Publication ethics

Authorship and research integrity

Authors should take responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of their work. All named authors must make an appropriate scholarly contribution and approve the final manuscript. Contributions, funding and relevant interests should be disclosed. Editors should resolve authorship disputes before publication rather than impose authorship without evidence.

Plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, misappropriated translations, deceptive image manipulation and undisclosed duplicate publication are incompatible with the proposed programme. Similarity tools may support screening but do not replace scholarly judgement.

Research participants and cultural materials

Research involving people should describe appropriate consent, safeguards and approvals where relevant. Authors working with oral history, folklore, community knowledge, archives or sensitive heritage should address provenance, permissions, attribution and potential harms. Publication must not disclose confidential or personally identifying material without a sound basis and necessary permission.

AI-assisted work

AI tools cannot be authors or assume responsibility. Authors should disclose substantive generative-AI assistance, identify its role and verify all outputs, references and translations. Use of a tool does not remove the author’s responsibility for accuracy, originality, permissions or confidentiality.

Editorial independence and citations

No author should be required to cite IBIRC, its journals or its editors to improve citation statistics. References must serve the scholarly argument. Funding, fees, membership and personal relationships must not override independent editorial judgement.

Corrections and withdrawals

Credible concerns should be assessed fairly, with an opportunity for the relevant parties to respond. Appropriate outcomes may include a correction, an expression of concern while an investigation continues, or a retraction. Published notices should explain the reason and date, identify the affected material and link to the original record. Silent changes to the scholarly record should be avoided; exceptional content removal should leave an explanatory record where possible.

Complaints and appeals

Send concerns to info@ibirc-center.co.uk with the subject “IBIRC Press confidential concern”, the relevant work, supporting evidence and any conflict of interest. The proposed process assigns the matter to an unconflicted responsible person; appeals should receive independent consideration. Detailed response time targets will be published when the service is operational.