General Duties and Responsibilities

• Accountability: The Editor-in-Chief and editorial team are responsible for everything published in the journal. They must strive to meet the needs of readers and authors while championing freedom of expression and maintaining the integrity of the academic record.
• Adherence to Policy: Editors must ensure that all processes, including the double-blind peer review and plagiarism checks, are conducted strictly according to the journal’s established policies.

Editorial Independence & Fairness

• Unbiased Consideration: Editors must evaluate manuscripts exclusively on their academic merit (importance, originality, study validity, and clarity) and their relevance to the journal’s scope.
• Non-Discrimination: Decisions must be made without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
• Scope Compliance: Editors must ensure submissions fall within the journal’s multidisciplinary scope, which includes Humanities, Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), Commerce, and Science.

Confidentiality

• Protecting Integrity: Editors must preserve the anonymity of reviewers and authors as per the journal’s double-blind peer review system.
• Data Security: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.
• Privileged Information: Editors must not share information about a manuscript (including its receipt, content, status, or review process) with anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, and the publisher.

Managing Conflicts of Interest

• Recusal: Editors must recuse themselves (i.e., ask a co-editor or editorial board member to handle the manuscript) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the papers.
• Editor Submissions: If an editorial board member submits a manuscript, they must be removed from all editorial discussions and decisions regarding their own paper to ensure an independent process.

Handling Misconduct & Integrity Issues

• Vigilance: Editors must act if they suspect misconduct, whether pre-publication or post-publication. This includes plagiarism, data fabrication, or unethical research practices.
• Plagiarism Check: Editors are responsible for ensuring all manuscripts undergo screening with similarity detection software before review.
• Corrections & Retractions:

Editors should publish Errata for errors that do not invalidate the results.

Editors must issue Retractions for serious errors, plagiarism, or unethical conduct, ensuring the original article remains accessible but clearly marked “Retracted”.