Journal Ethics Policy

World Digital Library: An International Journal

World Digital Libraries: An International Journal is a biennial, internationally peer-reviewed journal published by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) since 2008. The journal disseminates high-quality research articles that offer original theoretical frameworks and empirical case studies concerning the evolution, maintenance, and distribution of digital information, emphasizing the research and integration of knowledge at the intersection of resources and development. This policy details out ethical behaviour of all stakeholders involved in the process of publishing articles in this journal, which include author, editors and peer-reviewers. The World Digital Libraries: An International Journal (WDL) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in scholarly publishing. This ethical policy is guided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and aims to ensure a fair, transparent, and rigorous publication process.

1. Guiding Principles

• Adherence to COPE Core Practices for editors, authors, reviewers, and publishers.


• Compliance with international standards on authorship, conflicts of interest, peer review, plagiarism, and data integrity.

For more details, refer to COPE Guidelines.

2. Duties and Responsibilities

A. Authors

• Originality and Plagiarism: Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original work, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, it should be appropriately cited or quoted. All manuscripts will undergo plagiarism checks using advanced detection tools. Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the article. An article should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable. All references should be real and discoverable. All references must be complete using the journal's reference style and the authors should ensure completeness of a reference, such as, authors’ names, article title, journal name, year, volume, issue, and pages, in case of a journal article. All fictitious references should be omitted.


• Data Integrity and Sharing: Authors are required to ensure data accuracy, provide supporting datasets where feasible, and comply with open data principles. Authors should deposit data in recognized repositories and include data availability statements. Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with an article for editorial review, and should retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.


• Multiple Publications: An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.


• Authorship Criteria: Authors must meet authorship standards, contributing significantly to the research and writing process. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors. A student is usually listed as principal author on any multiple-authored publication that substantially derives from the student’s dissertation or thesis. Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a copy editor or specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and should be included in the acknowledgements section. Any changes in authorship post-submission must be justified and agreed upon by all co-authors.


• Corresponding Author: The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal for publication. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors are included in the article, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the article and have agreed to its submission for publication.


• Acknowledgment: Proper attribution of others' work must always be acknowledged. Individuals who may receive recognition include a person who offered solely technical assistance or a department chair who rendered simply general support. Authors must reference publications that have significantly shaped the character of the presented study.


• Acknowledgment of Funding Sources: Sources of funding for the research reported in the article should be duly acknowledged at the end of the article and before the references.


• Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.


• Errors in Published Works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the Editor/Managing Editor and cooperate with the editors to retract or correct the article.

B. Editors

• Manuscript Acceptance: The editor will determine the publication of articles based on the peer review report. The validity of the work in question and its significance to scholars and readers will consistently support such conclusions. The editor, managing editor, and associate editor must adhere to the journal's policies while determining the inclusion or exclusion of an article. They lack the authority to sway the reviewers engaged in the blind peer evaluation of the manuscript.


• Transparent Evaluation: Editors guarantee an unbiased, double-blind peer review procedure grounded in merit and pertinence to the journal’s scope. Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their intellectual merit, regardless of the authors' colour, gender, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, nationality, closeness to editors or political stance.


• Peer Review: The editor/managing editor shall ensure that the peer review process is fair, unbiased, and timely. The editor shall select reviewers who have suitable expertise in the relevant field. The editor/managing editor shall review all disclosures of potential conflicts of interest and suggestions for self-citation made by reviewers in order to determine whether there is any potential for bias.


• Confidentiality: Editors will not disclose manuscript details to anyone outside the editorial process. The editor, managing editor, associate editor and any other editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers and other editorial advisers.


• Disclosure: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has viewed/read the manuscript (while handling it) in his or her own research without the written consent of the author.


• Conflict of Interest: Editors will recuse themselves from handling submissions where conflicts of interest exist.


• Journal Metrics: The editor/managing editor/associate editor must not attempt to influence the journal’s ranking by artificially increasing any journal metric. In particular, the editor shall not require that references to that (or any other) journal’s articles be included except for genuine scholarly reasons and authors should not be required to include references to the editor’s own articles or products and services in which the editor has an interest.


• Published Record Vigilance: The editor should work to safeguard the integrity of the published record by reviewing and assessing reported or suspected misconduct. An editor presented with convincing evidence of misconduct should arrange the prompt publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other correction to the record, as may be relevant.


• Editorial Board: The editor will engage in discussion with the Editorial Board in periodic intervals and seek guidance for improvement in journal quality, scope adjustment, outreach etc purpose.


• Ethical Oversight: Editors are responsible for handling misconduct allegations following COPE flowcharts for plagiarism, redundant publication, or authorship disputes.

C. Reviewers

• Confidentiality: Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and refrain from using unpublished material for personal advantage. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor. Privileged information or ideas obtained through double blind peer review must be kept confidential and should not be used for personal advantage.


• Contribution of Double-Blind Peer Review: Double blind peer review assists the editors to make decisions and also assists the author in improving the article. The two assigned reviewers should not know the author's identity, as any identifying information will be removed from the manuscript before sending it for review by the Editorial team. Reviewers' comments to the Editors are confidential, while relevant comments to the authors will be shared with the authors for articles improvements, however, any such comments would be made anonymous. The names of the reviewers remain strictly confidential throughout the publication process; with their identities known only to the Managing Editor, Editor and Associate Editor.


• Alertness to Ethical Issues: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that had been previously reported elsewhere should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also bring to the notice of the editor/managing editor any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published article of which they have personal knowledge.


• Promptness: Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the assigned manuscript or unable to provide a timely review should convey the same to the editor.


• Objective Assessment: Reviewers should provide constructive, unbiased feedback within the agreed timeline and maintain the standards of objectivity. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.


• Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts and decline to review if necessary. Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors or institutions connected to the articles.

D. Publisher (TERI)

• Support for Ethical Standards: TERI supports editors, authors, and reviewers in following ethical guidelines, including COPE recommendations.


• Misconduct Handling: TERI investigates ethical concerns, including plagiarism, data falsification, and conflicts of interest, and takes corrective actions such as issuing retractions, corrections, or expressions of concern in line with COPE Retraction Guidelines.


• Digital Preservation: TERI ensures the long-term digital preservation of all published articles through our institutional repositories to guarantee permanent access.


• Editorial Board Members: The editorial board members should serve as representatives for the journal for a specific period, usually 3 years term. They can identify potential authors, readers, and subscribers in their respective networks, countries and regions. Additionally, they should motivate their students and colleagues to contribute and reference the journal.


• Identifying New Topics: Editorial board members will help in identification of new topics for the journal and special editions. They should provide direction to the journal by giving feedback on past issues and giving suggestions on both subject matter and potential authors.


• Contributing Editorials: Editorial board members can contribute by writing occasional editorials, short articles and also carry out book review.


• Outreach: They will approach potential contributors and endorse the journal to authors, readers and subscribers.


• Peer Review: They should act as a ready team of potential reviewers. They should help to identify peer reviewers and provide second opinions on articles (i.e., where there is a conflict between reviewers).


• Competing Interests: Editorial board members should declare all competing/conflicting interests, if any. If they are unsure about a potential competing or conflicting interest they should raise it to the editor. Competing interests may be personal, financial, intellectual, professional, political or religious in nature.


• Open Access Licensing: WDL Journal is a hybrid Open Access Journal dedicated to the unrestricted distribution of knowledge, with the exception of the most recent two issues, which are restricted. It operates under Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial (CC BY-NC) licensing, allowing free use and distribution with proper attribution for non-commercial purposes.

3. Handling Misconduct

All allegations of misconduct are addressed promptly using COPE’s standardized procedures. Possible actions include:

• Correction of the article.


• Retraction with a clear explanation. (COPE guidelines)


• Banning future submissions from the offending authors for a specified period.

For detailed steps, refer to the COPE Flowcharts: COPE Flowcharts.

4. Appeals and Complaints

Authors and reviewers may appeal editorial decisions or raise complaints regarding unethical behaviour. Appeals will be reviewed by an independent editorial board or ethics committee within TERI.

5. WDL Licensing terms, Clauses On AI-Generated Content

A. Licensing and Access Policy

• WDL Journal is a hybrid Open Access Journal dedicated to the unrestricted distribution of knowledge, with the exception of the most recent two issues, which are restricted.


• All articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).


• This license allows others to remix, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, provided proper attribution is given.


• Commercial reuse requires prior permission from the journal.

For license details: CC BY-NC 4.0 License.

B. AI-Generated Content Policy

• Authors must disclose the use of AI tools in manuscript preparation, data analysis, visualization, or translation.


• AI tools cannot be credited as authors. The responsibility for the content remains solely with the human authors.


• AI-generated content must be reviewed and validated by the authors to ensure accuracy and integrity.


• The Methods or Acknowledgments section should specify how AI tools were used.

Example: "The authors used OpenAI's ChatGPT to assist in language editing. All content has been reviewed and verified by the authors."

References

• COPE Council. COPE Guidelines: Editorial board participation — English.
• COPE Council. COPE Guidelines: Editorial board participation — English.
• COPE DOAJ OASPA WAME. Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing — English.
• https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en