Publication Ethics

Editors are responsible for the content of the journal. They assure quality of the content they publish. Editors assure that all research published has been done in ethical manner. In case of any ethical misconduct, editors will take steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred.

Editors assure authors freedom of expression and intellectual property rights, and ensure confidentiality of all materials and information gained during the peer review and publication process.

All articles in the Civil Engineering Journal are peer-reviewed. If non-peer-reviewed articles are published, these will be clearly marked. Peer review is conducted by qualified reviewers and professionals in the particular subject area. Peer review is guaranteed to be fair, unbiased, and timely process. Editors provide information to reviewers, communicate with them on issues related to their agreement to review papers, and protect the reviewers’ identity within double- blind peer review process.

The decision on acceptance / rejection of the paper is done upon the paper’s importance and suitability for the journal in terms of its originality, validity, and aims of the journal, and based on the peer-review process. Authors are given an opportunity to respond to any comments or critique. Editors respond to all complaints and make all effort to resolve these. In case of any incorrect information, editors publish errata, or clarifications immediately when necessary. In case of misconduct, or suspicion of misconduct, editors take all steps to pursue and properly investigate all individual cases and take appropriate conclusions. Commercial considerations do not affect editorial decisions, nor the quality or scope of the articles published.  

Editors have tools to deal with any conflicts of interest of their staff, authors, reviewers, editorial board, owner / publisher, and their own.

Use of GenerativeAI - CEJ prohibits editors from uploading manuscripts, correspondence, and decision letters to generative AI tools. These are confidential materials whose inclusion could violate copyright, privacy, or data security. Similarly, AI must not assist with the substantive assessment of articles, as the editor must perform the expert evaluation themselves and bear responsibility for decisions and communication with authors. Authors may use AI in preparing their submissions before submission, provided they state this transparently. The editor must immediately report any ethical violations to the publisher. CEJ internally uses its own secure and regulated AI technologies for screening and plagiarism control, which respect confidentiality and the principles of responsible use.

Full document available at: http://publicationethics.org/files/Code%20of%20Conduct.pdf