JOURNAL ETHICS

The Herald of the Azerbaijan Engineering Academy is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics, academic integrity, transparency, and responsible research and publication practices. The journal follows the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Editorial Policy and Integrity

Editorial decisions are based on the originality, academic quality, relevance, methodological soundness, and scientific contribution of submitted manuscripts. Decisions are made independently and without discrimination based on nationality, gender, institutional affiliation, personal relationships, or other non-academic factors.

2. Peer Review

The journal uses a double-blind peer-review process. Manuscripts considered suitable for review are normally evaluated by at least two independent reviewers with relevant expertise. Additional reviewers may be invited when necessary.

The journal seeks to involve qualified reviewers from Azerbaijan and other countries, depending on the subject and availability of suitable experts.

Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, and confidential assessments. They must disclose any potential conflict of interest and must not use or disclose unpublished information obtained during peer review.

The peer-review process normally takes approximately 1–4 weeks, although the actual timeframe may vary depending on reviewer availability, manuscript complexity, revisions, and the need for additional review.

The final editorial decision is made by the Editor-in-Chief or a designated editor based on the reviewers' reports and the overall quality and suitability of the manuscript.

3. Authorship

Authorship is limited to individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the research and who have participated in the preparation or critical revision of the manuscript.

All authors must approve the final version and agree to its submission and publication. Individuals who have contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately.

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be justified and approved by all relevant authors.

4. Plagiarism and Research Misconduct

Submitted manuscripts are subject to plagiarism and similarity screening using appropriate similarity-detection tools. Authors may also be required to provide a plagiarism or similarity report with their submission.

The journal evaluates the nature, extent, and context of detected similarities rather than relying solely on a numerical similarity score.

Plagiarism, fabrication or falsification of data, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, citation manipulation, and other forms of research or publication misconduct may result in rejection, correction, retraction, or other appropriate action.

5. Conflicts of Interest

Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other interests that could influence, or reasonably appear to influence, the research or editorial process.

Editors and reviewers should not participate in the evaluation of manuscripts where a conflict of interest may compromise impartiality.

6. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Generative AI tools may be used for appropriate purposes such as language improvement, provided that their use does not compromise the originality, accuracy, integrity, or confidentiality of the work.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Authors remain fully responsible for the content, accuracy, references, data, and conclusions of their manuscripts.

Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscripts, reviewer reports, or unpublished materials to external AI systems where confidentiality cannot be guaranteed.

7. Research Ethics and Data Integrity

Research involving human participants, animals, personal data, or other ethically sensitive materials must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their research data. Where reasonably necessary, authors may be asked to provide supporting data, documentation, or methodological information for editorial assessment.

8. Corrections, Retractions and Expressions of Concern

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the published academic record.

Significant errors identified after publication may be corrected through an appropriate correction notice.

Articles may be retracted in cases involving serious errors, unreliable findings, plagiarism, research misconduct, or other significant ethical violations.

Where serious concerns exist but the available evidence is insufficient for immediate retraction, the journal may publish an Expression of Concern while the matter is investigated.

9. Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal an editorial decision when they believe that a significant factual misunderstanding or serious procedural irregularity has occurred.

Complaints concerning editorial decisions, peer review, publication ethics, or other aspects of the publication process may be submitted to the editorial office.

Appeals and complaints are considered objectively and confidentially. The journal may request additional information or documentation when necessary.

10. Publication Charges

The journal does not charge authors for the standard editorial and peer-review process or for publication under its regular publication schedule.

An optional expedited online publication service is available for authors who require accelerated publication. The fee for this service is 300 AZN.

The use or non-use of the expedited publication service has no influence on peer review, editorial evaluation, acceptance, or rejection decisions.

11. Copyright and Licensing

Published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

The license permits the sharing and adaptation of published material for non-commercial purposes, provided that appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source.

12. Confidentiality

Manuscripts, reviewer reports, and other materials handled during the editorial process are treated as confidential.

Editors, reviewers, and other individuals involved in the publication process must not disclose or use unpublished information obtained through the editorial process for personal or professional advantage.

13. Commitment to Publication Ethics

The Herald of the Azerbaijan Engineering Academy is committed to continuously improving its editorial and publication practices and maintaining a fair, transparent, and trustworthy scholarly record.

The journal expects authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher to uphold the principles of academic integrity, transparency, confidentiality, responsible authorship, and ethical research and publication.