Guidelines for Editors

Editor Ethics

The Editor of the Asian Journal of Qualitative Research (AJQR) plays a critical role in ensuring the journal's professional standards. The publication of a paper in AJQR reflects the quality and credibility of the research. Editors must uphold the following guidelines to maintain integrity and academic excellence at all stages of publication.

1. Responsibilities of the Editor

Editors are responsible for:

  • Ensuring high-quality research papers are published.
  • Upholding freedom of expression within ethical and legal boundaries.
  • Maintaining the integrity of the research contributions.
  • Meeting the needs of both authors and readers.
  • Ensuring ethical compliance and maintaining transparency.
  • Providing corrections, clarifications, and retractions when required.

2. Editorial Best Practices

Editors should:

  • Encourage and incorporate suggestions from authors, peer reviewers, and the editorial board.
  • Implement a rigorous and unbiased double-blind peer-review process.
  • Promote innovation and the dissemination of original research.
  • Enforce a strict anti-plagiarism policy.
  • Educate authors on ethical research practices.

3. Editorial Board Formation

  • The Editorial Board must include experts in relevant fields to maintain quality.
  • Editorial Board members should be appointed for a fixed term and updated as needed.
  • Board members must be informed about their roles, ethical responsibilities, and journal policies.
  • The Board should conduct at least two meetings annually to discuss journal matters.

4. Fairness and Impartiality

  • Selection of research papers must be unbiased, focusing only on academic and scientific merit.
  • Editors should promptly communicate with authors and ensure a transparent article-processing workflow.
  • The review process must be free from discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, politics, or institutional affiliation.
  • Editors must disclose any conflicts of interest that could influence decisions.

5. Confidentiality

  • Editors must ensure confidentiality throughout the peer-review process.
  • Information about submitted manuscripts should not be shared outside the editorial process.
  • Before publication, details of accepted papers must not be disclosed without author consent.
  • Research participant confidentiality must be protected.

6. Editing and Formatting Standards

  • Editors should establish clear manuscript preparation guidelines, including formatting and referencing styles.
  • The preferred style guide (e.g., APA, Chicago Manual, MLA) should be explicitly stated.

7. Peer Review Process

  • All published papers must undergo a rigorous double-blind peer-review process.
  • At least one reviewer should be from outside the country of submission.
  • Editors should provide reviewers with clear guidelines and review forms.
  • The peer-review process must be confidential, unbiased, and transparent.
  • Editors must ensure authors incorporate reviewer suggestions.

8. Handling Research Misconduct

  • Editors should encourage reviewers to flag ethical concerns such as data fabrication, plagiarism, and inappropriate research practices.
  • Plagiarism should be checked using Turnitin or similar tools.
  • Editors should issue retractions or corrections if misconduct is discovered post-publication.

9. Transparency in Authorship

  • Authors should be limited to one principal investigator publication per issue.
  • Editorial Board members may publish only one paper per issue.
  • Authorship must be granted only to those who have significantly contributed to the research.
  • Editors must avoid conflicts of interest when handling submissions from themselves or colleagues.

10. Conflict of Interest Management

  • Editors must not handle submissions where they have a conflict of interest.
  • Reviewers must also disclose conflicts of interest.
  • Clear policies must be in place for handling submissions from editorial board members.

11. Publication Decisions

  • Editorial decisions should be based on academic merit and journal scope.
  • Editors should justify paper rejections with clear, constructive feedback.
  • Rejected manuscripts may be reconsidered upon appeal under a fair review process.
  • Decision reversals should be avoided unless errors or ethical concerns arise.

12. Appeals and Complaints

Editors must establish a process for:

  • Appeals against article rejections.
  • Addressing ethical concerns or publication-related complaints.
  • Ensuring transparency and fairness in all editorial decisions.

By adhering to these guidelines, AJQR ensures the credibility, integrity, and quality of research published in the journal.