Sri Venkateshwara University, Sikkim (SVUS) is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and integrity.
The University promotes the development and dissemination of high-quality scientific and scholarly content through a fair, transparent, and ethical publication process.
SVUS adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines in handling manuscripts suspected of duplication, plagiarism, or other forms of unethical conduct.
All publications under SVUS follow a standardized Editorial Process designed to ensure quality, originality, and integrity in all scholarly works.
The process includes strict measures to prevent plagiarism, redundant submissions, duplicate publications, fabrication, and falsification of data.
1. Plagiarism
Authors must ensure that their manuscripts are original and free from plagiarism. Proper citation and acknowledgment of others’ work are mandatory.
Any manuscript found to contain plagiarized material, whether published or unpublished, will be treated as a serious ethical violation and may be rejected or retracted.
2. Duplicate Submission
Authors must not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal for consideration.
Manuscripts discovered to be under review or published elsewhere will be deemed duplicate submissions and rejected immediately.
3. Duplicate Publication
Duplicate publication refers to publishing a paper that substantially overlaps in hypotheses, data, discussion, or conclusions with an already published work,
without clear reference to the original publication. Such practice is strictly prohibited.
4. Redundant Publication
Redundant publication occurs when a paper shares significant overlap with another article already published or submitted elsewhere.
Authors must disclose any related publications to avoid redundancy.
5. Data Fabrication or Falsification
Fabrication involves creating false data or results and reporting them as genuine.
Falsification includes manipulating research materials, processes, or data—such as altering or omitting conflicting results without valid scientific justification.
Both are considered severe ethical breaches.
6. Improper Authorship or Contributorship
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research.
All authors should approve the final version before publication.
Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.
7. Citation Manipulation
Unwarranted or excessive self-citation, or citation of articles with the sole intent to increase citation counts for certain authors or journals,
is considered unethical and will be subject to editorial scrutiny.
Violation and Disciplinary Action
If any article published under Sri Venkateshwara University, Sikkim is found to violate the above policies, the following actions will be taken against the author(s):
- Immediate rejection of the infringing manuscript.
- Rejection of all other active submissions from the involved authors.
- Prohibition for a minimum of three (3) years from submitting new manuscripts to any SVUS publication.
- Prohibition for a minimum of three (3) years from serving on the Editorial or Review Board of SVUS publications.
Conclusion
SVUS upholds academic integrity as a core value of its research and publication activities.
The University encourages all authors, reviewers, and editors to follow these ethical standards to maintain trust and credibility in academic publishing.
