Regional Synergies in Engineering & Society

These Ethical Standards are developed and adopted from the world’s best practices of scientific publishing. Intellectual honesty should be actively promoted in all areas of research and scholarly communication, serving as the foundation for publication ethics and the prevention of misconduct.

RSES Global is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical behaviour at every stage of the publication process. The journal follows the guidance of leading industry associations, including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the European Association of Science Editors (EASE), which establish standards and provide recommendations for best practices to ensure research and publication integrity.

1. Definitions

Editor – the person responsible for managing the editorial process and ensuring the quality, integrity, and ethical standards of the journal.
Author – an individual who makes a substantial intellectual contribution to a study and takes responsibility for the content of a particular section or the entire work.
Peer reviewers – independent experts selected by editors to provide objective written feedback on submitted manuscripts to improve their scholarly quality.
Conflicts of interest – personal, financial, academic, political, or commercial interests that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, research, authorship, review, or editorial decision-making.
Plagiarism – the presentation of another person’s published or unpublished ideas, words, data, or other intellectual property without proper attribution, as if they were original.
Self-plagiarism – the reuse of one’s own previously published text, ideas, or data in a new manuscript without appropriate citation or acknowledgement.
Falsification/Fabrication of data – fabrication refers to the creation of non-existent data or results; falsification is the deliberate manipulation of research data, methods, or processes to misrepresent findings.
Retraction – a formal withdrawal of a published article due to errors, misconduct, or other serious issues that invalidate its findings or ethical standing.

2. Editors' Responsibilities

Editors carry a central role in maintaining the integrity, quality, and ethical standards of the journal. Their responsibilities include:

Fair evaluation – to evaluate manuscripts exclusively based on their intellectual content, regardless of the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political views.
Use of standard systems – to handle all submissions and communications through the journal’s official electronic submission system, ensuring transparency and accountability.
Independence from commercial influence – to process manuscripts submitted for sponsored supplements or special issues under the same rigorous criteria as regular submissions, ensuring that acceptance is based solely on academic merit.
Confidentiality – to protect the confidentiality of all submitted materials and reviewer communications. Limited sharing of information may only occur, in consultation with the publisher, when necessary to investigate suspected research misconduct.
Handling complaints – to adopt reasonable procedures for addressing ethical or conflict-related complaints. Authors must be allowed to respond. All complaints, regardless of when the article was published, must be investigated, documented, and retained. Every report of unethical publishing behaviour must be addressed, even if discovered years after publication.
Respect for intellectual property – unpublished materials from submitted manuscripts must not be used in an editor’s own research without explicit written permission from the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must remain confidential and must not be used for personal gain.
Peer review integrity – to ensure that the peer review process is fair, unbiased, independent, and conducted within an appropriate timeframe, with clear communication to both authors and reviewers.

3. Authors' Responsibilities

Authors are expected to uphold the highest standards of integrity, accuracy, and transparency in the preparation and submission of their manuscripts. Their responsibilities include:

Accuracy and data management – to maintain precise and reliable records of data related to their submitted manuscript and to provide access to these data upon reasonable request. Where applicable, and if permitted by the employer, funding body, or other stakeholders, authors should deposit research data in an appropriate repository for sharing and future use.
Originality and exclusivity – to confirm that the submitted manuscript is original, has not been published elsewhere, and is not under simultaneous consideration by another journal. Submitting the same work to more than one journal constitutes unethical behaviour and is unacceptable. Any overlapping content with previously published or submitted work must be properly acknowledged and cited, and the editor must be provided a copy of the related manuscript.
Proper citation and permissions – to acknowledge and cite sources of content reproduced from other works and to obtain permission for reproducing any material, including figures, tables, or text passages, from other publications.
Conflict of interest disclosure – to declare all financial, personal, or professional relationships that could influence or be perceived as influencing their research or its interpretation, at any stage of the publication process.
Responsibility for research integrity – to take responsibility for the validity and reliability of their contribution, whether for a specific section or the entire study. Authors must ensure that research is conducted and reported in compliance with relevant institutional, national, and international regulations and ethical standards.
Authorship transparency – to ensure that the list of authors includes all and only those individuals who meet accepted authorship criteria. Each author must have made a significant contribution to the research and be able to take responsibility for the work.
Corrections and retractions – to promptly notify the editor or publisher if a significant error or inaccuracy is discovered in their published work, and to cooperate in issuing corrections (erratum, addendum, corrigendum) or, where necessary, in retracting the publication.
Avoidance of plagiarism – to ensure that their submission is free of plagiarism in all forms, including text, figures, or graphics. Any instance of plagiarism constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and will be addressed in accordance with COPE guidelines.

4. Reviewers’ Responsibilities / Peer Review

Peer review is an essential component of the scholarly publishing process. It assists editors in making informed editorial decisions and, through constructive feedback, helps authors improve the quality of their manuscripts. Reviewers are therefore expected to act with fairness, integrity, and professionalism. The responsibilities of reviewers include:

Confidentiality – submitted manuscripts must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not retain, copy, or share them, nor make use of data, arguments, or interpretations without explicit permission from the authors.
Integrity of evaluation – reviewers should provide clear, accurate, unbiased, and well-justified assessments within a reasonable timeframe. Critiques should focus on the content of the work, and personal criticism of the authors is unacceptable.
Constructive feedback – reviews should be courteous and aimed at helping authors improve the clarity, rigour, and validity of their research.
Detection of overlap or misconduct – reviewers should alert the editor to any substantial similarity between the manuscript under review and published or submitted work, or to any concerns regarding plagiarism, data fabrication, or other forms of misconduct. Such concerns must be reported confidentially to the editor.
Conflicts of interest – reviewers must disclose any financial, institutional, collaborative, or personal relationships that could influence their assessment of the manuscript. If such conflicts exist, they should decline the review.
Respect for authors’ rights – unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in the reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not exploited for personal advantage.
Commitment to research integrity – reviewers are encouraged to align their work with the principles outlined in the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity.

5. Conflicts

Conflicts of interest and research misconduct pose serious risks to the integrity and credibility of scholarly publishing. All parties involved in the editorial and research process are required to adhere to the highest standards of transparency and accountability.

Data integrity – while inappropriate or careless analysis of data may not always amount to misconduct, the deliberate fabrication or falsification of data unquestionably constitutes scientific misconduct.
Plagiarism prevention – higher education institutions and scientific organisations must actively prevent academic plagiarism. This includes the partial or complete appropriation of another person’s research or creative results, as well as the reproduction of published texts, works, or artistic creations without proper attribution of authorship.
Disclosure of conflicts of interest – all researchers, authors, reviewers, and editors are obliged to disclose any financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that could compromise the trustworthiness of their work. This applies to research proposals, publications, public communications, and all review-related activities.
Reporting misconduct – any suspected cases of research misconduct must be reported to the appropriate authorities. This includes fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other irresponsible practices such as carelessness, improper authorship attribution, failure to report conflicting data, or the use of misleading analytical methods.

By adhering to these principles, the scholarly community safeguards the integrity of research and ensures that scientific progress is based on honesty, fairness, and responsibility.

6. Procedures for Dealing with Unethical Behaviour

6.1. Identification of unethical behaviour

Misconduct or unethical behaviour may be identified and reported to the editor and publisher at any time by any member of the academic community. Individuals reporting such conduct should provide sufficient and reliable information and evidence to enable a thorough investigation. All allegations must be taken seriously and treated impartially until a clear conclusion is reached.

6.2. Investigation

The editor is responsible for initiating an initial assessment of the allegation and may consult with the publisher or relevant society for advice. Evidence should be collected carefully, while ensuring that allegations are disclosed only to those directly involved.

Minor breaches may be addressed without extensive consultation. The author or reviewer must be allowed to respond to any allegations.
Serious breaches may require notification of the author’s or reviewer’s employer. The editor, in consultation with the publisher or appropriate society, will decide whether to involve the institution, based on the evidence or further expert consultation.

6.3. Outcomes

The response to unethical behaviour may vary depending on the severity of the misconduct and can be applied individually or in combination:

Educating the author or reviewer in cases of misunderstanding or misapplication of acceptable standards.
Issuing a strongly worded letter to the author or reviewer as a formal warning.
Publishing a formal notice detailing the misconduct.
Publishing an editorial describing the misconduct.
Sending a formal letter to the head of the author’s or reviewer’s department, or to a relevant funding agency.
Retracting or withdrawing the publication from the journal, accompanied by notification to the department head, Abstracting & Indexing services, and the journal readership.
Reporting the case and its outcome to a professional organisation or higher authority for further investigation and appropriate action.

Publication Ethics