Citation Policy

This policy aims to ensure academic integrity, transparency in attribution, and high scholarly standards in all manuscripts published by the Journal of Engineering and Sustainable Development (JEASD).

 

  1. Transparent Attribution and Self‑Reuse
  • All material (including but not limited to texts, data, figures, or concepts) derived from other sources, including the author’s own previously published papers, must be clearly cited.
  • Direct quotations must appear in quotation marks and include page or paragraph numbers where possible.
  • Any form of text or data re‑use (self‑reuse) must be declared and properly referenced.

  1. Use of Verified and Scholarly Sources
  • Authors must only cite works they have personally read and understood.
  • Copying reference lists and/or citations from other papers is not acceptable and unethical.
  • Only scholarly sources (peer‑reviewed journals, academic books, standards, theses, conference proceedings) should be used as primary references. Non-scholarly materials such as advertisements, sponsored content, commercial promotional materials unverified online content, or AI-generated references are not appropriate for scholarly citation and should not be included in reference lists.
  • Citations should contribute to the academic value and relevance to the research question or methodology. Avoid preferential citation of one’s own publications, those of close collaborators, or those associated with the author’s institution or editorial board members, unless objectively justified.

  1. Self‑Citation Justification
  • Author self‑citation (including citations to the same research group or to previously published papers in the same Journal) should strongly contributed to the work and it is preferred to not exceed 10% of the total references.
  • If this limit is exceeded, a written justification must be provided; the final decision rests with the Editorial Board.

 

  1. Misconduct and Editorial Actions
  • All forms of Citation manipulation including and not limited to citation‑stacking, coercive citation, inclusion of fake or irrelevant references, and inflating citation counts are considered violations of publication ethics (COPE) standards and strictly prohibited.
  • Manipulating citation patterns to influence metrics or editorial decisions undermines the integrity of the academic record. Such practices will be investigated and may lead to editorial sanctions or retraction of the submission.
  • Editors, reviewers, or the publishing institution must not pressure authors to include citations that are not directly relevant to the research topic, including but not limited to citations from the same journal, the editorial board, reviewers, or the affiliated academic institution.
  • Such behavior constitutes a violation of publication ethics and author independence, and will be handled in accordance with COPE standards.
  • Suspected cases will be referred to the Journal’s Publication Ethics Committee and handled in line with COPE guidelines.
  • Possible actions include: request for correction, revision, rejection of the manuscript, retraction of a published paper or sanctions against the authors

 

  1. Verification and Screening
  • Authors bear full responsibility for ensuring the correctness of all reference information, including author names, article titles, journal title, publication’s volume and years, DOIs, and page numbers. Fabricated, incomplete, or inaccurate references may lead to rejection or post-publication corrections.
  • References and in‑text citations will be formally checked for accuracy and consistency following COPE guidelines. Authors will be notified in case of low‑quality, irrelevant, or unverifiable references.
  • Confirmed violations may result in manuscript rejection, retraction, or sanctions against the authors.

 

  1. Referencing Guidelines
  • The Journal adopts the IEEE citation style as the default. Please refer to the Author guidelines https://jeasd.uomustansiriyah.edu.iq/index.php/jeasd/Author_guidelines
  • Mixing more than one citation style in the same manuscript is not allowed.
  • Authors are encouraged to cite recent published works to reflect recent developments or cutting-edge science. Older, seminal or standards‑based references may be used where justified.