Allegation of Research Misconducts

Research misconduct encompasses actions such as fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or plagiarism during the research process, including its creation, execution, review, or reporting. Authors involved in such misconduct bear the responsibility for ensuring the accuracy and integrity of scientific records.

When suspicions of misconduct arise, the editors and editorial board of CoSBelife: Community Service For Better Lifeadhere to the best practices recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to address complaints and misconduct fairly. This process involves a thorough investigation by the editors. Manuscripts identified as containing misconduct will be promptly rejected. If a published paper is implicated, it will be retracted, and the retraction will be linked to the original article.

The process of addressing an allegation begins with determining its validity and assessing whether it constitutes research misconduct. This also involves checking for any conflicts of interest from those making the allegations.

If scientific misconduct or other significant research irregularities are suspected, the corresponding author will be notified of the allegations and asked to provide a detailed response on behalf of all co-authors. Following the review of this response, further reviews and expert involvement, such as from statistical reviewers, may be necessary. If misconduct is deemed unlikely, the publication of clarifications or additional analyses, often presented as letters to the editor and accompanied by a correction notice, may be sufficient.

Institutions are expected to conduct thorough investigations into allegations of scientific misconduct. Authors, journals, and institutions share the responsibility to ensure the accuracy of scientific records. By addressing concerns about scientific misconduct and taking appropriate actions, such as corrections, retractions, or retractions with replacement, CoSBelife: Community Service For Better Life maintains its commitment to preserving the validity and integrity of the scientific record.

The handling of allegations of research misconduct is in line with the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), accessible at https://publicationethics.org/misconduct.

Retraction

Papers published in CoSBelife: Community Service For Better Life may be retracted under the following conditions:

• There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable due to misconduct (e.g., data fabrication) or honest error (e.g., miscalculation or experimental error).
• The findings have been previously published elsewhere without proper cross-referencing, permission, or justification (i.e., redundant publication).
• The content constitutes plagiarism.

The retraction process adheres to the Retraction Guidelines outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), available at https://publicationethics.org/files/retraction%20guidelines.pdf.