Publication Ethics

The issuance of the manuscript in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential building phase in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behaviour for all parties involved in the act of publishing, including the responsibilities of authors, reviewers and editors.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

Duties of author(s) consist of Reporting Standards; Confidentiality; Article Authorship; Data Access and Retention; Originality and Acknowledgement of Sources; Declaration of Competing Interests; Notification of Major Misstatements.

- Reporting Standards: Authors should present original papers conducted as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Data should be presented accurately in the manuscript. A manuscript should contain sufficient details and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable. Review and professional publication manuscripts should also be accurate and objective, and editorial ‘opinion’ works should be clearly identified as such.

- Confidentiality: Information obtained in the course of confidential services must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

- Article Authorship: All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors are included on the manuscript, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission for publication.

- Data Access and Retention: Authors may be asked to provide the data supporting manuscripts for editorial review and/or to comply with the open data requirements of VJE.

- Originality and Acknowledgement of Sources: The authors should make sure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable.

- Declaration of Competing Interests: All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could be viewed as inappropriately influencing (bias) their work. All sources of financial support for the conduct of the research and/or preparation of the manuscript should be disclosed, as should the role of the sponsor(s), if any, in research design; in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; in the report writing; and in the decision to submit the paper for publication.

- Notification of Major Misstatements: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly inform the editor and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct mistakes. If the editor learns from a third party that a published work contains an error, it is the obligation of the author to cooperate with the editor, including providing proof to the editor where requested.

2. Responsibilities of Reviewers

A reviewer has some duties relating to the manuscript review such as Contribution to editorial decisions; Confidentiality; Objectivity Standards and Competing Interests; Alertness to Issues of Ethics.

- Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making decisions whether or not publishing the paper and helping the author in improving the paper. Reviewers’ judgments should be objective and expressed clearly with supporting arguments.

- Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be viewed as confidential materials. Reviewers must not share the review or information about the paper with anyone or contact the authors directly without permission from the editor. Unissued documents in a submitted article must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas got through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal purpose.

- Objectivity Standards and Competing Interests: Reviews should be conducted in an objective manner. Personal criticism of the manuscript is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

- Alertness to Issues of Ethics: A reviewer should be alert to potential ethical issues in the manuscript and should bring these to the attention of the editor, including any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other issued publication of which the reviewer knew before.

3. Responsibilities of Editors

Duties of editors in this part consist of Decision of publication; Peer review; Confidentiality; Fair play; Declaration of interests.

- Decision of Issuance: The editor is solely and independently responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to VJE should be issued. The editor should comply with the policies of VJE and are constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding issues such as copyright infringement and plagiarism.

- Peer review: The editor should ensure that the peer review process is understood as fair, unbiased, and timely. Research manuscripts must typically be sent to at least two independent reviewers, and where necessary the editor should seek additional opinions. The reviewers need to have suitable expertise in the relevant field and follow best practice in avoiding the selection of fraudulent peer reviewers.

- Confidentiality: The editor has to protect the confidentiality of all documents submitted to the journal and all communications with reviewers unless otherwise agreed with the relevant reviewers and authors.

- Fair play: The editorial policies of VJE encourage transparency and complete, honest reporting, and the editor need to ensure that peer reviewers and authors have a clear understanding of what is expected of them.

- Declaration of Interests: Any potential editorial conflicts of interest should be declared to VJE in writing prior to the appointment of the editor, and then updated if and when new conflicts arise. The editor must not be involved in decisions about manuscripts which she/he has written her/himself or have been written by family members or colleagues or which bear on products or services in which the editor has an interest.

4. Plagiarism Tool

Vietnam Journal of Education deployed Crossref's anti-plagiarism service (Crossref Similarity Check - Powered by iThenticate) at https://crosscheck.ithenticate.com. This service has been integrated into our OJS system and automatically checks for plagiarism whenever an article is submitted.

5. Generative AI usage key principles

Copywriting any part of an article using a generative AI tool/LLM would not be permissible, including the generation of the abstract or the literature review, because the author(s) must be responsible for the work and accountable for its accuracy, integrity, and validity.

The generation or reporting of results using a generative AI tool/LLM is not permissible, because the author(s) must be responsible for the creation and interpretation of their work and accountable for its accuracy, integrity, and validity.

The in-text reporting of statistics using a generative AI tool/LLM is not permissible due to concerns over the authenticity, integrity, and validity of the data produced, although the use of such a tool to aid in the analysis of the work would be permissible.

Copy-editing an article using a generative AI tool/LLM in order to improve its language and readability would be permissible as this mirrors standard tools already employed to improve spelling and grammar, and uses existing author-created material, rather than generating wholly new content, while the author(s) remains responsible for the original work.

The submission and publication of images created by AI tools or large-scale generative models is not permitted.