Essence & Critique: Journal of Literature and Drama Studies is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and pays regard to the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

All parties involved in the publishing process (Editors, Reviewers, Authors and Publishers) are expected to agree on the following ethical principles. All submissions must be original, unpublished (including as full text in conference proceedings), and not under the review of any other publication simultaneously.

Authors must ensure that submitted work is original. They must certify that the manuscript has not previously been published elsewhere or is not currently being considered for publication elsewhere, in any language. Applicable copyright laws and conventions must be followed. Copyright material (e.g. tables, figures or extensive quotations) must be reproduced only with appropriate permission and acknowledgement.

Any work or words of other authors, contributors, or sources must be appropriately credited and referenced. Each manuscript is reviewed by one of the editors and at least two referees under a double-blind peer review process.

Plagiarism, duplication, fraudulent authorship, denied authorship, research/data fabrication, salami slicing/salami publication, breaching of copyrights, and conflicts of interest are unethical behaviors. All manuscripts not in accordance with accepted ethical standards will be removed from publication. This also applies to any malpractice discovered after publication.

In accordance with the code of conduct, the journal will report any cases of suspected plagiarism or duplicate publishing.

Research Ethics

The journal adheres to the highest standards in research ethics and follows the principles of international research ethics. Authors are responsible for ensuring that manuscripts comply with these ethical rules.

• Principles of integrity, quality and transparency must be sustained in designing and conducting research.
• The research team and participants must be fully informed about the aims, methods, possible uses and risks of the research.
• The confidentiality of information provided by participants must be ensured.
• Research must be designed to protect the autonomy and dignity of participants.
• Participation in research must be voluntary and free from coercion.
• Any possible harm to participants must be avoided.
• Any conflict of interest must be clearly disclosed.
• In experimental studies involving human subjects, written informed consent must be obtained.
• If the study involves children or individuals under legal guardianship, consent must be obtained from the legal guardian.
• If the study is conducted within an institution, approval from the relevant institution must be obtained.
• For studies involving human subjects, ethics committee approval and informed consent must be stated in the methods section.

Author Responsibilities

Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts comply with scientific and ethical standards. Submitted work must be original and must not have been previously published or be under consideration elsewhere.

Applicable copyright laws must be followed and permission must be obtained for copyrighted materials such as tables, figures, or extensive quotations. All sources must be properly cited and referenced.

All listed authors must have made a significant scientific and academic contribution to the manuscript. Authorship should involve participation in one or more of the following:

• Conceptualization and design of the study
• Data collection
• Data analysis
• Writing the manuscript
• Critical revision of the manuscript
• Planning or conducting the study

Funding acquisition, data collection alone, or supervision of the research group are not sufficient to justify authorship. Individuals who contributed but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the acknowledgement section.

All authors must disclose any financial relationships, conflicts of interest, or competing interests that may influence the research. If an author discovers a significant error in a published paper, the author must cooperate with the editor to issue corrections or retractions.

Responsibilities of Editors and Reviewers

The Editor-in-Chief evaluates manuscripts based solely on their scientific content without regard to ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation, citizenship, religious belief, or political philosophy of the authors. The editor ensures a fair double-blind peer review process and maintains confidentiality regarding submitted manuscripts.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the overall quality of the journal and may publish corrections or retractions when necessary. The editor prevents conflicts of interest between authors, reviewers and editors and holds final authority regarding publication decisions.

Reviewers must have no conflict of interest with respect to the research, authors, or research funders. Their evaluations must be objective and confidential.

Reviewers must inform the editor if they detect plagiarism or copyright infringement. If a reviewer feels unqualified to review a manuscript or cannot complete the review in a timely manner, the reviewer must inform the editor and withdraw from the review process.

Reviewers and editorial board members must not discuss manuscripts with others. The anonymity of referees must be preserved. In certain situations the editor may share reviewer comments with other reviewers to clarify specific points.