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Editorial Policies

Contents

Journal Policies

Authorship and Contributorship

NSWA recognizes the importance of giving credit to those who have made substantial intellectual contributions to a manuscript. Contributors are credited as authors if they have significantly contributed to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. We require detailed information about each contributor’s role in the research for original studies. Prospective authors should follow our detailed guidelines on authorship and contributorship principles, ensuring good practice in research and publication. For more information on contributors, non-author contributors, AI assistance, changes to authorship, adding or deleting authors, authorship disputes, and ethical responsibilities, please refer to our "Authorship Principles" here.

Authorship Criteria Authorship on a manuscript submitted to the journal of Neutrosophic Systems with Applications (NSWA) should be based on the following criteria:

  1. Substantial Contributions: Authors must have made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.
  2. Drafting and Revising: Authors must have been involved in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.
  3. Final Approval: Authors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission.
  4. Accountability: Authors must agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All authors should meet all four criteria, and individuals who meet these criteria should be listed as authors. Contributors who do not meet all four criteria but have made substantial contributions to the research may be acknowledged in the manuscript.

Contributors Contributors who do not qualify for authorship but have contributed significantly to the study can be acknowledged in the following categories:

  • Non-Author Contributors: Individuals who provided technical help, writing assistance, or general support that did not qualify for authorship.
  • AI Assistance: Any use of artificial intelligence tools or systems in the research should be clearly disclosed, specifying the nature and extent of the assistance provided.

Handling Complaints and Appeals

NSWA views complaints as opportunities to improve our processes and services. We aim to address complaints promptly, courteously, and fairly. For detailed information on how to file a complaint regarding NSWA’s editorial staff, content, processes, or policies, please see the procedure here. Complaints should be sent directly to and will be handled confidentially by our complaints team. If necessary, complaints can be escalated to a senior team member, an executive editor, or ultimately the editor-in-chief, whose decision is final. If dissatisfaction persists, complaints can be made to an external body. Complaints that are not under the control of The NSWA's editorial staff will be sent to the relevant heads of departments within Sciences Force Publisher.

All complaints will receive formal acknowledgment within two working days. An interim response will be given if a full reply cannot be provided within two weeks. Further provisional responses will be delivered until the complaint is resolved.

Conflicts of/Competing Interests Authors must disclose any financial or non-financial personal circumstances or interests that could be seen as having an undue influence on the presentation or interpretation of the research findings. Authors should disclose any competing interests related to the submitted work from the past three years. Interests outside this timeframe should also be reported if they could reasonably influence the work. For more details, please refer to our policy here.

Data Sharing and Reproducibility

NSWA encourages authors to make their research data available to support the findings reported in their articles. Authors should indicate where the supporting data can be accessed, including links to publicly archived datasets. For more information, please see our data sharing policy here.

Ethical Oversight We urge our authors, reviewers, and editors to adhere to the ethical guidelines provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). NSWA follows COPE's Principles of Transparency and Best Practices in Scholarly Publishing. For more information on ethical oversight, please visit the COPE website here and our ethical guidelines here.

Intellectual Property Upon submission of a manuscript, authors will be required to sign a copyright agreement granting NSWA the exclusive right to publish and distribute the article in all forms and media. This agreement also allows NSWA to enforce rights against third parties in cases of plagiarism or copyright infringement. Authors are encouraged to review and complete the Copyright Agreement and Conflict of Interest Statement, which will be attached to the submission process.

The author’s institution may also be informed, and a notice of suspected ethical transgressions may be included in the bibliographic record of the author and article.

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Peer Review Policies

Our peer-review process begins with an editorial assessment by the Editor-in-chief and a member of the editorial team member. The purpose of this assessment is to determine whether or not a paper should be sent for peer review. If an article does not meet basic standards or does not fall within the Journal's scope, it may be rejected at this stage.

Authors can expect a decision within maximum 2 weeks of submission. If a paper moves forward to the review process, it will undergo a double-blind peer review by at least two members of our international expert panel. Authors are responsible for ensuring their identity is concealed during this process. We aim to complete the review process within 4 weeks, although in some rare cases, delays may occur. The final decision regarding acceptance rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

Role of Reviewers

Reviewers play a crucial role in contributing to the success of the Journal of Neutrosophic Systems with Applications. A reviewer's comments play a significant role in the peer review process. Their comments can decide whether an article is accepted or rejected or needs major/minor revisions. Reviewers are requested to review the articles submitted to them in detail and provide unbiased comments, which will improve the quality of the journals.

To maintain confidentiality, they are required to keep their identity undisclosed. If a reviewer feels that an article is technically unqualified, cannot be reviewed promptly, or has a conflict of interest, they should decline to review it. Any outside advice received must be approved by the editor and treated confidentially.

Reviewers should not pass on the article they are reviewing to another reviewer. Their main responsibility is to ensure that the articles published are of high quality and original work. If a reviewer finds that the article submitted for review is under consideration in another publication, they should inform the editor.

There are no fixed rules for analyzing an article. It should be done on a case-by-case basis, considering the article's worthiness, quality, and originality. In general, the following aspects should be checked: the structure of the paper, its relevance to author guidelines, the purpose and objective of the article, the use of transitions, the introduction and conclusion/suggestions provided, the references provided to substantiate the content, grammar, punctuation, plagiarism issues, and the suitability of the article to the need.

Privacy and Confidentiality

When submitting their manuscripts for review, authors trust editors with the results of their hard work and creativity. It is important to respect the confidentiality of authors and reviewers, as the publication of their work may affect their career and reputation. Disclosure of confidential information during the review process may violate the authors' rights. Editors must not share any information about the manuscripts, including details about their content, status, criticism by reviewers, or ultimate fate, other than with the authors and reviewers. Confidentiality may only be breached if fraud or dishonesty is suspected. Reviewers and editorial staff members must also respect the authors' rights by not discussing their work publicly before it is published. Reviewers should not make copies of the manuscript, share it with others, or publish their comments without permission from the author and editor. Editors should not keep copies of rejected manuscripts. It is important to maintain confidentiality and respect the rights of authors and reviewers throughout the review process.

Conflict of Interest in Reviewing Process

When conducting double-blind peer reviews, it's important to remember that the research community can be quite small. This means that reviewers may already be familiar with the author's work. While providing a fair assessment of an article written by a friend or competitor is possible, it's crucial to disclose any significant conflicts of interest to the editor. If the conflict of interest causes a significant positive or negative bias, declining the review request is better. It's important to avoid personal judgment and criticism and focus solely on evaluating the article. This approach is more likely to be positively received by the author and can lead to better work. Honesty about conflicts of interest is always appreciated by editors, even if they need to find a replacement reviewer. If you have any concerns regarding conflicts of interest or ethical issues, please get in touch with the Editorial Office at the journal's formal email.
COPE’s Guidelines & Flowcharts

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For all articles published in Neutrosophic Systems with Applications, copyright is retained by the authors. Articles are licensed under an open-access Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license, meaning that anyone may download and read the paper for free. In addition, the article may be reused and quoted provided that the original published version is cited. These conditions allow for maximum use and exposure of the work while ensuring that the authors receive proper credit.

Reproducing Published Material from other Publishers

It is absolutely essential that authors obtain permission to reproduce any published material (figures, schemes, tables or any extract of a text) which does not fall into the public domain, or for which they do not hold the copyright. Permission should be requested by the authors from the copyrightholder (usually the Publisher, please refer to the imprint of the individual publications to identify the copyrightholder).

Permission is required for:

  • Your own works published by other Publishers and for which you did not retain copyright.
  • Substantial extracts from anyones' works or a series of works.
  • Use of Tables, Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks if they are unaltered or slightly modified.
  • Photographs for which you do not hold copyright.

Permission is required for:

  • Reconstruction of your own table with data already published elsewhere. Please notice that in this case you must cite the source of the data in the form of either "Data from..." or "Adapted from...".
  • Reasonably short quotes are considered fair use and therefore do not require permission.
  • Graphs, Charts, Schemes and Artworks that are completely redrawn by the authors and significantly changed beyond recognition do not require permission.

Obtaining Permission

In order to avoid unnecessary delays in the publication process, you should start obtaining permissions as early as possible. If in any doubt about the copyright, apply for permission. Neutrosophic Systems with Applications cannot publish material from other publications without permission.

The copyright holder may give you instructions on the form of acknowledgement to be followed; otherwise follow the style: "Reproduced with permission from [author], [book/journal title]; published by [publisher], [year].' at the end of the caption of the Table, Figure or Scheme.

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Open Access Policy

Neutrosophic Systems with Applications (NSWA) is committed to open access principles, ensuring the widespread dissemination of scholarly knowledge in the field of neutrosophic systems.

According to major definitions of open access in scientific literature (namely the DOAJ, Budapest, Berlin, and Bethesda declarations), NSWA, as a part of Sciences Force Publisher, defines open access by the following conditions:

  • peer-reviewed literature is freely available without subscription or price barriers,
  • literature is immediately released in open access format (no embargo period), and
  • published material can be re-used without obtaining permission as long as a correct citation to the original publication is given.

NSWA publish articles under the Creative Commons Attribution License and are now using the latest version of the CC BY license, which grants authors the most extensive rights.

This means that all articles published in NSWA, including data, graphics, and supplements, can be linked from external sources, scanned by search engines, re-used by text mining applications or websites, blogs, etc. free of charge under the sole condition of proper accreditation of the source and original publisher. NSWA believes that open access publishing fosters the exchange of research results amongst scientists from different disciplines, thus facilitating interdisciplinary research. Open access publishing also provides access to research results to researchers worldwide, including those from developing countries, and to an interested general public.

This open access policy is subject to continual review and improvement, ensuring that it remains aligned with best practices in open access publishing and serves the evolving needs of the scholarly community.

Hint: some articles (especially Reviews) may contain figures, tables or text taken from other publications, for which NSWA does not hold the copyright or the right to re-license the published material. The authors should inquire with the original copyright holder (usually the original publisher or authors), whether or not this material can be re-used.

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Plagiarism Policy

As a part of Sciences Force Publisher, Neutrosophic Systems with Applications (NSWA) uphold the highest standards of integrity and ethical conduct in research and publication is paramount. The journal's policies on plagiarism, data fabrication, and image manipulation are designed to ensure transparency, trustworthiness, and the reliability of scientific contributions within published content.

The NSWA unequivocally prohibits plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism encompasses the unauthorized copying of text, ideas, images, or data from any source, including one's own publications, without proper attribution. Authors are expected to give due credit to the original sources, and any reused text must be appropriately quoted with citation. Even when a study's design or manuscript structure is inspired by previous works, explicit citations are mandatory. To maintain the integrity of our publications, all submissions to NSWA undergo thorough plagiarism checks using industry-standard software, particularly iThenticate.

Allowed Percentage

The allowed percentage of plagiarism in submitted manuscripts is set at 20% or less. Manuscripts exceeding this threshold may face rejection during the peer review process. If plagiarism is identified during the peer review process, the manuscript may face rejection. In cases where plagiarism is detected post-publication, an investigation will be initiated, and appropriate actions will be taken in accordance with our policies.

Plagiarism: A Clear Prohibition

NSWA unequivocally prohibits plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism encompasses the unauthorized copying of text, ideas, images, or data from any source, including one's own publications, without proper attribution. Authors are expected to give due credit to the original sources, and any reused text must be appropriately quoted with citation. Even when a study's design or manuscript structure is inspired by previous works, explicit citations are mandatory. To maintain the integrity of our publications, all submissions to NSWA undergo thorough plagiarism checks using industry-standard software, particularly iThenticate. If plagiarism is identified during the peer review process, the manuscript may face rejection. In cases where plagiarism is detected post-publication, an investigation will be initiated, and appropriate actions will be taken in accordance with our policies.

Image Manipulation Guidelines

Image files in manuscripts must not be subject to any manipulation that could compromise the accuracy or authenticity of the information they convey. Irregular manipulations, including the introduction, enhancement, moving, or removal of features, grouping of images that should be presented separately, or modifications to contrast, brightness, or color balance that could obscure or enhance information, are strictly prohibited. If irregular image manipulation is identified and confirmed during the peer review process, the manuscript may face rejection. Similarly, if irregular image manipulation is identified post-publication, NSWA may take corrective actions, including issuing corrections or retracting the paper. These measures are implemented to maintain the credibility of the scientific record and ensure the accuracy of published findings.

Data Integrity and Preregistration

Originality and integrity in presenting data are essential components of rigorous scientific research. Authors are expected to avoid inappropriate selection, manipulation, enhancement, or fabrication of data. This includes the exclusion of data points to manipulate statistical significance, fabrication of data, selective presentation of results, and the deliberate choice of analysis tools to support a particular conclusion (p-hacking). NSWA strongly recommends preregistration of methods and analysis to enhance transparency and accountability. Any breach of data integrity, if identified, may lead to serious consequences. These include, but are not limited to, rejection during the peer review process or post-publication correction or retraction, depending on the severity and nature of the breach. NSWA is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in research and publication.

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Retraction and Correction Policies

Withdrawing an already published paper is called a retraction. A published article is a scientific record, and we cannot make any changes without publishing a corrigendum. The NSWA takes its responsibility to maintain the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record of our content for all end users very seriously. Changes to articles after they have been published online may only be made under the circumstances outlined below. NSWA places great importance on the authority of articles after they have been published, and our policy is based on best practices in the academic publishing community. An erratum is a statement by the authors of the original paper that briefly describes any correction(s) resulting from errors or omissions. Any effects on the conclusions of the paper should be noted. The corrected article is not removed from the online journal, but a notice of erratum is given. The erratum is made freely available to all readers and is linked to the corrected article. A retraction is a notice that the paper should not be regarded as part of the scientific literature. Retractions are issued if there is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, this can be as a result of misconduct or honest error; if the findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper referencing, permission, or justification; if the work is plagiarized; or if the work reports unethical research. To protect the integrity of the record, the retracted article is not removed from the online journal, but notice of retraction is given, is made freely available to all readers, and is linked to the retracted article.

Conflict of Interests

Authors should avoid entering into agreements with study sponsors, both for-profit and non-profit, that interfere with authors’ access to all of the study’s data or that interfere with their ability to analyze and interpret the data and to prepare and publish manuscripts independently when and where they choose.

All authors must disclose all relationships or interests that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include but are not limited to financial interests (such as membership, employment, consultancies, stocks/shares ownership, honoraria, grants or other funding, paid expert testimonies and patent-licensing arrangements) and non-financial interests (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, personal beliefs).

Authors will disclose potential conflicts of interest via the online submission system during the submission process. The corresponding author must include a summary statement in the manuscript in a separate section “Conflicts of Interest” placed just before the reference list. The statement should reflect all the collected potential conflict of interest disclosures in the form.

See below for examples of disclosures:

Conflicts of Interest: Author A has received research grants from Company A. Author B has received a speaker honorarium from Company X and owns stocks in Company Y. Author C has been involved as a consultant and expert witness in Company Z. Author D is the inventor of patent X.

If no conflicts exist, the authors should state:

Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Retractions can be published by the authors when they have discovered substantial scientific errors; in other cases, the editors or publisher may conclude that retraction is appropriate. In all cases, the retraction indicates the reason for the action and who is responsible for the decision. If a retraction is made without the unanimous agreement of the authors, that is also noted. In rare and extreme cases involving legal infringement, the publisher may redact or remove an article. Bibliographic information about the article will be retained to ensure the integrity of the scientific record. A publisher’s note notifies readers that an article has been corrected after publication. It is issued by the publisher and is used in cases where typographical or production errors (which are the fault of the publisher) affect the integrity of the article metadata (such as title, author list, or byline) or will significantly impact the readers' ability to comprehend the article. The original article is removed and replaced with a corrected version. Publisher’s Notes are freely available to all readers.

Minor errors that do not affect the integrity of the metadata or a reader's ability to understand an article and that do not involve a scientific error or omission will be corrected at the discretion of the publisher. In such a case, the original article is removed and replaced with a corrected version. The date the correction is made is noted on the corrected article. Authors should also be aware that an original article can only be removed and replaced with a corrected version less than one year after the original publication date. Corrections to an article that has a publication date that is older than one year will only be documented by a Publisher’s Note. The following guideline may also be helpful: COPE Guidelines for Retracting Articles.

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Archiving Policy

Printed Copies

Printed copies of all Neutrosophic Systems with Applications volumes are stored at The Hayden Library, Special Collections, Arizona State University (ASU), Tempe, AZ 85287-1006, USA.

Also, NSWA is also registered by the Library of Congress, Washington DC, United States, which also stores printed copies of the journal, https://lccn.loc.gov/2023203011.

Online Copies

Online copies of all Neutrosophic Systems with Applications volumes are stored at Internet Archive and UNM’s Digital Repository. Also, all the articles published by NSWA are archived using Portico's e-journal preservation service. Authors are allowed to deposit the accepted and published versions of their manuscripts in ArXiv, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, institutional repository, and author’s personal website. This ensures that all articles published are preserved and available for future researchers and students.

Financial Policies

Publication Fees

The Journal of Neutrosophic Systems with Applications is now an open-access electronic journal, as per the decision of its editorial board. Readers will no longer have to pay subscription fees, and authors will not be charged for article processing and publication fees for reviewing and publishing costs.

Advertisements

It should be noted that the Journal of Neutrosophic Systems with Applications does not allow any advertisements to be published on its website or within its articles.

Awards

Best Paper Award

"Best Paper Award Certificate" will be given to one paper for each volume. The best paper will be selected based on innovation, significance, impact, and clarity of presentation. The best paper will be selected by the Editorial Board Members of NSWA, and their decision will be final.

Best Reviewer Award

The Best Reviewer Award will be given to those reviewers who will substantially contribute to the journal by providing insightful and knowledgeable feedback, quality reviews, elaborative unbiased comments, and should have completed all reviews assigned on time.

The Best Reviewer Award will be selected by the Editorial Board Members of NSWA, and their decision will be final.

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