Spectrum of Mechanical Engineering and Operational Research (SMEOR) is committed to responsible scholarly publishing and to maintaining the integrity, transparency, independence, and reliability of the scientific record. The journal seeks to ensure that its editorial, peer-review, publication, and post-publication practices are conducted in accordance with recognized principles of research integrity and publication ethics.
SMEOR and its Publisher are responsible for maintaining appropriate editorial and publishing procedures, supporting the independence of editorial decision-making, preserving the published scholarly record, and responding appropriately when credible concerns arise.
Commercial, financial, institutional, personal, or other non-scholarly considerations must not determine decisions concerning the acceptance or rejection of individual manuscripts.
The Publisher supports the journal's editorial activities and publishing infrastructure while respecting the authority of the Editor-in-Chief and designated editors in decisions concerning individual manuscripts. Detailed principles governing this relationship are provided in the journal's Editorial Independence policy.
Editors are expected to evaluate manuscripts according to their scholarly merit, originality, methodological soundness, relevance to the journal's scope, clarity, and compliance with applicable ethical requirements.
Editorial decisions must be made impartially and without discrimination based on characteristics or affiliations unrelated to the scholarly evaluation of the manuscript.
Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, manage relevant conflicts of interest, select appropriate reviewers, and take reasonable measures to preserve the integrity and independence of the peer-review process.
Editors who have an actual, potential, or reasonably perceived conflict relating to a manuscript must act in accordance with the journal's Conflict of Interests policy.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts submitted to SMEOR represent accurate, original, and appropriately documented scholarly work. Research methods, data sources, analyses, limitations, funding, conflicts of interest, and other information relevant to the interpretation and integrity of the research should be reported transparently where applicable.
Authors must not engage in practices intended to misrepresent the originality, authorship, provenance, methodology, results, impact, or scholarly significance of their work.
Submission of a manuscript carries an obligation to cooperate with reasonable editorial requests for clarification, supporting information, underlying documentation, or corrections necessary to evaluate the work and maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.
Requirements concerning funding disclosure, author information, research reporting, and other relevant disclosures are further addressed in the journal's Transparency policy.
Peer review should be conducted objectively, confidentially, constructively, and within the reviewer's area of appropriate expertise. Reviewers must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and must not use confidential information obtained through peer review for personal, professional, academic, commercial, or competitive advantage.
Reviewer recommendations should be based on scholarly considerations. Reviewers must not request citations primarily for the purpose of increasing citations to themselves, their associates, particular journals, organizations, or other publications where the requested references are not genuinely relevant to the manuscript.
Detailed requirements concerning confidentiality, intellectual property, reviewer independence, conflicts of interest, citation recommendations, and reviewer responsibilities are provided in the journal's Peer Reviewer Conduct and Intellectual Property policy.
Authors should cite literature on the basis of its relevance and scholarly contribution to the research. References should accurately represent the sources used and should not be added primarily for the purpose of artificially influencing citation counts or bibliometric indicators.
Editors and reviewers must not improperly pressure authors to add unnecessary citations to SMEOR, their own publications, or publications associated with particular authors, journals, institutions, or organizations.
The journal does not support citation manipulation, coercive citation practices, citation cartels, or other arrangements intended primarily to artificially influence citation-based metrics.
SMEOR will not intentionally manipulate citation indicators, acceptance statistics, publication volumes, editorial timelines, authorship information, peer-review records, or other information for the purpose of creating a misleading impression of the journal's scholarly performance or editorial practices.
Information presented by the journal concerning its policies, editorial structure, indexing, publication model, fees, licensing arrangements, and other material aspects of publication should be accurate and sufficiently transparent to allow authors and readers to make informed decisions.
Credible concerns relating to research or publication ethics will be assessed fairly, confidentially, and on the basis of the available evidence. Individuals concerned will normally be given an appropriate opportunity to respond before substantial editorial action is taken, except where legal, regulatory, confidentiality, or other compelling considerations require a different approach.
Where a matter requires investigation beyond the journal's editorial authority or access to evidence unavailable to the journal, SMEOR may refer the concern to the relevant institution, employer, funding organization, research integrity office, regulatory authority, or other competent body.
Detailed procedures for assessing suspected research or publication misconduct are provided in the journal's Unethical Behaviour policy.
Responsible publishing continues after publication. SMEOR will consider credible concerns relating to published articles and will take appropriate action where significant errors or integrity concerns are established.
Depending on the circumstances, appropriate action may include clarification of the published record, a Correction, Expression of Concern, Retraction, or another measure necessary to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.
Formal post-publication actions affecting published articles are governed by the journal's Retraction and Correction Policies.
Where a breach of publication ethics is established, editorial action will be proportionate to the nature, seriousness, evidence, and circumstances of the case. The purpose of such action is to protect the integrity of the editorial process and scholarly record.
Editorial measures taken by SMEOR are distinct from formal determinations of research, academic, employment, professional, or legal misconduct, which may fall within the authority of institutions, employers, professional organizations, regulatory authorities, or other competent bodies.
Concerns about editorial procedures and appeals against editorial decisions may be submitted and considered in accordance with the journal's Procedures for Dealing with Complaints and Appeals.
SMEOR considers relevant guidance and recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when developing responsible publishing practices and addressing publication ethics concerns.
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