Publication Ethics | Access to Justice in the Middle East

Our Commitment to Publication Ethics

At Access to Justice in the Middle East, we are unequivocally committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. The integrity of the scholarly record is paramount, and we take our responsibility to safeguard it very seriously.

While the journal is not yet an official member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), we strictly adhere to its Core Practices and comprehensive guidelines. Our editorial team is trained to handle all stages of the publication process with the utmost integrity and is committed to rigorously investigating any suspected instances of research or publication misconduct. This includes, but is not limited to, plagiarism, citation manipulation, data falsification, unethical experimentation, and redundant publication. We follow COPE's principles to ensure fair and transparent processes for handling any ethical concerns.

This commitment to ethical standards is embodied by our editorial team. Our editors are active members of the European Association of Science Editors (EASE), an international community of professionals dedicated to promoting excellence and maintaining high standards in scholarly communication. Through their active participation in EASE workshops, publications, and forums, our editors remain at the forefront of best practices in scholarly publishing.

By combining strict adherence to COPE's authoritative guidelines with the expertise gained from our editors' active involvement in EASE, AJME strives to ensure that our peer-review and publication processes are fair, rigorous, and transparent for all our authors and readers.

AJME Publication Ethics

AJME is proud of the high-quality content selected and published by us. We support the principles of academic publishing, in particular, honesty of authorship, excellence and thoroughness in research, transparency in publishing, respect to all participants of the publishing process. This requirement reflects these above mentioned principles and is strictly recommended for applying for publication.

All the necessary agreements of its confirmation are signed by authors and reviewers. If anyone has proper grounds for doubts or any concerns, that these rules have been carried out, please, let us know via e-mail editor@ajee-journal.com While investigation in a particular case will be provided, the Committee in Publishing Ethics (COPE) guidelines will be widely used.

The best practices of international publishing community were used for PEMS AJME: “Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing” and EASE Guidelines, Checklists and Tools.

All the necessary materials consisting of the requirements for publication in the Journal, in particular, the AJME Authors Guide and the AJME Reviewers Guide, were sufficiently revised and updated according to this PEMS and are currently available on the web-site of the Journal.

All the editors, Editorial Board and Advisory Board members share these principles and widely use practices of best publishing.

We try to ensure that any of our publication is free from influence, in particular, due to corporate or commercial benefits, as well as free from any form of conflicts of interest. Author(s) while submitting a manuscript should declare any potential conflicts of interest with any member of the editorial team, other staff of the Editorial Board or publisher, who could interfere with the objectivity of its assessment. By conflicts of interest we mean an influence on the submission, editing, reviewing and/or publication of a manuscript, the lack of which could lead to the refusal of the publication. By competing interest, we mean anything that could reasonably influence the full, objective and free opinion of the author, reviewer or editor, including the Editor-in-Chief concerning the publication of the particular article.

In the event of any allegations of an undisclosed conflict of interest, please, contact the Editor-in-Chief for investigation and decision-making of a publication retraction.

We support the freedom of expression as an integral part of academic research, unless any research misconduct is discovered. Also, we do not support any harmful or subjective statements, racist or any other form of discriminating points of view and any announcements, which may be considered as a human rights' violation. All the appeals concerning the violation of the decision-making process should be directed to Editor-in-Chief editor@ajme-journal.com

Malpractice Statement

Hereby, on behalf of the Editorial team and Editorial and Advisory Boards of AJME we confirm our strong support of publication ethics and its wide application in our publishing activities. In the event of any concerns raised, an appeal may be directed to the Editor-in-Chief. They will be properly qualified, objectively investigated and, if the concerns are proven, the results will be acknowledged, in particular, publicly available and the publication will be retracted.

We support the idea of exchanging the information about proven research misconduct, in particular, plagiarism, between editors according to COPE Guidelines ‘Sharing of Information Among Editors-in-Chief Regarding Possible Misconduct’ and will carried it out. In the event of malpractice caused by professional negligence or incompetence of the part of author(s), reviewer(s), editor(s), claims can be brought before the Editor- in-Chief.

Among the grounds for allegations of malpractice may be the following:

1) failing to exercise the skills and abilities that a similar situated professional in the same circumstances without reasonable cause;

2) failing to meet professional standards, rules and practices, widely used in publishing, in particular, mentioned in COPE guidelines and/or Elsevier recommendations;

3) failing to render services or keep an appropriated communication that a professional would apply under similar circumstances (in particular, within an investigation process). In the event of failing the publication ethics or malpractice, we recommend checking through the Core Practices of COPE

Allegations of Research Misconduct

Academic integrity is crucial for the progress of science and universities. Academic integrity entails a set of ethical principles and rules that should be followed by participants in the educational and scientific process to ensure trust in study and creative achievements. Violations of academic integrity, such as academic plagiarism and fabrication, may occur and should be reported to the editor-in-chief. The process of investigation for alleged violations involves participation from various parties, including department heads, institutions’ research integrity officers etc and editors-in-chief. Those accused of violating academic integrity have the right to review evidence and provide explanations. Violations may result in various consequences, such as refusing to publish, depriving the editor or reviewer of the right to participate in editorial work, or banning the author from publishing.

Plagiarism Prevention

Publication of the original and high-quality materials of authors for the world- wide scholar community is an important part of our work.

By research misconduct we assess the plagiarism, fabrication and falsification, as well as fraudulent research in all forms. We put our efforts to discover the above mentioned at all stages of the publishing process, and welcome post publication. In the event that any research misconduct happens and is discovered within a proper investigation, it will lead to the retraction of the article with the necessary acknowledgement.

For plagiarism prevention a fair and recognized definition of what plagiarism means exists. We use both of the following documents for defining plagiarism with regard to the international publishing standards (COPE; EASE; WAME).

Post-publication Discussions and Corrections

The editors encourage constructive debate and criticism of published scientific articles, but any changes to the text must be coordinated with the authors. Minor corrections can be made without agreement. Personal attacks and discriminatory remarks are not allowed in discussions. Minor errors can be corrected by publishing changes, while significant errors require a separate publication with their own DOI. The decision to publish corrections is made by the editor-in-chief in consultation with the authors and managing editor.

Preprint Policy

In AJME we accept preprints as a means to foster open and timely dissemination of research findings. Authors are encouraged to share their research as preprints on platforms such as SSRN (Social Science Research Network) prior to formal publication in our journal.

To ensure transparency and facilitate proper citation, we require authors to inform the editor about their intention to share their work as a preprint. This can be done by providing the editor with the preprint link and any relevant information during the submission process.

By allowing preprints, we aim to promote early access to research and encourage collaboration within the academic community. Preprints provide an opportunity for researchers to receive feedback and engage in scholarly discussions before the formal peer-review process.

Please note that the publication of a preprint does not affect the consideration of the manuscript for formal publication in our journal. The peer-review process will still be conducted independently, and the final published version will undergo rigorous review and editorial processes.

We believe that embracing preprints enhances the research ecosystem and accelerates the dissemination of knowledge. We encourage authors to take advantage of this opportunity to share their work openly and contribute to the advancement of their respective fields.

Editorial Policies

Open Access Policy

AJME is an Open Access Journal that quarterly publishes original research articles and other materials, necessary for researching, which can be read without the requirement for registration of any kind.

The registration is necessary only for submitting a manuscript and for reviewing it.

We strongly support the Budapest Open Access Initiative, 2002 and follow it in our activities:

By "open access" to this [research] literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution and the only role for copyright in this domain should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited.

We also support the Bethesda Statement on Open Access Publishing, released June 20, 2003 and the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities of 22 October 2003, in particular, the transition to the Electronic Open Access Paradigm.

Privacy Policy

At Access to Justice in the Middle East and its publisher, Academic Insight Press, we are deeply committed to protecting the privacy and security of our authors, reviewers, and readers. We believe that transparency is a cornerstone of our relationship with the academic community, and we handle your personal information with the utmost care and respect in all our operations.

Purpose

The Privacy Statement is designed to help you understand what personal data we collect, why we collect it, and how we use and protect it. Our data handling practices are in strict accordance with the high standards set by applicable data protection laws, including the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), ensuring your information is managed responsibly and lawfully throughout the publishing process.

Authors Rights and Our Practices

We encourage you to take a moment to read the detailed statement that follows. It provides comprehensive information about our specific privacy practices and explains the rights you have concerning your personal data when you interact with our journal. Understanding these details will help you make informed decisions when submitting your work to AJME.

See more in our Privacy Statement

Publication model

AJME is a fully Open Access journal. This means that all articles are freely and permanently available online immediately upon publication, with no paywalls, registration, or subscription fees for readers.

We believe that knowledge should be accessible to all — and that no author should be excluded from publishing due to financial constraints. To support this commitment, AJME applies Article Processing Charges (APCs) transparently, while offering a range of flexible payment options and generous waiver policies (see more in AJME Charges Policy).

There are several ways in which the APC can be covered:

● Third-party funding from grants, research programs, or international donors;

● Direct author payment, where no institutional or external support is available;

● Waivers or discounts for authors from low- and middle-income countries;

● Full or partial waivers upon request, evaluated individually after editorial acceptance;

● Waivers for selected high-impact submissions;

● APC discounts for active peer reviewers, editorial board members, and contributors to the journal’s development.

We encourage authors to inform the editorial office of any funding sources or institutional agreements at the time of submission, so that we can support the most suitable option.

AJME does not charge for submission, nor are there additional fees for article length, figures, tables, or supplementary materials. For longer-than-usual manuscripts, we welcome prior coordination with the editorial office to ensure a smooth publishing process.

Content types such as editorial notes, retractions, corrections, and conference announcements are published free of charge.

Early Access and Visibility

At AJME, we believe that important research deserves to be shared without delay. Through our Online First program, we accelerate the publication of new findings by publishing articles online as soon as they are ready. Once a manuscript has successfully completed our rigorous peer review, undergone editorial processing, and received final proof corrections from the author, it is immediately published on our website.

This process significantly reduces the traditional publication lag, ensuring that an author's work is disseminated rapidly to the global academic community. Crucially, each Online First article is the final, citable Version of Record. It is immediately assigned a permanent Digital Object Identifier (DOI), allowing it to be discovered, read, and cited by other researchers right away, which increases the visibility and potential impact of the research long before the full issue is compiled.

While these articles are available as a "first look" online, they are later collected and assigned to a specific volume and issue number for formal archival purposes. The scientific content of the article remains identical; the only change is the addition of the final bibliographic details. This two-step process provides the best of both worlds: the speed of immediate online publication and the stability of traditional issue-based archiving.

Accelerated Publication: The Fast Track Option

For authors with time-sensitive research who require an expedited review process, AJME offers a Fast Track option. This service prioritizes the manuscript for rapid processing and peer review, and we guarantee that a first editorial decision will be delivered within 20 working days of submission.

Please note: Opting for the Fast Track service guarantees an accelerated timeline for the editorial decision but has no bearing on the outcome of the peer review. All manuscripts submitted via the Fast Track route are subject to the same rigorous, impartial peer-review standards as regular submissions. The final editorial decision to accept, revise, or reject a manuscript is based solely on the scientific merit of the work.

The Fast Track option involves an additional charge equivalent to 50% of the standard Article Processing Charge (APC), which is payable only upon acceptance of the manuscript. Authors who wish to utilize this service should clearly state their request in their cover letter at the time of initial submission.

Peer review model

Peer review is a crucial point of high-quality content, published in AJME. All of AJME content is subjected to double anonymised peer-review with the aim of obtaining advice on individual manuscripts from reviewers and the recommendation about the publication of the article and/or improving the study. The only exception from peer review is an Introduction of the Editor-in-Chief, which appears in each of the Journal’s issues.

The process of peer review used by our Editorial Team is clearly described in our Rules, you may find on this page http://ajee-journal.com/submissions . In addition, we recommended to familiarize with the COPE guidelines and EASE best practices of peer review and widely apply it within the peer review.

AJME reviewers are external experts, who are well-known specialists in a particular area of legal research, related to the manuscript, chosen by managing editors to provide opinions, who have no conflict of interest with author(s). We support any warnings of reviewers and oversee the peer review for avoiding any fraudulent or manipulated acts, on the side of authors, as well as on the side of the reviewers.

We put in efforts that all judgments and findings, which have been given in the peer-review process, are objective, if not, a responsible editor has to change reviewers and conduct an additional review.

Reviewers should assess the manuscript in general and give their competent advice concerning the possible publication of the manuscript in the regular issue of AJME or in special issue. The special issue of AJME has an additional guest-editor (or editors) for quality checking and control.

All reviewed articles are treated confidentially prior to their publication, in any case avoiding copying, transferring to third parties, publicly discussing its content, as well as using any data, ideas or arguments of the manuscript. The responsibility for these lies upon the reviewers and the editors jointly. All our reviewers strongly support and execute the publication ethics of AJME, which is confirmed before a responsible editor.

Author information

Authorship of the particular manuscript, submitted for publication, is a very important point for the publication process to begin and be successfully finished. We believe and recognize the authorship of a person, mentioned in the submission, while the opposite was not discovered within the proper investigation according to the rules and guidelines of COPE and EASE. In particular, author(s) should take responsibility for the content of their manuscript, the ideas and opinions, given in their research result, as well as proper sources citation and methodology of studying, in any case avoiding of research misconduct.

Co-authorship is acceptable in AJME and carried out with the following. We believe that all co-authors have significantly contributed to the particular research, submitted for publication, and should confirm their responsibility for a whole manuscript or a particular section of the study. One particular author should act on behalf of all the co-authors communicating with us. Despite this, any of co-authors should direct their allegations to Editorial team in the event of any concerns via e-mail editor@ajme-journal.com

Our authors are obliged to participate in a double-anonymized peer review process in line with well-known practices and our requirements.

The author(s) are obliged to provide retractions or corrections of mistakes upon request of reviewers or editors. The author(s) should provide a list of references in accordance with the Journal requirements.

The author(s) should mention any financial support of their publication, in particular, concerning funding of projects within which a particular research has been conducted.

All our author(s) confirm their strong support and execute publication ethics of AJME.

We support and highly recommend the CRediT – Contributor Roles Taxonomy representing the roles typically played by contributors to manuscripts and highly recommend it to our authors. Please, find more information here https://casrai.org/credit/ Authors should define each contribution according to the following recommendations. Each person who meets the first criterion should be allowed to participate in the drafting and approval of the final version of authors should be determined before submission of the manuscript, because any changes made after submission should be approved by all authors and explained to the name order journal editor.

Errata, corrections, retractions and appeals

In the event that a significant error is detected in an article, our top priority is to fairly investigate and rectify the situation. We will take appropriate action, either by issuing a correction notice or retracting the article, depending on the nature and severity of the error. Our approach adheres to the retraction guidelines set by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and we utilize the EASE Standard Retraction Form.

The specific procedure for article retractions is fully outlined in the Journal's rules. If authors disagree with a decision to retract an article and believe that retraction is unwarranted, they have the option to appeal the decision to the Editor-in-Chief. The managing editor, who was not involved in the publication of the article, will review and discuss appeals. If necessary, the managing editor may consult with the Editor-in-Chief. Articles that undergo the appeal process may undergo further review. However, it is important to note that the decision reached at the end of the appeal process is considered final. We welcome alternative and peaceful resolution of any disputes arising from the publisher, editors and authors communication.

As per the COPE Retraction Guidelines that our journal follows, articles may be retracted due to unreliable conclusions, redundant publication, or unethical research misconduct such as plagiarism. The EASE Retraction Form is used for the withdrawal procedure, which occurs after careful consideration of appeals from editors, authors, or readers. If an appeal finds any of the above reasons, a statement of retraction will be added to the PDF file of the article. In cases where there is evidence of misconduct or unreliable conclusions, but an investigation is not planned or underway, a statement of concern may be published on the Journal's website.

Editorial Process. Conflicts of Interest

The Editorial Team and editors of AJME are committed to their independence from any conflicts of interest, corporate, personal or any other influence, which may lead to a violation of the principles, specified here, or any widely used principles of publishing in the scholarly community. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the selection of materials for publication on the grounds of two external reviewers’ assessments and recommendations of the managing editor.

All the Editorial Board and Advisory Board members share these principles and widely use practices of best publishing. We try to ensure that any of our publications is free from influence, in particular, due to corporate or commercial benefits, as well as free from any form of conflicts of interest. Author(s) while submitting a manuscript should declare any potential conflicts of interest with any member of the editorial team, other staff of the Editorial Board or publisher, who could interfere with the objectivity of its assessment.

By conflicts of interest we mean an influence on the submission, editing, reviewing and/or publication of a manuscript, the lack of which could lead to the refusal of the publication. By competing interest, we mean anything that could reasonably influence the full, objective and free opinion of the author, reviewer or editor, including the Editor-in-Chief concerning the publication of the particular article. In the event of any allegations of an undisclosed conflict of interest, please, contact the Editor-in-Chief for investigation and decision-making of a publication retraction.

All the appeals concerning the violation of the decision-making process should be directed to Editor-in-Chief editor@ajme-journal.com

Sponsors and affiliated institutions

Members of association founded and affiliated to an AJME journal benefit from a discount as well as authors affiliated to institutions participating in our Partners Program - Institutional agreements or national consortia that have arrangements with the publisher.

Sustainable Development in AJME

In AJME, we strongly support sustainable development and make our efforts visible in the following ways: first of all, we support the idea of a joint blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet and follow the strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth. We provide a waiver policy for charges – more than 20% of its content.

In 2025, Academic Insights Press, AJME publisher, formally became signatory to the SDG Publishers Compact, an initiative launched by the United Nations to encourage publishers to accelerate progress toward achieving the SDGs through responsible publishing practices (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sdg-publishers-compact/)

By signing the Compact, we have committed to:

● Publishing and actively promoting content aligned with the SDGs

● Advocating for sustainable development, education, and innovation

● Implementing environmentally responsible practices throughout our editorial operations

● Supporting open access and high ethical standards to ensure inclusive knowledge dissemination

This commitment is a core part of our publishing ethos, and we continuously work to ensure that our contributions as an academic journal align with broader global efforts to build a just and sustainable future.

EDI policy statement

In AJME, we strongly believe that no discrimination should take place within academic activities and scholarly publishing. This statement contains our rules on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, implemented in our everyday work, which we hope fit with shared values and help everyone access our service without any discrimination.

With this in mind, we have tried to create a welcoming environment for all our customers and readers and to contribute to the development of an equitable community.

Diversity means that we recognise various human features and welcome them in a positive way, making our community inclusive rather than exclusive. Equity refers to ensuring equitable access and opportunities for everyone who works with us – authors, reviewers, editors, and readers. Inclusion concerns how we behave in our activities, making all our efforts visible and providing opportunities for all to be heard and considered equally.

To successfully implement the above, we have created the AIP DE&I Action Plan, where we have placed details of the actions that we implement in our work and where we intend to go in the future.

First of all, we support interested professionals who would like to be more involved in the Journal’s activities as managing editors, responsible for considering and reviewing articles. We are pleased to welcome our new editors, who joined us during the last year, and wish them all the best in their endeavours.

Secondly, we are always open to welcoming those who want to contribute to our Journal’s development as our Editorial Board members, responsible for developing our Journal policy and strategy. We strongly support the idea of diversity and equality of representatives, practitioners, and academics of all genders and ages among our Board members.

Thirdly, we are moving to include equal proportions of people of different ethnicities and genders among our authors and reviewers, as well as ensuring the representation of people with disabilities in our Journal community as a whole.

Note

The original version of these rules is the AJEE PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE STATEMENT (Updated Version), adopted on November 5, 2021, amended on June 1, 2025. Contributors: Iryna Izarova (Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing); Yuliia Hartman (Writing – review & editing); Bohdana Zahrebelna (Writing – review & editing), belonging to the AIP, AJME publisher.