General Criteria for Publication
Peer Review Policy
Editorial Independence
Editorial Decision Process
Authorship and Contributorship
Research Integrity
Competing Interests
Funding Disclosure
Human and Animal Research Ethics
Ethical Review
Data and Code Availability
Preprint Policy
ORCID Policy
AI and Automated Tools
Plagiarism Policy
Corrections
Retractions
Withdrawals
Expressions of Concern
Appeals and Complaints
Note
WiPiEC is committed to maintaining the highest standards of scholarly publishing through transparent editorial procedures, rigorous peer review, responsible research practices, and adherence to internationally recognized principles of publication ethics. The policies presented on this page define the standards expected from authors, reviewers, editors, and the Publisher throughout the publication process.
These policies are regularly reviewed and updated to reflect developments in scholarly communication and recommendations issued by recognized organizations supporting research integrity and ethical publishing.
WiPiEC considers manuscripts that present original, scientifically sound, and ethically conducted research within the journal's scope.
To be considered for publication, every submitted manuscript should satisfy the following general criteria:
Originality, scientific quality, methodological rigor, reproducibility, and relevance to the journal's readership are the principal criteria used in evaluating submissions.
Novelty alone does not guarantee publication. Likewise, negative results, replication studies, engineering implementations, or works in progress may be considered for publication when they provide scientifically valuable contributions.
The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to decline manuscripts that fall outside the journal's scope or fail to satisfy the journal's minimum scientific, ethical, or editorial standards before peer review.
WiPiEC employs a double-anonymous peer-review process to ensure fair, objective, and independent evaluation of submitted manuscripts.
Following submission, each manuscript undergoes an initial editorial assessment to determine whether it falls within the journal's scope and satisfies basic scientific, ethical, and editorial requirements.
Manuscripts passing this initial screening are assigned to an appropriate Handling Editor, who selects independent reviewers with expertise relevant to the manuscript's subject matter.
Normally, each manuscript is evaluated by at least two independent reviewers. Additional reviewers may be invited whenever necessary to obtain sufficient expertise or resolve conflicting recommendations.
Reviewers evaluate manuscripts according to criteria including:
Reviewers provide constructive comments intended to improve the quality of the manuscript while supporting objective editorial decision-making.
Reviewer recommendations are advisory. Final publication decisions remain the responsibility of the Editor.
The journal may request one or more rounds of revision before reaching a final decision.
Possible editorial decisions include:
Editors evaluate revised manuscripts by considering both reviewer comments and the authors' responses. Revised manuscripts may be returned to the original reviewers when additional evaluation is necessary.
All participants in the peer-review process are expected to maintain confidentiality and declare any conflicts of interest that could compromise objective evaluation.
The Editorial Office continuously monitors peer-review quality, reviewer performance, editorial consistency, and review timeliness to maintain an efficient and high-quality review process.
Editorial independence is fundamental to the integrity and credibility of WiPiEC.
Editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of scientific merit, originality, methodological quality, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal's scope.
Neither the Publisher, sponsoring organizations, conference organizers, advertisers, funding bodies, commercial partners, nor any external institution may influence editorial decisions.
Editors are expected to perform their responsibilities independently, objectively, and without discrimination based on nationality, institutional affiliation, gender, ethnicity, political opinion, religion, or other personal characteristics of the authors.
Editors must avoid situations that could create actual or perceived conflicts of interest. Whenever an editor has a personal, professional, institutional, financial, or collaborative relationship with an author that could influence editorial judgment, responsibility for the manuscript shall be transferred to another qualified editor.
Editorial independence also includes the freedom to publish scientifically valid research regardless of whether its conclusions support or challenge prevailing scientific opinions.
The Publisher supports editorial independence by providing administrative and technical services while refraining from influencing editorial judgments or publication decisions.
Every manuscript submitted to WiPiEC follows a structured editorial workflow designed to ensure consistency, transparency, fairness, and scientific quality.
Upon submission, manuscripts undergo an initial assessment by the Editorial Office to verify completeness, compliance with submission requirements, relevance to the journal's scope, and basic ethical standards.
During this stage, manuscripts may be returned to the authors for technical corrections before peer review.
The Editor evaluates the scientific suitability of the manuscript, considering its originality, methodological soundness, significance, and overall quality.
Manuscripts that clearly fail to satisfy the journal's minimum standards may be rejected without external review.
Suitable manuscripts are assigned to independent reviewers with appropriate scientific expertise.
Editors consider reviewer reports together with their own assessment when determining whether revisions are necessary or whether publication should be recommended.
When revisions are requested, authors should respond systematically to all reviewer and editor comments and explain any modifications made to the manuscript.
Editors may request additional revisions if important concerns remain unresolved.
After completion of peer review and revision, the responsible editor reaches one of the following decisions:
The Editor-in-Chief has overall responsibility for maintaining consistency and quality across editorial decisions and may consult members of the Editorial Board whenever additional expertise is required.
Editorial decisions are final unless an appeal is submitted according to the journal's Appeals and Complaints Policy.
The journal is committed to ensuring that every manuscript is evaluated fairly, confidentially, objectively, and within a reasonable timeframe while maintaining the highest standards of scientific publishing.
WiPiEC recognizes authorship as both a credit for scholarly contribution and a responsibility for the integrity of published research. Every listed author must have made a significant intellectual contribution to the work and must accept public responsibility for its content.
Authorship should be based on all of the following criteria:
Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet all authorship criteria should not be listed as authors. Their contributions may be recognized in the Acknowledgements section, provided they have given permission to be acknowledged.
Examples of contributions that alone do not justify authorship include:
The corresponding author is responsible for:
Changes to the author list after submission, including additions, removals, or changes in author order, require the written agreement of all authors and approval by the Editor. Requests received after acceptance will be considered only in exceptional circumstances.
The journal does not permit guest, honorary, gift, or ghost authorship. Suspected violations may result in editorial investigation and appropriate corrective action.
Authors are encouraged to include a contributorship statement describing the specific role of each author using a recognized taxonomy, such as the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy), where appropriate.
WiPiEC is committed to promoting honesty, transparency, reproducibility, and accountability in scholarly research.
Authors are expected to conduct and report research responsibly and accurately. Submitted manuscripts should provide a truthful, complete, and objective account of the research performed, including sufficient methodological detail to allow evaluation and, where applicable, replication of the reported work.
Authors must not:
All data presented in a manuscript should accurately reflect the underlying research. Where appropriate, authors should retain original research records and provide supporting data upon reasonable request from the Editorial Office.
The journal encourages transparency throughout the research process, including clear descriptions of methodologies, software, datasets, statistical analyses, and experimental procedures.
Editors may request clarification or additional documentation whenever questions arise regarding the integrity or reliability of submitted work.
When evidence of research misconduct is identified before or after publication, the Editorial Board will investigate the matter following established editorial procedures and internationally recognized publication ethics guidelines. Appropriate actions may include manuscript rejection, publication of corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, or notification of relevant institutions when warranted.
WiPiEC is committed to maintaining transparency regarding relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, the interpretation or presentation of research.
Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any competing interests that may affect the objectivity of the publication process.
Competing interests may include, but are not limited to:
Authors must include a Competing Interests statement in every manuscript. If no competing interests exist, authors should explicitly state:
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Reviewers who identify a potential conflict of interest that could compromise their impartiality should decline the review invitation or promptly inform the Editor.
Editors who have competing interests related to a submitted manuscript must recuse themselves from handling that manuscript. Responsibility for editorial management will be assigned to another qualified editor.
Disclosure of a competing interest does not necessarily preclude publication. The Editorial Board evaluates disclosed relationships to determine whether they could compromise the integrity or credibility of the publication process.
Transparency regarding research funding helps readers understand the context in which research was conducted and supports confidence in the integrity of published work.
Authors must disclose all sources of financial support related to the research described in the manuscript.
Funding disclosures should include:
Authors should clearly indicate whether the funding organization had any involvement in:
If the funding organization had no involvement beyond providing financial support, authors should explicitly state this.
If no external funding was received, authors should include the following statement:
This research received no external funding.
Failure to disclose relevant funding information may be considered a breach of the journal's publication policies.
Research involving human participants, human biological materials, personal data, or animals must be conducted in accordance with internationally recognized ethical principles and applicable national regulations.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all required ethical approvals were obtained before conducting the research.
Studies involving human participants should comply with internationally accepted ethical principles, including those reflected in the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable institutional or national requirements.
Where ethical approval is required, authors must identify:
Research involving human participants should include an appropriate statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from participants or their legal representatives when required.
Authors must protect participant privacy and confidentiality. Personally identifiable information should not be published unless explicit written consent has been obtained.
Research involving animals should comply with applicable legislation and internationally accepted standards for animal welfare.
Authors should demonstrate that:
The Editorial Board may request additional documentation concerning ethical approval or compliance with applicable regulations.
Where questions arise concerning the ethical conduct of reported research, the Editorial Board may request supporting documentation or seek additional clarification before proceeding with editorial evaluation.
Failure to satisfy ethical requirements may result in rejection of the manuscript or, where appropriate, post-publication editorial action.
WiPiEC supports the principles of open science and encourages authors to make the research data, software, source code, protocols, and other materials underlying their published work openly available whenever this is ethically, legally, and technically feasible.
The availability of research materials promotes transparency, reproducibility, verification of results, and reuse of scientific knowledge.
Authors should include a Data Availability Statement in every manuscript indicating whether the data supporting the findings are:
Where applicable, authors are encouraged to deposit research data, software, and source code in recognized repositories that provide persistent identifiers, such as Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), and support long-term preservation.
Examples of suitable repositories include institutional repositories, Zenodo, Figshare, Dryad, GitHub (with archived releases), or discipline-specific repositories.
Authors should provide persistent links or identifiers for deposited materials whenever possible.
The journal recognizes that some datasets cannot be made publicly available due to ethical, legal, contractual, privacy, national security, or intellectual property considerations. In such cases, authors should clearly explain the reasons for restricted access.
Editors or reviewers may request access to supporting data during the peer-review process when necessary to evaluate the validity of the reported research.
Failure to provide requested supporting materials without adequate justification may affect editorial decisions.
WiPiEC supports the responsible use of preprint servers as a means of accelerating scientific communication.
Submission of manuscripts that have previously been posted as preprints does not constitute prior publication and does not preclude consideration for publication in the journal.
Authors may post their manuscripts on recognized non-commercial preprint servers before submission, during peer review, or after acceptance, provided that:
Following publication in WiPiEC, authors are encouraged to update the preprint record by:
Authors should ensure that subsequent versions posted on preprint servers accurately identify the peer-reviewed published version as the authoritative Version of Record.
The journal reserves the right to evaluate whether specific preprint practices comply with its editorial policies.
WiPiEC encourages the use of Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) identifiers to improve the accuracy, transparency, and interoperability of scholarly metadata.
Authors are strongly encouraged to provide their ORCID iD during manuscript submission.
The corresponding author should ensure that ORCID identifiers supplied for co-authors are accurate and belong to the respective researchers.
Where provided, ORCID identifiers will be included in the published article metadata and, where supported by the journal's publishing infrastructure, deposited with Crossref to improve author identification and discoverability.
Reviewers and editors are also encouraged to maintain ORCID records to support transparent scholarly communication.
Providing an ORCID iD is currently recommended but not mandatory unless otherwise specified in the Author Guidelines or special publication requirements.
WiPiEC recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) and other automated technologies are increasingly used to assist research and scholarly writing. The journal supports their responsible and transparent use while maintaining human accountability for all published content.
AI systems, including large language models and automated writing tools, cannot be listed as authors, as they cannot assume responsibility for the integrity, originality, or accuracy of scholarly work.
Authors remain fully responsible for all aspects of their manuscripts, regardless of whether AI-assisted tools were used during research, data analysis, language editing, image generation, software development, or manuscript preparation.
When AI or automated tools have made a substantial contribution to the preparation of a manuscript, authors should disclose their use in an appropriate section of the manuscript. The disclosure should describe:
Examples of acceptable uses include:
Authors must carefully review and verify all AI-generated content before submission.
AI tools should not be used to fabricate data, generate fictitious references, manipulate research findings, produce misleading images, or otherwise compromise scientific integrity.
Reviewers and editors should maintain confidentiality when evaluating manuscripts and should avoid uploading confidential manuscript content into external AI services that may retain or reuse submitted material without appropriate safeguards.
The Editorial Board reserves the right to request additional information regarding the use of AI or automated tools whenever necessary to ensure transparency and research integrity.
WiPiEC maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward plagiarism and other forms of unethical text or content reuse.
All submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism detection software before, during, or after peer review.
Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to:
Authors are expected to properly cite all sources used in their research and clearly distinguish their original contributions from previously published material.
Limited textual overlap may be acceptable in standard methodological descriptions, properly quoted material, or legally required statements, provided that appropriate attribution is given and the overlap does not misrepresent originality.
When significant overlap or suspected plagiarism is identified, the Editorial Office will investigate the matter in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures.
Depending on the severity and timing of the issue, editorial actions may include:
Authors found to have engaged in serious or repeated plagiarism may be subject to additional editorial sanctions, including temporary restrictions on future submissions.
The journal evaluates each case individually, ensuring fairness, transparency, confidentiality, and due process throughout the investigation.
WiPiEC is committed to maintaining the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of the scholarly record. When errors are identified in published articles, the journal will issue corrections promptly and transparently where appropriate.
Corrections may be initiated by authors, readers, reviewers, editors, or the Publisher.
A correction may be published when an error:
Examples include:
Corrections are published as separate, citable documents that are electronically linked to the original article. The original Version of Record will remain available, preserving the transparency and integrity of the scholarly record.
Minor typographical errors that do not affect the interpretation or reliability of the article may be corrected without issuing a formal correction notice.
Retractions are issued when a published article is determined to be unreliable due to significant errors or research misconduct.
The purpose of a retraction is to correct the scientific record while ensuring transparency regarding the reasons for the editorial action.
Grounds for retraction may include, but are not limited to:
Retractions may be requested by authors or initiated by the Editor-in-Chief following an editorial investigation.
Whenever practical, authors will be given an opportunity to respond before a final decision is made.
Retraction notices will:
Retracted articles will remain accessible as part of the permanent scholarly record but will be clearly identified as retracted to prevent inappropriate citation or use.
The journal follows internationally recognized publication ethics guidance when evaluating potential retractions.
Withdrawal applies to manuscripts that have not yet been formally published.
Authors may request withdrawal of a submitted manuscript before acceptance by providing a written explanation to the Editorial Office.
Once peer review has begun, withdrawal requests should identify the reasons for withdrawal to avoid unnecessary use of reviewer and editorial resources.
After a manuscript has been accepted, withdrawal will be permitted only under exceptional circumstances, such as:
Authors should not submit a manuscript to another journal while it remains under consideration by WiPiEC unless the manuscript has been formally withdrawn.
The Editorial Office reserves the right to decline withdrawal requests where evidence suggests attempts to circumvent the editorial process or publication ethics.
Once an article has been formally published, it cannot be withdrawn. Post-publication concerns are addressed through Corrections, Expressions of Concern, or Retractions, as appropriate.
An Expression of Concern may be issued when substantial questions arise regarding the integrity, reliability, or ethical conduct of a published article, but the available evidence is insufficient to support an immediate correction or retraction.
Expressions of Concern are intended to alert readers while an investigation is ongoing or when the outcome cannot yet be determined.
Circumstances that may warrant an Expression of Concern include:
An Expression of Concern does not imply misconduct or invalidate the published work. It serves as a temporary notification to readers that questions have been raised regarding the publication.
Once the investigation has concluded, the journal will determine whether the notice should:
Expressions of Concern are published as independent, citable documents and are electronically linked to the affected article.
WiPiEC is committed to ensuring that editorial decisions are fair, transparent, objective, and consistent.
Authors who believe that a manuscript has been rejected due to a procedural error, misunderstanding, or inappropriate evaluation may submit a written appeal to the Editor-in-Chief.
Appeals should:
Appeals based solely on disagreement with reviewer opinions are unlikely to result in reconsideration.
The Editor-in-Chief will review the appeal and may:
The decision following an appeal is final.
The journal also welcomes complaints concerning editorial procedures, peer review, publication ethics, conflicts of interest, or other aspects of journal operations.
Complaints should be submitted in writing to the Editorial Office and should include sufficient detail to allow an appropriate investigation.
All complaints are handled confidentially, impartially, and in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies. Where appropriate, the Editorial Board may consult independent experts or relevant institutions before reaching a conclusion.
The journal is committed to resolving appeals and complaints as promptly and fairly as possible while safeguarding the integrity of the editorial process and the scholarly record.
Send Appeals and Complaints to the WiPiEC Administrator with Subject: “Appeals and Complaints”) (See email address in Contact)
These policies constitute the official editorial and publication policies of Works in Progress in Embedded Computing Journal (WiPiEC). They are intended to ensure transparent editorial governance, uphold the highest standards of research integrity, and support authors, reviewers, editors, and readers throughout the scholarly publishing process.
The Editorial Board periodically reviews and updates these policies to reflect developments in scholarly communication and internationally recognized best practices, ensuring continued alignment with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Crossref, and other organizations promoting integrity and excellence in scholarly publishing.
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