Malpractice and Ethics Statement

The CIC conference Editorial Committee is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards for all parties involved in the review and publishing of the conference proceedings as elaborated below.

• Accountability: The CIC’s Editorial Committee members are accountable and responsible for deciding which of the research papers submitted to the conference shall be accepted. They take appropriate action regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. They may confer with other reviewers in making decisions.
• Impartiality: The reviewing process and publication decisions were performed disregarding authors’ race, gender, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
• Confidentiality: The CIC Editorial Committee members made sure not to disclose any information related to a submitted manuscript except to the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. Unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts will not be used by a committee member’s research. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review will be kept confidential and will not be used for personal research work
• Integrity: The CIC editorial members ensured the integrity of the publication review process and did not reveal the identity of reviewers to the authors.
• Conflicts of interest: The CIC editorial members made fair and unbiased decisions, independent of commercial considerations, and ensured a fair and appropriate peer review process.
• Plagiarism Detection: The CIC Editorial Committee members used the iThenticate and other plagiarism detection portals to identify similarities and/or plagiarism before the peer review process and acceptance. In case of plagiarism, misuse of published articles, and/or illegal distribution of research papers is proven, the technical committee members immediately took the necessary actions to control and prevent any unethical action.
• Peer-review process: The CIC Editorial Committee members managed and oversaw the peer-review process, including evaluating submissions, selecting reviewers and assessing their comments, and making editorial decisions.
• Validity and accuracy: Authors were asked to present their results clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, and inappropriate data manipulation. Authors were asked to describe their methods clearly and unambiguously so that others can confirm their findings.
• Author Consent: Authors signed an “Author Declaration Form” that the submitted work is original, is not plagiarized, and has not been published elsewhere. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable. If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, or quoted and accurately reflects individuals’ contributions to the work and its reporting, the CIC technical committee scrutinized such behaviors and made the necessary actions to retrieve the publications.
• Ethical approvals: Authors were asked to get the necessary ethical approvals from involved institutions and individuals in the research.
• Disclosure: All sources of financial support for the projects and research papers were disclosed by the authors.
• Corrections: The CIC Editorial Committee members will take reasonably responsive measures if ethical complaints are presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with QU Press. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication.