Publishing Ethics

Ethical Standards

Darcy & Roy Press follows the highest international standards on publishing ethics as described in the ethical frameworks and guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). All manuscripts are subject to peer review and are expected to meet standards of academic excellence.

Article Assessment

Manuscripts submitted to DRP journals undergo a rigorous editorial and peer review process. If approved by the editor, submissions are considered by peer reviewers, whose identities remain anonymous to the authors. DRP may occasionally seek advice outside standard peer review — for example, on submissions with serious ethical, security, or societal implications.

Plagiarism

Authors must not use the words, figures, or ideas of others without attribution. All sources must be cited at the point they are used, and reuse of wording must be limited and attributed or quoted in the text. DRP uses Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate) to detect submissions that overlap with published and submitted manuscripts.

Manuscripts found to have been plagiarised will be rejected, and published articles may be corrected or retracted.

Duplicate Submission and Redundant Publication

DRP journals consider only original content — articles that have not been previously published, including in a language other than English. Articles based on content previously made public only on a preprint server, institutional repository, or in a thesis will be considered, provided that the preprint or thesis is cited and discussed within the article.

Manuscripts must not be submitted elsewhere while under consideration. Redundant publication, including the inappropriate division of study outcomes into more than one article (salami slicing), may result in rejection or a request to merge submitted manuscripts.

Citation Manipulation

Authors whose submitted manuscripts include citations whose primary purpose is to increase the number of citations to a given author’s work, or to articles published in a particular journal, may incur sanctions. Editors and reviewers must not ask authors to include references merely to increase citations to their own or an associate’s work.

Fabrication and Falsification

The fabrication or falsification of data, including inappropriate image manipulation, constitutes serious ethical misconduct. Manuscripts found to contain fabricated or falsified data will be rejected, and published articles may be retracted in accordance with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines.