The Taiwanese Journal of Public Administration is dedicated to publishing high-quality research papers featuring new findings, conceptual reviews, and theoretical applications in the fields of public administration, public policy, and public affairs management. This journal does not accept any research papers involving misconduct, including: plagiarism, multiple submissions (redundant publication), fabrication (falsification) of data, fake authorship, and undisclosed conflicts of interest. We adhere to the Publishing Ethics recommended by Elsevier B.V. and the guidelines related to publishing/writing ethics established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The following regulations outline the duties of authors, editors, and reviewers.
Duties of Authors
- Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure the originality of their work. When using others' works or arguments, authors must comply with explicit citation standards. Plagiarism—including misappropriating others' research, direct copying, or paraphrasing others' ideas without attribution—is strictly prohibited.
- Data Access and Retention: Authors are required to retain raw data for editorial review after publication and for public access.
- Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals or submitting previously published work to this journal is prohibited. However, papers presented at academic conferences are considered unpublished works.
- Acknowledgement of Sources: Authors have an obligation to state the sources of data used and properly cite the work of others. Information obtained privately (e.g., conversations, correspondence, or discussions with third parties) or through confidential services (e.g., refereeing manuscripts or grant applications) must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source or author.
- Conflict of Interest: Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their research as early as possible. This includes financial support, project grants, employment, consultancies, ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, or grants.
- Fundamental Errors in Published Works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, they are obligated to promptly notify the journal editor or editorial office to retract the paper or provide a corrected version.
- Reporting Standards: Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance.
Duties of Editors
- Peer Review: For manuscripts that have completed the "peer review" process, editors decide on publication based on the research topic’s importance to other researchers or readers. Editors must follow journal policies and legal requirements. Editors may authorize reviewers to exercise decision-making power regarding publication.
- Fair Play: Editors shall evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
- Confidentiality: Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, editorial advisers, and the publisher.
- Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest:
- Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.
- Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
- Editors should recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions.
- Editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant interests. If conflicts of interest are revealed after publication, necessary measures such as publishing corrections or retractions should be taken.
- Editors must ensure that sponsored supplements undergo the same rigorous peer review process as other papers, without special treatment. Supplements must be based purely on academic merit rather than commercial interest.
- Ethical Investigations: The publisher and editors shall take reasonable responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper. This includes contacting the author and relevant institutions. If a violation of academic ethics is confirmed, measures such as corrections, retractions, or clarifications must be taken immediately. This applies even to papers already published.
Duties of Reviewers
- Self-assessment before Review: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editorial board or the managing editor and decline the review process.
- Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to any person other than the editor.
- Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments and constructive feedback.
- Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper.
