Publication Ethics Policy

Publication Ethics Policy

1. Introduction

AllStats: Journal of Statistical Applications is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in statistical research and scholarly publishing. This policy defines the ethical responsibilities of authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher, with special attention to statistical integrity and reproducibility. Our practices align with international standards including the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the American Statistical Association (ASA) Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice, and the International Statistical Institute (ISI) Declaration on Professional Ethics.

2. Journal Responsibilities

2.1 Editorial Independence

·        Editorial decisions are based solely on the statistical validity, methodological rigor, originality, and significance of submitted work.

·        No discrimination based on authors' nationality, ethnicity, political beliefs, race, gender, or religion is tolerated.

·        The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over the editorial content and publication timeline.

2.2 Confidentiality

·        Editors and editorial staff must treat all submitted manuscripts as confidential documents.

·        Information about submissions may only be disclosed to corresponding authors, reviewers, potential reviewers, and the publisher as appropriate.

2.3 Statistical Review

·        All manuscripts undergo rigorous statistical review by at least one expert statistician.

·        The journal employs statistical editors with expertise in diverse methodologies to ensure proper evaluation.

·        Statistical review focuses on appropriateness of methods, correctness of analyses, and reproducibility of results.

2.4 Conflict of Interest

·        Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where they have personal, financial, or professional conflicts of interest.

·        All editorial conflicts of interest must be declared and managed according to COPE guidelines.

3. Author Responsibilities

3.1 Statistical Integrity

·        Authors must ensure statistical analyses are appropriate, correctly performed, and accurately reported.

·        Methods must be described in sufficient detail to permit replication.

·        All data manipulations, exclusions, and transformations must be transparently reported.

·        Authors must avoid:

o   *p*-hacking (selectively reporting analyses based on *p*-values)

o   HARKing (Hypothesizing After Results are Known)

o   Selective reporting of outcomes or analyses

o   Inappropriate data dredging or fishing

3.2 Data Transparency and Reproducibility

·        Data Availability: Authors must share de-identified data underlying their results, unless prohibited by ethical, legal, or privacy considerations. Data should be deposited in recognized repositories (e.g., Dryad, Figshare, Zenodo).

·        Code Availability: Statistical analysis code (R, Python, SAS, Stata, etc.) must be shared to enable reproducibility.

·        Materials: Descriptions of materials and methods must be sufficiently detailed.

·        Pre-registration: For confirmatory studies, pre-registration of hypotheses and analysis plans (e.g., on OSF, ClinicalTrials.gov) is encouraged.

3.3 Originality and Plagiarism

·        Submitted work must be original and not published elsewhere.

·        Proper attribution must be given to prior work; verbatim copying without quotation marks and citation is unacceptable.

·        All submissions are screened using similarity detection software (iThenticate). Similarity above 15% (excluding references) may lead to rejection.

3.4 Authorship

·        Authorship must be limited to those who have made significant contributions to:

1.     Study conception/design or data acquisition/analysis/interpretation

2.     Drafting or critically revising the article

3.     Final approval of the version to be published

·        Contributors who do not meet all criteria should be acknowledged.

·        Corresponding authors must ensure all co-authors have seen and approved the final manuscript.

3.5 Conflicts of Interest

·        Authors must declare all financial, personal, professional, or political conflicts of interest that could influence the research.

·        Funding sources must be disclosed, including grant numbers.

·        Statements of conflict of interest will be published with accepted articles.

3.6 Human and Animal Subjects Research

·        For studies involving human participants: authors must include ethics committee approval number, date, and confirmation of informed consent.

·        For animal research: authors must confirm adherence to institutional and national guidelines.

·        For secondary data analysis: authors must confirm appropriate permissions and data use agreements.

3.7 Errors in Published Works

·        Authors must promptly notify editors of significant errors in their published work and cooperate in issuing corrections or retractions.

4. Reviewer Responsibilities

4.1 Statistical Expertise

·        Reviewers with statistical expertise should evaluate:

o   Appropriateness of study design and methods

o   Correctness of statistical analyses

o   Interpretation of results

o   Adherence to reporting guidelines

4.2 Confidentiality

·        Manuscripts received for review are confidential and must not be shared or discussed without editor permission.

·        Reviewers must not use unpublished material for personal advantage.

4.3 Objectivity

·        Reviews should be objective, constructive, and free from personal bias.

·        Criticism should be supported by clear reasoning.

4.4 Conflict of Interest

·        Reviewers must decline to review manuscripts where conflicts exist (e.g., collaboration with authors, direct competition, personal relationships).

4.5 Timeliness

·        Reviewers should complete reviews within the agreed timeframe or notify the editor if delay is unavoidable.

5. Statistical Misconduct: Definition and Handling

5.1 Forms of Statistical Misconduct

·        Fabrication: Making up data or statistical results.

·        Falsification: Manipulating research data, analyses, or images to misrepresent findings.

·        Improper Analysis: Using inappropriate statistical methods to achieve desired results.

·        Selective Reporting: Reporting only some analyses or outcomes while suppressing others.

·        P-value Manipulation: Repeated testing without correction, data peeking, or other practices that inflate Type I error.

5.2 Investigation Procedures

·        Suspected misconduct is investigated following COPE flowcharts.

·        The statistical editor leads investigations of statistical misconduct.

·        Authors may be asked to provide original data, analysis code, or additional documentation.

·        Institutional review may be requested in serious cases.

5.3 Outcomes

Depending on severity, outcomes may include:

·        Correction published for minor errors

·        Expression of concern while investigation continues

·        Retraction for serious misconduct

·        Notification of authors' institutions or funding bodies

·        Refusal of future submissions from offending authors

6. Data and Code Sharing Policy

6.1 Requirements

·        Authors must share de-identified data necessary to reproduce results.

·        Analysis code must be shared in executable form with documentation.

·        Exceptions may be granted for sensitive data (e.g., medical, proprietary) with appropriate justification.

6.2 Repositories

·        Recommended: Dryad, Figshare, Zenodo, GitHub (with DOI via Zenodo), or domain-specific repositories.

·        Data/code must be available at time of publication.

6.3 Data Citation

·        Shared datasets and code should be cited in references with persistent identifiers (DOIs).

7. Pre-registration and Registered Reports

7.1 Encouraged Practices

·        Pre-registration of hypotheses and analysis plans is encouraged for confirmatory research.

·        Registered Reports (peer review before data collection) are welcomed.

7.2 Deviation from Pre-registration

·        Deviations from pre-registered plans must be explicitly acknowledged and justified.

8. Post-publication Corrections

8.1 Corrections (Errata)

·        Published for errors that affect interpretation but do not invalidate conclusions.

8.2 Retractions

·        Issued for articles with fraudulent data, serious statistical errors affecting conclusions, plagiarism, or unethical research.

8.3 Expressions of Concern

·        Published when there is inconclusive evidence of problems or investigations are ongoing.

9. Copyright and Licensing

9.1 Copyright

·        Authors retain copyright of their work.

·        By submitting, authors grant AllStats the right to publish, distribute, and archive the article.

9.2 Licensing

·        All articles are published open access under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).

·        This permits sharing and adaptation with proper attribution.

9.3 Archiving

·        Articles are preserved via CLOCKSS, Portico, and institutional repositories.

10. Complaints and Appeals

10.1 Procedure

·        Complaints should be emailed to the Editor-in-Chief: editor-allstats@journalscinex.com

·        Appeals of editorial decisions require written justification.

10.2 Response Time

·        Complaints are acknowledged within 5 working days.

·        Resolution is typically within 30 days; complex cases may take longer.

11. Advertising Policy

·        The journal does not accept advertisements that compromise editorial independence or statistical integrity.

·        Advertisements must be clearly distinguishable from editorial content.

12. Revenue Sources

·        Primary revenue comes from article processing charges (APCs) and institutional support.

·        This does not influence editorial decisions or statistical review.

13. Compliance with Guidelines

This policy complies with:

13.1 Statistical Ethics Guidelines

·        American Statistical Association (ASA) Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice: https://www.amstat.org/ASA/Your-Career/Ethical-Guidelines-for-Statistical-Practice.aspx

·        International Statistical Institute (ISI) Declaration on Professional Ethics: https://www.isi-web.org/about-isi/professional-ethics

13.2 Publishing Ethics Guidelines

·        Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

·        Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Principles: https://doaj.org/bestpractice

·        ICMJE Recommendations (for medical statistics): http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

13.3 Reporting Guidelines

·        Authors are encouraged to follow appropriate reporting guidelines:

o   SAMPL (Statistical Analysis and Methods in the Published Literature)

o   CONSORT (for clinical trials)

o   STROBE (for observational studies)

o   PRISMA (for systematic reviews)

14. Contact Information

For ethics-related inquiries:

Statistical Ethics Editor
AllStats: Journal of Statistical Applications
Email: ethics@scinexpublishers.com
SciNex Publishers, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan

For statistical review queries:
editor-allstats@journalscinex.com

 

 

This policy was adopted on 18 December 2025 and will be reviewed annually.