Plagiarism and Similarity Screening

Submissions to JAARD are screened for inappropriate textual overlap and plagiarism. Similarity reports are used as an editorial screening tool and are interpreted in context. The
presence of legitimately quoted material, references, methodological terminology or other unavoidable textual similarity does not in itself establish plagiarism. Plagiarism includes presenting another person’s words, ideas, data, images or other intellectual contribution as one’s own without appropriate acknowledgement. Cases of suspected plagiarism or redundant publication may result in rejection and, where appropriate, further action under the journal’s publication-ethics procedures.

Corrections and Retractions
JAARD may correct or retract published material where necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
Retraction may be considered where, among other circumstances:
 findings are demonstrated to be unreliable because of misconduct or significant error;
 substantial findings have previously been published without appropriate justification or acknowledgement;
 plagiarism is established; or
 the research is found to have involved serious ethical violations.
Retractions and other post-publication actions will be handled in accordance with recognised publication-ethics principles and applicable COPE guidance.

Manuscript Withdrawal
Requests to withdraw a manuscript will be considered by the editorial office according to the stage of editorial processing and the circumstances of the request.
Authors wishing to withdraw a submission should contact the journal with an explanation. Withdrawal after acceptance or during advanced production may be subject to additional
editorial consideration.

Conflicts of Interest
Authors, reviewers and editors should disclose relationships or circumstances that could reasonably be perceived as influencing their scholarly judgement.
Where a conflict exists, appropriate steps will be taken to protect the independence of the review and decision-making process.

Privacy
Names, email addresses and other personal information supplied to JAARD will be used for the editorial and publication purposes of the journal and will not be disclosed for unrelated purposes except where required by law or necessary for legitimate publication processes.

Authorship and Contributorship
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, analysis or interpretation of the work, have participated in
drafting or critically revising the manuscript, and approve the final version submitted for publication. All listed authors are expected to take appropriate responsibility for the work.

Contributions that do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged appropriately. ny request to add, remove or change the order of authors after submission must
be supported by a written explanation and the agreement of all authors. Changes after acceptance will be permitted only in exceptional circumstances and at the discretion of the
Editor.

Complaints and Appeals
Authors may appeal an editorial decision where they believe that a significant error has occurred in the review or decision-making process. Appeals should clearly state the grounds for reconsideration and should address the scholarly or procedural issues involved rather than simply express disagreement with the decision.

Complaints concerning editorial conduct, peer review, conflicts of interest, publication ethics or other journal processes may be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief at jaard@wud.ac.in. Where a complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief, it will be referred to an appropriate independent member of the Editorial Board or the publisher for review. All complaints and appeals will be considered fairly, confidentially and without prejudice.

Research Involving Human Participants
Research involving human participants, personal data, interviews, surveys, observations, user studies, community engagement or other forms of human-subject research must be conducted in accordance with applicable ethical standards. Where institutional ethics approval is required, authors should state the name of the approving body and relevant approval details in the manuscript. Authors must also indicate that informed consent was obtained where appropriate.

Where formal ethical approval is not required by the authors institution or jurisdiction, the manuscript should nevertheless explain how ethical considerations, participant consent, privacy and confidentiality were addressed.

The journal may request supporting documentation where necessary.

Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence
Generative AI tools and other AI-assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot take responsibility for the accuracy, integrity or originality of scholarly work. Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to JAARD, including material generated or modified with the assistance of AI tools.

The substantive use of generative AI in preparing text, images, data, analysis or other manuscript content should be disclosed transparently in the manuscript, normally in the
methodology, acknowledgements or a separate disclosure statement, as appropriate. Routine use of digital tools for spelling, grammar, formatting or reference management need not normally be disclosed.

Research Data and Data Availability
JAARD encourages authors to make the research data, materials or other evidence underlying their findings available wherever this is ethically, legally and practically possible.

Authors should provide a Data Availability Statement indicating where supporting data may be accessed, whether it is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request, or why it cannot be made publicly available. Restrictions relating to participant confidentiality, privacy, copyright, commercial sensitivity or other ethical and legal considerations will be respected.

Where data are deposited in a public repository, authors should provide the relevant repository name and persistent link or identifier.

“JAARD follows the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)”