Citation Policy

Citation Policy Overview

It is imperative that every reference cited within the text is also included in the reference list, and vice versa. Proper citation is essential for acknowledging the contributions of others, preventing plagiarism, and upholding the credibility and integrity of scholarly communication. This Citation Policy delineates the requirements and guidelines for citing sources in all manuscripts submitted to our journal.

Personal communications and unpublished results should not be included in the reference list but may be referenced within the text. Authors must ensure that all citations accurately reflect the original sources, including correct author names, publication titles, and page numbers. Citations should be directly relevant to the manuscript's content, effectively supporting claims, data, and research findings. All sources contributing to the development of the manuscript, including ideas, data, or direct quotations, must be duly cited. Authors should refrain from selective citation practices that exclude significant or contradictory research. While comprehensive citation is encouraged, excessive self-citation or the citation of irrelevant works should be avoided.

Citations should include:

Original research articles, conference papers, or other firsthand data sources that inform the manuscript's research.

Review articles, books, or other sources that provide interpretation or analysis of primary sources.

Personal communications, unpublished data, or manuscripts under review must be cited as such and should not appear in the reference list but should be mentioned in the text.

Websites, online databases, and digital sources should be cited with the most current URLs, publication dates, and access dates.

Citation Style: Authors are required to use the APA 7th Edition citation style (https://apastyle.apa.org/).

Authors must not present the work or ideas of others without proper citation. Any form of plagiarism—including direct copying of text, paraphrasing without attribution, or failing to credit the source of ideas or data—is strictly prohibited. Practices such as citation stacking (mutually agreed excessive citations between authors), citation cartels, or including irrelevant citations to inflate citation counts are deemed unethical and will be considered misconduct. Authors should avoid citing retracted articles unless discussing the retraction itself or commenting on the reasons for the retraction. Non-peer-reviewed or unreliable sources, such as predatory journals, blog posts (unless of academic merit), or user-edited websites like Wikipedia, should not be cited as authoritative references, although they may be referenced cautiously for informational purposes.

Any data, images, or figures reproduced from other works must be properly cited, and authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder as necessary. External datasets must be cited similarly to other scholarly sources, including details such as the dataset title, version, author(s), publisher, and DOI (if available). Authors are encouraged to utilize citation management tools (e.g., EndNote, Zotero, Mendeley) to ensure accuracy and consistency in their citations. However, authors must review and verify that citations generated by these tools conform to the journal’s requirements.

If authors identify citation errors post-submission or publication (e.g., incorrect references or missing citations), they are expected to promptly notify the editorial team. The journal may issue a correction or erratum in the case of significant citation inaccuracies. The editorial board of IJAI reserves the right to review and verify citations in submitted manuscripts to ensure compliance with this policy. Manuscripts that do not meet proper citation standards may be returned to authors for revision. If authors are found to have engaged in citation malpractice, including plagiarism or citation manipulation, they may face consequences such as manuscript rejection or retraction (if already published), notification to the author’s institution or funding body, and a ban on future submissions to the journal for a specified period.