Publication Ethics

Overview

Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal is committed to the highest standards of research integrity and ethical publishing practice. The policies below govern all submissions, editorial decisions, and post-publication conduct. They apply equally to authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher.

Galaxy is published by the Research Centre for English Language and Literature (RCELL) and has maintained continuous publication since 2012. The journal adheres to the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) — the internationally recognised standard for ethical scholarly publishing.

As an official Crossref member journal, Galaxy assigns a permanent DOI to every published research article from Vol. 15, Issue 2 (2026) onwards, with automatic metadata distribution across the global scholarly ecosystem.

These policies are reviewed annually. Current version: April 2026. Queries: editor@galaxyimrj.com

Section 1 — Authorship Policy

Authorship carries significant intellectual, ethical, and legal responsibility. All named authors must meet all four of the following criteria (consistent with ICMJE guidelines):

• Made a substantial intellectual contribution to the conception, design, argument, or analysis of the work
• Participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content
• Approved the final version of the manuscript as submitted
• Is prepared to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including its accuracy and integrity

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

By submitting the manuscript, the corresponding author confirms that: all co-authors have read, approved, and consented to the submission; all co-authors have agreed to the authorship order; the work has not been submitted elsewhere simultaneously; all conflicts of interest have been declared; and any AI tool use has been disclosed.

Contributors not meeting authorship criteria — those providing only technical assistance, language editing, or administrative support — should be acknowledged in an Acknowledgements section.

Section 2 — Peer Review Process

Galaxy operates a rigorous double-blind peer review process. Neither author(s) nor reviewers are aware of each other’s identities. Every manuscript is evaluated by three independent expert reviewers.

Reviewer Responsibilities

• Treat all manuscript content as strictly confidential — not to be shared with any third party
• Declare any conflict of interest before accepting a review assignment
• Not use AI tools to generate review reports or submit manuscript content to AI platforms
• Not request self-citations without clear scholarly justification
• Complete the review within the agreed timeframe or notify the editorial office promptly

Section 3 — Plagiarism & Originality

All manuscripts must be original, unpublished work not under consideration elsewhere. Plagiarism in all its forms is a fundamental breach of scholarly integrity, including:

• Presenting another person’s words, ideas, or work as one’s own without attribution
• Copying or closely paraphrasing substantial passages without citation
• Self-plagiarism — reusing significant portions of one’s own prior published work without disclosure
• Duplicate submission — submitting the same or substantially identical manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously
• Redundant publication — publishing the same findings in multiple outlets without cross-referencing

All submitted manuscripts are screened using similarity detection software before peer review.

Section 4 — Artificial Intelligence & Generative Tools Policy

This policy is guided by the COPE Position Statement on Authorship and AI Tools (2023). Authors may use AI tools for limited assistive tasks such as grammar checking and language editing, provided use is disclosed. The following are not permitted:

• Manuscripts fully or substantially AI-generated without meaningful human intellectual contribution
• Using AI to fabricate or misrepresent arguments, evidence, or scholarly sources
• Listing an AI tool as an author — AI cannot meet authorship criteria, take accountability, or be held responsible for the work’s integrity
• Using AI to generate peer review reports or submitting manuscript content to AI platforms during review

Section 5 — Conflict of Interest

All parties must declare any actual or potential conflict — financial, personal, institutional, or professional — that could be perceived as influencing their conduct or reporting.

Section 6 — Editorial Board Members as Authors

Members of the Galaxy Editorial Board — including Advisory Board, Editorial Board, and Young Researchers’ Alliance members — are permitted to submit and publish research in the journal during their tenure. This is consistent with COPE guidelines for small and specialist journals. The following safeguards apply without exception:

• The submitting board member must declare their board membership as a conflict of interest in the submission form
• The board member must fully recuse themselves from all editorial decisions related to their own submission
• The manuscript is handled entirely by an independent editor with no institutional or personal relationship to the author
• The published article includes a transparency note disclosing the author’s board membership and confirming independent editorial handling

Section 7 — Editorial Independence

• Manuscript acceptance is never contingent on payment — APCs are invoiced only after acceptance on scholarly merit
• Advertising, institutional partnerships, or conference collaborations do not influence editorial decisions
• The journal does not accept commissioned articles for which acceptance is guaranteed in advance
• Editors are not permitted to handle their own submissions

Section 8 — Post-Publication Policy

When errors or misconduct are identified after publication, the journal acts promptly and transparently in accordance with COPE guidelines on corrections and retractions.

Anyone who identifies a potential error or ethics concern in a published article is encouraged to contact editor@galaxyimrj.com with the full citation, DOI, and a description of the concern.

Section 9 — Research & Data Integrity

Authors must present findings honestly and accurately. The following constitute serious breaches and are grounds for rejection or retraction:

• Fabrication — inventing data, quotations, sources, or findings that did not occur
• Falsification — manipulating or selectively omitting data or evidence to misrepresent the research
• Misattribution — misquoting or misrepresenting the arguments or findings of cited scholars
• Selective reporting — presenting only results supporting a predetermined conclusion while suppressing contradictory evidence
• Undisclosed prior publication — presenting previously published findings without explicit acknowledgement

Authors who discover a significant error in their published work are obligated to notify the editorial office promptly.

Section 10 — Copyright, Licensing & Open Access

• Authors retain full copyright. Galaxy acquires only a non-exclusive licence to publish, host, and distribute the article in perpetuity.
• All articles are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) — free to share and adapt with proper attribution.
• Authors may republish their work elsewhere under CC BY 4.0, provided the original publication in Galaxy is cited and the DOI is included.
• Authors must obtain all necessary permissions for third-party material included in the manuscript prior to submission.
• Every article from Vol. 15, Issue 2 (2026) onwards receives a permanent Crossref DOI with the prefix 10.66376/galaxy. Upon registration, article metadata is automatically distributed to hundreds of academic discovery platforms worldwide.

Section 11 — Appeals & Complaints

Appealing an Editorial Decision

Authors who believe a rejection was based on a factual error, misunderstanding of scope, or procedural irregularity may appeal. Appeals based solely on disagreement with reviewers’ scholarly opinions will not be considered. Email editor@galaxyimrj.com with subject line “Appeal: [Manuscript Title]” within 30 days of the decision. Include specific grounds and supporting evidence. A decision will be communicated within 30 days and is final.

Raising an Ethics Concern

Any individual with a credible concern about misconduct in a submitted or published article may contact the editorial office. Email editor@galaxyimrj.com with subject “Ethics Concern: [Article DOI or Title]”, including the citation, description of concern, evidence, and any competing interest declaration. All concerns are treated with strict confidentiality. Acknowledgement within 5 working days; substantive response within 30 days.

Complaints About Editorial Conduct

Complaints about editor or reviewer conduct should be sent to editor@galaxyimrj.com with subject “Complaint: Editorial Conduct”. If the complaint involves the Editor-in-Chief, address it to RCELL at journals@rcell.co.in. All complaints are investigated impartially with a response within 30 days.

Publication Ethics Policy — Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal — Last updated April 2026
Published by Research Centre for English Language and Literature (RCELL) — ISSN 2278-9529