The Asian Journal of Educational Sciences (AJES) is committed to maintaining and upholding the highest standards of ethics in scholarly publishing. Strict adherence to ethical principles not only safeguards the integrity of academic scholarship but also reinforces the credibility of research work and its authors.

The AJES Editorial Office follows internationally recognized ethical standards, particularly the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), throughout the entire publication process from manuscript submission and peer review to final publication.

2.1. Authorship and Co-authorship Responsibilities

Authorship must accurately reflect significant intellectual contributions to the research work. AJES recognizes authorship based on the following criteria:

• Authorship eligibility: An author must meet all four of the following conditions: (1) Make substantial contributions to the conception of the study, research design, or the acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of data; (2) Participate in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content; (3) Review and approve the final version of the manuscript prior to publication; and (4) Agree to be accountable for the accuracy and integrity of all aspects of the research.
• Corresponding Author: The corresponding author is responsible for all communications with the Editorial Office throughout the submission, review, and publication process. This author must ensure that all legitimate co-authors are included in the author list, that no individual who does not meet authorship criteria is listed, and that all co-authors have approved the final version of the manuscript.
• Changes in authorship: Any modification to the author list (including addition, removal, or change in the order of authors) after manuscript submission must be accompanied by a clear written explanation and written consent (or email confirmation) from all authors, including those being added or removed. The Editorial Board reserves the right to approve or reject such changes.
• Acknowledgements: Individuals or organizations that provide technical assistance, data collection support, financial funding, or language editing but who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be clearly acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section at the end of the manuscript.

2.2. Originality and Plagiarism Policy

Originality is a fundamental principle of scientific research. Authors submitting manuscripts to AJES must ensure that:

• Original work: The manuscript must be an original work of the author(s). Any use of ideas, data, formulas, or wording from other sources (including the authors’ own previous publications) must be properly cited and referenced according to APA style.
• Prohibition of plagiarism and self-plagiarism: The Editorial Office employs plagiarism detection software to screen all submitted manuscripts. Any form of plagiarism from direct copying without attribution to the inappropriate reuse of previous work without significant scholarly advancement will result in immediate rejection of the manuscript. Authors may also be placed on the journal’s watchlist.
• Prohibition of duplicate or concurrent submission: Authors must not submit the same manuscript (or substantially similar manuscripts) simultaneously to AJES and another journal or conference. The manuscript must not have been previously published in any language.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI) usage policy: If authors use AI tools (such as large language models) to assist in data analysis or language editing, this must be clearly disclosed in the Methods section or in the Acknowledgements. AI tools cannot be listed as authors under any circumstances.

2.3. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Transparency is essential to eliminate potential doubts regarding the objectivity of research. Authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that may influence research outcomes or the interpretation of results.

• Financial and personal conflicts: Authors must disclose funding sources, scholarships, equity holdings, or personal and institutional relationships that are directly related to the research topic.
• Transparency regarding the role of funders: If the research receives financial support, the authors must clearly state the role of the funding organization in the study design, data collection, data analysis, and the decision to publish the results.

2.4. Research Data Integrity

Data presented in the manuscript must be accurate and truthful, and must not be fabricated, falsified, or manipulated (including inappropriate alteration of images or figures that misrepresent the original data).

Authors should carefully retain the raw research data and be prepared to provide such data when requested by the Editorial Office or peer reviewers for verification during the review process.

2.5. Corrections and Retractions

Authors’ responsibilities do not end once an article is published. If authors discover a significant error or major inaccuracy in their published article in AJES, they have an ethical obligation to immediately inform the Editor-in-Chief.

Authors are expected to cooperate with the Editorial Office to publish a correction notice (Erratum or Corrigendum) or to initiate the retraction process if the research findings are entirely invalidated due to the identified error.