🔹 Introduction

Prithvi Foundation is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and transparency in academic publishing. Upholding ethical principles ensures the credibility of scholarly communication and builds trust among researchers, institutions, and the broader academic community. Authors, editors, and reviewers are expected to fully adhere to these ethical standards throughout the submission, review, and publication process.

🔹 Plagiarism

Plagiarism is strictly prohibited and is defined as:

1. • Presenting another person's ideas, words, or work as one’s own without proper attribution
2. • Copying or closely imitating the language or structure of another work without citation
3. • Committing literary theft or passing off previously published material as original

The Prithvi Journal of Academic Research & Development (PJARD) treats plagiarism as a serious violation of academic ethics. Each manuscript submitted is screened using advanced plagiarism detection tools such as Plagiarism Checker X. Manuscripts that show unacceptable levels of similarity with existing literature will be rejected immediately. Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original, and all sources are properly acknowledged.

We follow COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines in investigating suspected cases of plagiarism.

🔹 Duplicate Submissions

Submitting the same or substantially similar manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is unethical. Duplicate submission includes:

1. • Resubmitting the same manuscript or slightly revised versions to multiple journals
2. • Publishing content derived from the same dataset without meaningful variation
3. • Submitting translated versions of the same paper without disclosure

Authors must confirm that their manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere at the time of submission.

🔹 Fabrication and Falsification of Data

Authors are expected to present their research findings honestly and accurately. The following are strictly prohibited:

1. • Fabrication: Making up data or results and recording or reporting them
2. • Falsification: Manipulating research data, images, or processes in a way that misrepresents the results

Any attempt to mislead readers or manipulate the scientific record undermines the integrity of academic publishing and will lead to rejection or retraction of the article. Suspected cases will be handled in accordance with COPE recommendations.

🔹 Citation Manipulation

Citations must be accurate, relevant, and justified. Practices considered unethical include:

1. • Citing irrelevant sources to artificially inflate citation counts
2. • Excessive self-citation with no scholarly merit
3. • Coercive citation requests from editors or reviewers

All citations should meaningfully support the context of the manuscript and contribute to the field of research.

🔹 Ethical Oversight

The editorial board reserves the right to investigate any ethical concern raised during or after the publication process. If ethical misconduct is confirmed, appropriate actions will be taken, which may include:

1. • Manuscript rejection
2. • Article retraction
3. • Notification to authors’ institutions

We are firmly committed to fostering a transparent, responsible, and ethical publication environment, in alignment with global best practices.