Allegations of Research Misconduct

Types of alleged misconduct

MESIL takes allegations of research misconduct seriously and handles them impartially. Allegations may include data fabrication, data or image falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, citation manipulation, authorship fraud, breaches of research ethics, peer-review manipulation, and misleading presentation of research.

Submitting a report

Reports should be submitted in writing to the editor or through the journal’s official contact channel. Where possible, they should identify the reporter, the relevant article or manuscript, the concern, and supporting evidence. Reports must be made in good faith; an allegation that has not been established will not be treated as a proven fact.

Handling procedure

The editor conducts an initial assessment of relevance, evidence, and possible conflicts of interest. Where appropriate, the person concerned is invited to respond, and the editor may seek independent expert advice or coordinate with a responsible institution. Anyone with a conflict of interest must not decide the case. The process is confidential to the extent possible, fair, and documented.

Outcomes and follow-up

Depending on the evidence and seriousness of the issue, actions may include closing the case, requesting clarification or correction, rejecting a manuscript, issuing an expression of concern, correcting a publication, retracting an article, or notifying a relevant institution where necessary. Actions affecting published articles are governed by the Correction and Retraction policy.