NASIN website publications are institutional publications and must not be described as peer-reviewed journal articles unless they have separately completed an academic journal peer-review process.
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Purpose and scope The guidelines apply to research reports, technical reports, policy and research briefs, scientific web articles, field reports, data reports, case studies, technical guidance, reviews and working papers.
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Accuracy and evidence Facts, statistics, calculations, dates, terminology, tables, figures and sources must be checked. Unsupported, exaggerated or misleading claims are not acceptable.
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Sources and citation Use credible and traceable sources. DOI/URL and bibliographic details must be verified. Fabricated or untraceable references are prohibited. APA 7 or IEEE may be used as appropriate.
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Research report structure Use a clear title, authors and affiliations, summary, keywords, introduction, objectives, literature review, methods, results, discussion, limitations, conclusion, recommendations, references and appendices where needed.
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Data and statistics State data source, period, population, sample size, units and analysis methods. Correlation alone does not establish causation and statistical significance does not automatically imply practical importance.
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Tables, figures and photographs Tables and figures require numbering, captions, units and sources. Scientific images must not be manipulated misleadingly, and identifiable photographs require appropriate permission.
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Research ethics Voluntary participation, informed consent, privacy, confidentiality, dignity, protection from harm and data protection are required. Formal ethical approval must be obtained when applicable.
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Authorship and originality Authorship requires substantial contribution. Plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, invented references and unauthorized reuse of figures or tables are prohibited.
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Responsible AI use AI may support language editing, translation, organization, coding assistance and formatting. AI is not an authoritative scientific source or an author. Humans remain responsible for facts, references, interpretation and conclusions.
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Standard declarations Include Funding, Conflict of Interest, Ethics, Informed Consent, Data Availability, AI Use, Author Contributions, Acknowledgments and Copyright/License statements when relevant.
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Review levels Short explainers may receive editorial review; research briefs and technical outputs should receive scientific/technical review; major, sensitive or policy-relevant reports should receive enhanced review and reference/data verification.
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Publication status and metadata Clearly identify the publication type/status and provide author, date, abstract, keywords, language, version, citation, license, project/partner and funding information.
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Corrections and retractions Errors affecting data, results, interpretation or recommendations require transparent correction. Serious misconduct or invalidating errors can lead to withdrawal or retraction.
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Data management Plan data ownership, secure storage, access control, confidentiality, retention, backup, anonymization and responsible sharing before the work begins.
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Research-specific reporting Quantitative, qualitative, survey, experimental and computing research must report the relevant sampling, procedures, analysis, software, uncertainty and limitations.
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Publication workflow Preparation → administrative check → scientific/technical review → author revision → language review → data/source/ethics verification → final approval → website preparation → publication → archiving and post-publication monitoring.
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Core NASIN standard Every major publication should explain the problem, why it matters, the evidence/method used, main findings, limitations and uncertainty, reasonable conclusions, and evidence-supported recommendations.