Editorial Independence — IJAERD
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🛡 Editorial Independence Policy
IJAERD — International Journal of Advance Engineering and Research Development
All editorial decisions are made solely on scholarly merit, independent of any publisher, financial, or personal interest.
ℹ This policy is reviewed annually. Any substantive revision carries a revision date. Concerns may be raised confidentially with the Editor-in-Chief at
editor.ijaerd@gmail.com.
1. Principle
Editorial decisions on every submission to IJAERD are made exclusively on the basis of scholarly merit, methodological soundness, originality, and scope-fit, as assessed through external peer review. The publisher, KG Publication, plays no role in editorial decisions on individual submissions.
The Editor-in-Chief and the editorial team operate independently of any commercial, organisational, or personal interest of the publisher, and KG Publication recognises and supports this independence as a condition of the publishing relationship. No published paper has ever been accepted, rejected, or modified on the basis of a request or preference of the publisher.
2. Editorial Submissions Policy
IJAERD recognises that members of the editorial team and the active reviewer pool may, in the course of their own scholarly work, submit manuscripts to the journal. To prevent any actual or perceived conflict of interest, the journal applies the following protocol to every such submission, in alignment with best practices in scholarly publishing.
2.1 — Who is an Editorial Submitter?
An editorial submission, for the purpose of this policy, is any manuscript on which one or more of the authors holds at least one of the following roles at the time of submission:
- Editor-in-Chief, Publication Editor, Managing Editor, Associate Editor, Section Editor, or Proofing Editor of IJAERD
- Active reviewer in IJAERD's reviewer pool, defined as having completed a review for the journal in the preceding 24 months
2.2 — Handling Protocol for Editorial Submissions
1
Independent Editor Assignment
The submission is assigned to an editor who is not the author, is not in a direct reporting line with the author, and does not share an institutional affiliation with the author. Where no internal editor satisfies these criteria, the Editor-in-Chief may invite an external editor to handle the submission.
2
Full Recusal of the Author-Editor
The author-editor is completely recused from any editorial discussion, decision, or workflow access concerning the submission. The author-editor's access to the submission's workflow is removed for the duration of editorial handling.
3
Double-Blind External Peer Review
The submission undergoes double-blind external peer review by reviewers who are not part of the journal's editorial team and who declare no conflict of interest with the author-editor.
4
Independent Decision
The acceptance, revision, or rejection decision is made by the independent handling editor on the basis of the external reviews alone, without consultation with the author-editor.
5
Transparency Declaration
Every published article that is an editorial submission carries an explicit declaration in its acknowledgements noting the independent handling. Standard wording: "This article was submitted by a member of the journal's editorial team. The manuscript was handled by an independent editor, underwent double-blind external peer review, and the author was fully recused from the editorial workflow."
6
Audit Trail
The journal retains a complete editorial workflow record for every editorial submission, including evidence of editor assignment, reviewer assignments, and recusal, available on request for audit purposes.
3. Public Commitment on Proportion
IJAERD commits to keeping the proportion of articles authored by editorial team members and active reviewers below 15% in any rolling 12-month period. This figure is monitored by the Editor-in-Chief on a per-issue basis.
Note: This 15% threshold is applied at the level of articles, not authors — an article is counted as an editorial submission if any one of its authors holds an editorial role or is an active reviewer at the time of submission. The threshold is intentionally conservative to provide a clear margin against incidental variation.
4. Annual Reporting & Transparency
IJAERD publishes an annual transparency note stating the proportion of editorial submissions in the preceding year and any actions taken to maintain editorial integrity. This note is available on the journal's home page and archived in the journal's notice board.
The journal maintains complete editorial records for all submissions, including reviewer identities (pseudonymous), editorial decisions, and recusal declarations, available on request to applicable oversight bodies.
5. Conflicts of Interest — Editorial Team
All editors of IJAERD complete an annual conflict-of-interest declaration covering personal, financial, institutional, and intellectual interests. Editors recuse themselves from any submission in which they have a competing interest with the authors, including but not limited to:
✖Recent co-authorship (within five years)
✖Shared institutional affiliation with the author
✖Doctoral supervisory or supervisee relationship
✖Financial interest in the research or outcome
✖Personal relationship that could affect objectivity
✖Prior or ongoing professional dispute with the author
6. Independence from the Publisher
KG Publication, the publisher of IJAERD, plays no role in editorial decisions on individual submissions. The publisher's responsibilities are strictly limited to:
🏭 Hosting & Infrastructure
Website hosting, platform maintenance, and technical administration.
💰 Financial Administration
Collection of APCs, bank transactions, and payment processing.
📰 Indexing Coordination
Coordination with indexing databases and DOI registration with CrossRef.
📞 External Correspondence
Communication with authors regarding non-editorial matters.
The publisher does not have access to individual submission records, manuscript content, or peer-review reports prior to publication. Any attempt by the publisher to influence editorial decisions on individual submissions would be a breach of this policy and grounds for the editorial team to disclose the breach publicly and escalate the matter. Publisher details are available on the Publisher page.
7. Concerns & Complaints
Concerns about editorial independence, or about the handling of any specific submission, may be raised confidentially with the Editor-in-Chief:
| Email | : | editor.ijaerd@gmail.com |
| Response Time | : | Within 1 – 2 working days |
| Working Hours | : | Monday – Saturday, 10 AM – 6 PM IST |
Complaints that cannot be resolved at the editor level may be escalated to the publisher at editor@kgpublication.com. The journal is committed to investigating all editorial concerns promptly and impartially.
ℹ This policy is reviewed annually. Last revised: September 2026.
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