Ethics and Integrity Policy

The Proceedings of the International Music and Performing Arts Conference (IMPAC Proceedings) is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical practice and integrity in scholarly publishing. All parties involved in the publication process—authors, reviewers, editors, and organisers—must adhere to principles of honesty, transparency, accountability, and academic responsibility.

1. Plagiarism, Fabrication, Falsification, and Duplicate Submission

Manuscripts submitted to IMPAC Proceedings must represent the original work of the author(s) and must not contain plagiarised material, fabricated data, or falsified results.

All submissions undergo plagiarism screening prior to review. Articles found to contain substantial overlap with previously published work will be rejected.

Duplicate submission to multiple journals or republication of the same article is strictly prohibited.

2. Authorship and Contribution Transparency

All listed authors must have made a significant intellectual contribution to the research, analysis, or writing of the manuscript.
Authors should accurately describe the roles and contributions of all co-authors and acknowledge any institutional or funding support.

Ghost authorship, guest authorship, and honorary authorship are considered unethical and will result in rejection or retraction.

3. Ethical Conduct in Research

Authors conducting studies involving human participants (e.g., performers, artists, interviewees, or communities) must confirm that ethical approval was obtained from the relevant institutional review board or ethics committee.
Informed consent must be secured where applicable, especially for identifiable personal or performance data.

4. Alignment with COPE Guidelines

IMPAC Proceedings follows the principles and best practices recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Cases of suspected misconduct—including plagiarism, data manipulation, authorship disputes, or ethical breaches—will be investigated following COPE flowcharts and procedures.

Where misconduct is established, appropriate actions will be taken, including rejection, retraction, correction, or institutional notification.

5. Conflicts of Interest

  • Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence their interpretation of results.

  • Reviewers must declare any conflicts that may bias their evaluation and must recuse themselves when necessary.

  • Editors must not handle submissions in which they have a conflict of interest and must ensure impartiality in all editorial decisions.