Editorial Policies & Publication Ethics

Initial screening

Each manuscript first undergoes an editorial assessment to determine whether it:

• Falls within the journal's scope.
• Meets the basic formatting and submission requirements.
• Demonstrates sufficient originality and scholarly relevance.
• Provides a clear research problem and appropriate methodology.
• Meets the journal's ethical and integrity requirements.

Similarity checking or other screening tools may be used to identify potential plagiarism, duplication or other concerns. Manuscripts that do not meet minimum requirements may be returned for correction or declined without external review. Passing the initial screening does not guarantee acceptance.

External review

Manuscripts that pass screening are normally sent to independent reviewers with relevant subject expertise. The journal operates a double-blind process in which authors and reviewers do not ordinarily know each other's identities. Reviewers assess originality, methodology, interpretation of findings, contribution to knowledge, clarity and relevance. The editor may seek additional reviews or specialist advice before reaching a decision.

Final editorial decision

Following review, the editor may accept the manuscript, request minor or major revisions, or reject it. Where revisions are requested, authors must address the reviewers' comments and explain how each concern has been handled, giving a reasoned explanation where a suggestion is not adopted. A revised manuscript may be returned to the original reviewers or assessed by the editor. The final decision rests with the responsible editor, subject to the journal's editorial policies.

Indicative timeline

Initial screening takes approximately 7 to 14 days; the first external review decision approximately 4 to 8 weeks after the manuscript enters review. Revision periods are set by the revision request. These are targets rather than guaranteed deadlines: some manuscripts take longer because of reviewer availability, additional methodological assessment or extensive revisions. Authors may contact the editorial office for a status update if review exceeds the expected period.

IJMSMT is an open access journal: published articles are freely available online without subscription or pay-per-article charges. This supports wide dissemination of research, particularly among researchers, practitioners, policymakers and institutions with limited access to subscription-based resources.

Authors retain copyright in their work, subject to the publication agreement and the licence under which the article is released. Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0): users may share and adapt the material under the licence terms, provided appropriate attribution is given. The licence is displayed on each published article.

IJMSMT expects all authors, editors, reviewers and other participants in the publication process to uphold high standards of academic integrity. The journal does not tolerate plagiarism, fabricated data, falsification of findings, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship practices, manipulated peer review or other publication misconduct.

Ethical oversight

Research involving human participants, personal data, animals or other activities requiring formal ethical review must comply with applicable institutional and legal requirements. Authors should identify the approving ethics committee and approval reference, confirm informed consent where required, and state the basis where formal approval was not required.

Plagiarism and similarity

All submissions must be original and properly acknowledge the work of others. Similarity reports are interpreted in context, since legitimate quotations, references and standard terminology produce matches; a similarity score alone does not determine the outcome. Unattributed copying, substantial unacknowledged reuse and inappropriate duplication may result in rejection or further investigation.

Research data integrity

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of their data, analyses, images and results. Where concerns arise, the journal may request supporting data, research records or analytical procedures.

Authorship and contributions

All listed authors should have made a meaningful scholarly contribution and approved the final manuscript. Those who assisted without qualifying for authorship may be acknowledged with their permission. Changes to authorship after submission require a clear explanation and the written agreement of all affected authors, subject to editorial approval.

Duplicate and redundant publication

A manuscript must not be submitted to multiple journals simultaneously. Substantial overlap with previous publications, including conference papers, preprints or related manuscripts, must be disclosed, and reuse of published material must be acknowledged and comply with copyright requirements.

Use of artificial intelligence

• Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality and integrity of their manuscripts, regardless of the tools used.
• Generative AI tools must not be listed as authors.
• Where AI tools have made a substantive contribution to content, data analysis, image generation or other research activities, authors must disclose and describe that use.
• AI tools must not be used to fabricate references, generate false data or misrepresent research procedures. Authors must independently verify all AI-assisted content.
• The journal may use appropriate tools to support screening, but confidential manuscripts are never uploaded to third-party systems in ways that compromise confidentiality or data protection.

Authors must disclose financial, professional, personal or institutional relationships that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their research or its interpretation, such as financial sponsorship, employment, consultancy, ownership interests, relevant personal relationships and competing professional commitments. If there are none, authors should state that they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Editors and reviewers must also declare potential conflicts and withdraw from handling or reviewing a manuscript where their impartiality could reasonably be questioned.

Authors must identify all funding sources, including grant names, funders and grant numbers, and clarify the funder's role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation and manuscript preparation. Where there was no external funding, an appropriate declaration should be included.

Reviewers are expected to evaluate manuscripts objectively, fairly and confidentially. They should:

• Provide constructive, evidence-based comments.
• Identify relevant literature the authors may have overlooked.
• Disclose potential conflicts of interest.
• Never use unpublished information for personal or professional advantage.
• Maintain confidentiality throughout the review process.
• Decline invitations when they lack the relevant expertise or cannot complete the review within a reasonable period.

Editors must make decisions independently and fairly, without discrimination based on nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, personal relationships or other irrelevant characteristics. They protect the confidentiality of submissions, manage conflicts of interest and ensure decisions are supported by appropriate scholarly assessment. No author is required to cite irrelevant publications to increase citation counts or favour a particular editor, reviewer or journal.

Where misconduct is suspected, the journal assesses the available evidence and takes proportionate action. Depending on the circumstances, it may:

• Request clarification or supporting documentation from the authors.
• Seek an explanation from the relevant institution.
• Suspend editorial processing while concerns are investigated.
• Reject the manuscript.
• Correct, retract or issue an expression of concern about a published article.
• Notify relevant institutions or parties where justified.

Authors are ordinarily given an opportunity to respond before a final decision, except where immediate action is needed to protect the integrity of the scholarly record. Serious cases may be handled in accordance with recognised guidance, including the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Corrections are issued where a published article contains an error affecting its accuracy, clarity or integrity that does not invalidate its principal findings, such as errors in author details, tables, figures or data presentation. Corrections are linked to the original article wherever practicable.

Expressions of concern may be issued where credible questions about a published article remain unresolved while an investigation is ongoing, informing readers that the article's reliability is being examined.

Retractions may be considered where reliable evidence establishes seriously unreliable findings, substantial plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, serious ethical violations or other misconduct. Retractions correct the scholarly record; they are not intended to punish authors. A retracted article ordinarily remains accessible with a clear notice explaining the reason, subject to legal and ethical considerations.

Indexing and discovery

• Google Scholar: articles are published with accessible full text, consistent metadata and appropriate page structures. Inclusion is determined by Google Scholar and is not guaranteed.
• Zenodo: eligible articles or related outputs may be deposited, subject to the repository's requirements and licensing arrangements.
• Crossref and DOIs: the journal intends to support persistent identification through DOI registration. A DOI is displayed only after the journal has a registration arrangement in place and the individual DOI has been registered.
• WorldCat: journal and article metadata may be made available to library discovery systems, subject to metadata-sharing arrangements.
• Institutional repository: articles may be archived where a functioning repository and deposit arrangement are available.

Indexing roadmap

As its publication history and infrastructure develop, the journal intends to pursue inclusion in relevant databases, potentially including the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), African Journals Online (AJOL), Scopus and Web of Science (including the Emerging Sources Citation Index where eligible). Each service applies its own criteria; the journal will describe itself as indexed in a database only after inclusion has been formally confirmed.

Metadata and preservation

The journal maintains standardised article titles, author names, affiliations, abstracts, keywords and bibliographic information; DOI metadata where applicable; ORCID iDs for author identification; and structured metadata for search engines. Authors are encouraged to provide ORCID iDs at submission. Because online availability alone does not guarantee permanent preservation, the journal aims to establish backup, archiving and digital preservation arrangements, which will be identified here once operational.

The views and findings expressed in articles published by IJMSMT are those of the respective authors and do not necessarily represent the views of Global Maritime Academy of Nigeria, the editorial team or the journal's publisher.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy of their submissions, the integrity of their research and compliance with applicable legal, professional and ethical requirements. Publication does not constitute an endorsement of the authors' findings, recommendations, products or institutional affiliations. The journal reserves the right to correct published information and take appropriate action where credible concerns arise regarding research integrity or publication ethics.