Ethics and Policies
Publishing Ethics
At Spectrum Nexus Publishing (SNP), we are committed to promoting integrity, transparency, and responsibility in academic publishing. Our ethical policies align with the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and we strive to ensure these standards are upheld by all stakeholders—authors, editors, reviewers, and staff.
Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
Authors submitting to SNP journals are expected to:
Ensure Originality: Manuscripts must be original, properly cite others’ work, and avoid plagiarism or duplicate submission.
Declare Contributions: All listed authors must have made substantial contributions to the research. Contributions must be declared following the CRediT taxonomy.
Identify Corresponding Author: A single corresponding author must take responsibility for communication and ensuring all authors approve the submission and revisions.
Disclose Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose any financial, personal, academic, or other relationships that could influence (or be perceived to influence) the work. This applies to all authors and should be included in a “Conflicts of Interest” statement at the end of the manuscript. If no conflicts exist, authors should state: “The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”
Follow Data Ethics: Authors should adhere to standards of data availability, reproducibility, and proper data citation.
Secure Ethical Approvals: Research involving humans or animals must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee.
Report Errors: Authors must notify the editor if they discover a significant error in their published article.
Author Name Changes After Publication
SNP respects authors’ rights to change their names after publication (e.g., due to gender transition, marriage, divorce, or other reasons). We offer a discreet correction process that updates the author’s name in our records, online article versions (HTML/PDF), and metadata without issuing a public correction notice, unless the author requests one.
Deceased Authors
In cases where an author has passed away before publication:
Their name will be retained in the author list if they made a substantive contribution.
A note may be added (e.g., "Deceased") upon request of co-authors or family.
Consent from next of kin is encouraged if ethical or legal issues are involved.
Manuscript Withdrawal
Authors may request to withdraw a manuscript before acceptance. Withdrawals after peer review must include justification and will be evaluated by the editorial office. Accepted or published articles can only be withdrawn in cases of ethical violations, with editorial approval. SNP reserves the right to publish a retraction or withdrawal notice if necessary.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)–Generated Content
The Journal of Intelligent Unmanned Systems adheres to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in manuscript preparation. For the purposes of this policy, AI tools include—but are not limited to—applications that use machine learning, natural language processing, or generative algorithms to produce or substantially modify text, images, data, or other scholarly content. Examples include ChatGPT, Bard, Claude, DALL·E, and similar services.
AI tools cannot be credited as authors or co-authors. They cannot take responsibility for the accuracy, originality, or integrity of the work. All human authors listed on the manuscript remain fully accountable for the content, regardless of whether AI tools were used in its preparation.
The journal permits the use of AI tools for limited, supportive purposes such as language editing, grammar improvement, formatting assistance, simple image enhancements, or code debugging. However, all AI-assisted outputs must be critically reviewed by the authors to ensure accuracy, appropriateness, and originality. AI tools must not be used to generate or fabricate data, results, or references, nor to write substantial portions of the manuscript’s scientific content without proper verification.
Any use of AI tools in the research or writing process must be fully disclosed at the time of submission. This disclosure should appear in the Acknowledgements or in a dedicated “AI Use Statement,” specifying the name, version, and provider of the tool, the nature and extent of its use, and confirmation that all AI-generated material has been carefully reviewed and validated by the authors.
Ultimately, authors bear sole responsibility for ensuring that AI-assisted content meets the journal’s ethical, scientific, and legal standards. This includes safeguarding originality, avoiding plagiarism, preventing copyright infringement, and checking for factual accuracy, potential bias, and compliance with the journal’s policies.
Other Publishing Ethics Policies
Preprints and Text Recycling
SNP allows the submission of manuscripts previously deposited on recognized preprint servers, provided disclosure is made at submission.
Text recycling (“self-plagiarism”) must be avoided unless clearly stated and justified (e.g., in Methods sections). Reused content must be appropriately cited.
Post-Publication Updates
SNP supports corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and author name change policies in line with COPE best practices.
Post-publication discussion (e.g., through letters to the editor or public forums like PubPeer) is encouraged to maintain academic discourse and transparency.
