts of interest are disclosed.

Plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, and redundant publication are considered serious ethical violations.

2). Duties of Editors

Editors are responsible for:

•                     evaluating manuscripts based solely on their academic merit;

•                     maintaining confidentiality of all submitted materials;

•                     ensuring a fair and unbiased peer-review process;

•                     preventing conflicts of interest in editorial decisions;

•                     taking appropriate action in cases of suspected misconduct.

3). Duties of Reviewers

Reviewers are expected to:

•                     provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluations;

•                     maintain confidentiality of manuscripts;

•                     identify relevant published work that has not been cited;

•                     disclose any conflict of interest and decline review when necessary.

4). Plagiarism and Screening

All submitted manuscripts are checked for plagiarism and similarity. Manuscripts with evidence of plagiarism, excessive similarity, or unethical research practices are rejected.

5). Retractions and Corrections

If significant errors or ethical issues are discovered after publication, the journal may publish:

•                     corrections;

•                     expressions of concern; or

•                     retractions,

in accordance with COPE guidelines.

6). Conflicts of Interest

All participants in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, and editors, must disclose any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence their work.

7). Archiving and Digital Preservation Policy

BUTA International Journal of Scientific Research is committed to ensuring the long-term accessibility, integrity, and preservation of its published scholarly content.

Electronic Archive

All published issues and articles are maintained in the journal’s electronic archive and remain freely accessible through the official journal website.

The journal aims to preserve the scholarly record in a stable and accessible form and to maintain continued access to published content.

Persistent Identification and DOI Registration

Each published article is assigned a persistent Digital Object Identifier (DOI) registered through Crossref.

DOI registration provides persistent identification of published articles and supports reliable linking, citation, metadata exchange, and long-term discoverability of the scholarly record.

DOI Registration Agency: Crossref

DOI Prefix: 10.66526

Metadata Preservation

Bibliographic and publication metadata associated with published articles are maintained as part of the journal’s digital records.

Relevant article metadata and DOI information are registered with Crossref to support persistent identification and discovery of the journal’s scholarly content.

Backup and Data Protection

The journal maintains regular backups of its published digital content and associated metadata in order to reduce the risk of accidental loss, technical failure, data corruption, or other disruptions.

Backup procedures form part of the journal’s efforts to protect the integrity and continued availability of its published scholarly record.

Website and Archive Availability

Published articles and issues remain available through the journal’s online archive.

Where website maintenance, migration, or technical changes are required, reasonable measures are taken to preserve access to published content and to maintain the continuity of links and bibliographic information.

Independent Long-Term Digital Preservation

The journal is currently working toward participation in an appropriate recognized independent digital preservation or archival service.

Once such a preservation arrangement has been formally established, the name of the preservation service and relevant information will be published on this page.

The journal will not claim participation in an external preservation service until such participation has been formally established.

Journal or Publisher Discontinuation

In the event that BUTA International Journal of Scientific Research or its publisher ceases operations, reasonable measures will be taken to preserve the published scholarly record and maintain continued access to previously published content through an appropriate recognized digital preservation or archival service.

The journal considers the preservation of published articles to be part of its responsibility to authors, readers, researchers, and the scholarly community.

Policy Updates

Any active external preservation arrangements will be identified transparently on the journal website.

8). Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

BUTA International Journal of Scientific Research recognizes the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools in academic research and scholarly communication.

Use of AI by Authors

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for language improvement, grammar correction, translation, and limited technical assistance. Any substantial use of generative AI in the preparation of a manuscript must be disclosed transparently.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot take responsibility for the content of a scholarly work or meet the requirements for authorship.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and reliability of all submitted content, including text, data, analysis, references, images, and conclusions. Authors must verify AI-generated or AI-assisted content before submission.

The use of AI to fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent data, references, images, results, or other research content is prohibited.

If AI tools form part of the research methodology, authors should describe their use in the manuscript, including the name of the tool, its version where relevant, and how it was used.

Use of AI by Reviewers

Reviewers must protect the confidentiality of manuscripts and related materials.

Unpublished manuscripts, data, or confidential information must not be uploaded to publicly accessible generative AI systems or other external AI tools that may store, process, or reuse the submitted material.

Reviewers remain fully responsible for the content, accuracy, and integrity of their review reports.

Use of AI by Editors

Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and must not upload unpublished or confidential manuscript material to publicly accessible generative AI systems.

Editorial decisions must be made by qualified human editors and must not be delegated to AI systems.

Violations of the AI Policy

Undisclosed substantial use of generative AI, or the use of AI in ways that violate standards of research integrity, confidentiality, or authorship, may result in rejection of a manuscript or other appropriate corrective action in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics policies.