Policies

The following policies govern all manuscripts submitted to IJFIST. Authors, reviewers, and editors are advised to read these policies carefully before submission to ensure full compliance with journal requirements and ethical standards.

1. Peer Review Policy

Double-Blind Review Process

IJFIST follows a double-blind peer review system, where the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed throughout the review process to ensure fairness, objectivity, and impartial evaluation.

Initial Editorial Screening

Upon submission, manuscripts undergo an initial in-house assessment conducted by the Editor-in-Chief. This evaluation considers:

  • Alignment with the journal’s aims and scope
  • Originality and academic significance
  • Research quality and relevance to readership
  • Compliance with author guidelines (format, structure, clarity, and language)

Manuscripts that do not meet these criteria may be returned for revision or rejected at this stage. Desk rejection enables authors to make timely decisions about submitting their work elsewhere.

External Peer Review

Manuscripts that pass the desk review are assigned to two independent reviewers with expertise in the relevant field. Reviewers are initially invited using the manuscript abstract and, upon acceptance, receive the full text.

  • Review timeline: 3–4 weeks
  • Reviewers must declare any conflicts of interest
  • Reviews are conducted using a structured evaluation form

Review criteria include originality, contribution to the field, methodology, ethical compliance, clarity of results and discussion, structure, and reference quality.

Review Outcomes

Each reviewer submits a recommendation, which may be:

  1. Accept without revision
  2. Accept with minor revisions
  3. Accept with major revisions
  4. Reject

In cases of conflicting reviewer recommendations, an additional round of review may be initiated.

Revision and Final Decision

Authors are given:

  • 2 weeks for minor revisions
  • 3 weeks for major revisions

The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the revised manuscript to confirm whether reviewer comments have been adequately addressed. Further revisions or rejection may occur if required changes are insufficient.

Copyediting and Proofreading

Accepted manuscripts undergo copyediting, layout editing, and proofreading to ensure linguistic accuracy and formatting consistency. Authors are required to review and approve the final PDF before publication.

2. Plagiarism Policy

IJFIST is committed to academic integrity. All submissions are screened using Turnitin:

  1. At initial submission
  2. After final manuscript submission post-review

Manuscripts identified as plagiarized or self-plagiarized will be rejected immediately.

Handling Plagiarism Allegations

Reported cases are investigated following COPE guidelines. Outcomes may include corrections, retractions, or permanent withdrawal depending on the severity and author response.

3. Retraction, Correction, and Withdrawal Policy

Corrections

Substantial errors affecting interpretation or accuracy may be corrected at the Editor-in-Chief’s discretion. Corrections are published in subsequent issues.

Retractions

Articles may be retracted due to misconduct such as plagiarism, duplicate submission, false authorship claims, or data fabrication. Retraction notices are linked to the original article.

Article Removal

In exceptional legal circumstances (e.g., defamation or court orders), articles may be removed and replaced with a legal notice.

Article Replacement

If inaccurate data pose serious risks, authors may retract and replace the article with a corrected version, following formal retraction procedures.

Withdrawal

Manuscripts may be withdrawn before publication upon submission of a signed request. The publisher may also withdraw manuscripts that violate ethical standards.

4. Complaints and Appeals Policy

IJFIST handles all complaints and appeals fairly and promptly in accordance with COPE guidelines.

  • Appeals against editorial decisions must be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief
  • Decisions following appeal review are final
  • Complaints are acknowledged within two working days

Abusive or inappropriate correspondence toward editorial staff, reviewers, or authors will result in immediate withdrawal of the submission and restricted future engagement.

5. Conflict of Interest Policy

All participants in the publication process must disclose potential financial or non-financial conflicts of interest.

  • Editors and reviewers must recuse themselves where conflicts exist
  • Authors must disclose funding sources, affiliations, consultancies, equity interests, or personal relationships that could influence interpretation of results

Full disclosure must be included at submission and within the manuscript.

Research involving human subjects, personal data, or identifiable images requires written informed consent. Exceptions are permitted only when:

  1. The research is of significant public interest
  2. Consent is impractical to obtain
  3. A reasonable individual would not object to publication

All personal data must be handled with strict confidentiality.

6. Open Access Policy

IJFIST is a fully Open Access journal, providing immediate and unrestricted access to all published content. Users may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, and link to full texts without prior permission, in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI).

Research Integrity and Misconduct

Allegations of misconduct—whether pre- or post-publication—are investigated thoroughly following COPE procedures in collaboration with the publisher. Necessary corrective actions are taken to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

Contact for Policies, Appeals, and Ethics

For appeals, complaints, or ethical concerns related to IJFIST publications, please contact: