Research Ethics

The Journal of Intelligent Computing and Connected Systems (JICCS) is committed to promoting responsible, ethical, and transparent research practices. Authors are expected to conduct and report their research in accordance with applicable ethical standards, regulations, and institutional requirements.

The ethical requirements applicable to a manuscript may depend on the nature of the research.

1. General Ethical Principles

Authors should ensure that their research:

• Is conducted honestly and responsibly.
• Is reported accurately and transparently.
• Respects the rights, safety, privacy, and dignity of research participants where applicable.
• Complies with relevant institutional, national, and international requirements.
• Properly acknowledges sources, contributions, funding, and supporting organizations.

2. Research Involving Human Participants

Research involving human participants should be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical requirements.

Where required, authors should obtain approval from an appropriate:

• Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Ethics Committee
• Institutional Ethics Committee
• Other recognized research ethics body

The manuscript should provide relevant information about ethical approval where applicable.

Where ethical approval is not required, authors should provide an appropriate explanation when requested by the editorial team.

3. Informed Consent

Where research involves human participants, appropriate informed consent should be obtained when required.

Participants should be provided with sufficient information about the research before providing consent.

Where applicable, authors should ensure that consent covers the collection, use, analysis, and publication of relevant information.

4. Privacy and Confidentiality

Authors must take appropriate measures to protect the privacy and confidentiality of research participants.

Personally identifiable information should not be published unless:

• It is necessary for the research.
• Appropriate consent has been obtained.
• Publication is permitted under applicable ethical requirements.

Authors should remove or appropriately anonymize unnecessary identifying information.

5. Research Involving Personal or Sensitive Data

Research involving personal, confidential, or sensitive data should follow applicable data-protection and ethical requirements.

Authors should describe relevant safeguards where appropriate, including:

• Data anonymization or pseudonymization.
• Secure data storage.
• Controlled access.
• Appropriate consent.
• Responsible data sharing.

6. Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals should comply with applicable institutional and regulatory requirements.

Where required, authors should obtain approval from the appropriate animal research ethics committee or institutional authority.

Authors should provide relevant ethical approval information in the manuscript where applicable.

7. Research Using Publicly Available Data

The use of publicly available datasets does not automatically eliminate ethical responsibilities.

Authors should:

• Follow the terms and conditions associated with the dataset.
• Respect applicable privacy requirements.
• Avoid inappropriate identification of individuals.
• Properly acknowledge the source of the data.
• Follow any required data-use or ethical restrictions.

Where ethical approval or additional authorization is required, authors should obtain it.

8. Artificial Intelligence and Automated Systems

Research involving artificial intelligence, machine learning, automated decision-making, or related technologies should be conducted responsibly.

Authors should consider, where applicable:

• Data privacy.
• Bias and fairness.
• Transparency.
• Reproducibility.
• Security.
• Responsible use of datasets.
• Potential societal impact.

Authors should clearly describe relevant methodologies and data sources where appropriate.

9. Data Integrity

Authors must report research data accurately.

JICCS does not support:

• Fabrication of data.
• Falsification of results.
• Manipulation of research findings.
• Misrepresentation of experimental results.
• Inappropriate manipulation of images or figures.

Where appropriate, authors should retain sufficient research records to support the reported findings.

10. Ethical Approval Statement

Where ethical approval is applicable, authors should provide information such as:

• Name of the approving institution or ethics committee.
• Approval or reference number, where applicable.
• Date of approval, where relevant.

Authors should not claim ethical approval that was not actually obtained.

11. Conflict of Interest

Authors should disclose any relevant personal, professional, financial, or institutional interests that could influence the research or its interpretation.

Where no relevant conflict exists, an appropriate declaration may be provided according to the journal's submission requirements.

12. Funding and Support

Authors should disclose relevant sources of financial or other research support where applicable.

Funding information should accurately identify the organization or institution providing support.

13. Research Misconduct

JICCS considers the following serious research-ethics concerns:

• Fabrication.
• Falsification.
• Plagiarism.
• Duplicate or inappropriate publication.
• Manipulation of research data.
• Misrepresentation of research findings.
• Unethical research involving human participants or animals.
• Other serious violations of research integrity.

Concerns may be investigated according to the journal's applicable publication-ethics procedures.

14. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors are responsible for:

☐ Conducting research responsibly and ethically.
☐ Obtaining required ethical approval where applicable.
☐ Obtaining informed consent where required.
☐ Protecting participant privacy and confidentiality.
☐ Using research data responsibly.
☐ Reporting results accurately.
☐ Disclosing relevant conflicts of interest.
☐ Declaring relevant funding and support.
☐ Providing accurate ethical approval information.
☐ Following applicable institutional and regulatory requirements.

15. Editorial Review of Ethical Concerns

The editorial team may request additional information or documentation when ethical concerns arise.

Where necessary, the journal may:

• Request clarification from the authors.
• Request evidence of ethical approval.
• Seek additional information from relevant institutions.
• Suspend editorial processing while concerns are assessed.
• Take appropriate action concerning the manuscript or published article.

16. Commitment to Responsible Research

JICCS supports responsible research practices and expects authors to maintain high standards of integrity throughout the research and publication process.

Ethical requirements may vary according to the research methodology, jurisdiction, institution, and subject area. Authors are responsible for identifying and complying with the requirements applicable to their research.