Journal Policies & Ethics

Copyright © 2026 Press Council of Maharashtra. All rights reserved.

Authors of articles published in the Information of Press Council of Maharashtra retain copyright in their work. By submitting a manuscript, authors grant the Press Council of Maharashtra (PCM) the right of first publication of the work under the terms of the applicable open-access licence (see Open Access Statement below).

After publication, authors may reproduce their work in other publications, provided that the Information of Press Council of Maharashtra is acknowledged as the original venue of publication, with a full citation including volume, issue, and page numbers.

Reproduction of any content from this journal for commercial purposes, systematic redistribution, or reprinting in whole or in part without written permission from the Editorial Office is strictly prohibited.

Permission requests may be addressed to:
Editorial Office, Information Of Press Council of Maharashtra
Email: editor@presscouncil.in

The views, opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in the articles published in the Information of Press Council of Maharashtra are solely those of the respective authors. They do not represent or reflect the official position, policy, or views of the Press Council of Maharashtra (PCM), its governing body, its executive committee, or any affiliated institution.

The Press Council of Maharashtra, as publisher, does not accept any liability for the accuracy of facts, claims, or data presented in published articles. Authors bear full responsibility for the factual accuracy, legality, and originality of their submissions.

While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of information published in this journal, neither the Editorial Board nor the Press Council of Maharashtra accepts responsibility for any errors, omissions, or consequences arising from the use of information contained herein.

References to specific organisations, products, services, or websites do not constitute or imply endorsement by the Press Council of Maharashtra.

The Information of Press Council of Maharashtra is committed to the highest standards of publication ethics and to the prevention of malpractice. All parties involved in the act of publishing — authors, editors, editorial board members, and reviewers — are required to adhere to the principles set out in the Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Duties of Authors

• Authors must ensure that the work submitted is original and has not been published elsewhere in any language, in whole or in part.
• Authors must accurately describe the methods and data used to support the conclusions.
• Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, or execution of the work.
• Authors must identify all sources used in the preparation of the manuscript and cite them appropriately.
• Authors must promptly notify the editor if they detect an error or inaccuracy in a published or submitted work.

Duties of Editors

• Editors shall evaluate manuscripts solely on their intellectual merit, without regard to the author's race, gender, religious belief, nationality, or political philosophy.
• Editors shall not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to any person other than the corresponding author and designated reviewers.
• Editors shall take reasonable, proportionate action when ethical complaints are received concerning a submitted or published article.

Duties of Reviewers

• Reviewers must maintain strict confidentiality regarding all details of the manuscripts reviewed.
• Reviewers shall not use information from a manuscript under review for their own advantage.
• Reviewers must declare any conflict of interest and disqualify themselves from the review process if such a conflict exists.
• Reviews must be conducted objectively and supported by evidence and reasoned argument.

All original research articles, review papers, and case studies submitted to the Information of Press Council of Maharashtra are subject to a double-blind peer review process in which neither the author(s) nor the reviewers are aware of each other's identity.

Review Process

• Initial Screening: All submissions are first assessed by the Editor-in-Chief for scope, originality, and compliance with submission guidelines. Manuscripts failing to meet minimum standards are desk-rejected without external review.
• External Review: Manuscripts passing initial screening are assigned to a minimum of two independent experts with relevant subject expertise.
• Decision: Possible decisions include: Accept as is; Minor Revisions Required; Major Revisions Required; Reject. Final publication decisions rest solely with the Editor-in-Chief.
• Turnaround: The editorial office aims to communicate a first decision within 6–8 weeks of submission.

The journal does not accept unsolicited reviews. All reviewers are invited by the Editorial Board on the basis of their expertise, and are expected to declare any conflicts of interest.

The Information of Press Council of Maharashtra takes plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and academic misconduct very seriously. All manuscripts are screened for similarity using an anti-plagiarism detection tool prior to peer review.

Acceptable Similarity Thresholds

• Overall similarity index: Not exceeding 15%
• Similarity from a single source: Not exceeding 5%
• Quotations properly attributed and referenced are excluded from the similarity calculation.

Consequences of Misconduct

• Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism at the screening stage will be rejected immediately without review.
• If plagiarism is discovered post-publication, the article will be retracted and a notice of retraction will be published on the journal website.
• Authors found guilty of repeated academic misconduct may be barred from submitting to this journal for a period of 3 years.
• Cases of serious misconduct will be reported to the author's affiliated institution.

Authors are required to declare, at the time of submission, that the manuscript is original, has not been previously published, and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

The Information of Press Council of Maharashtra is published as an Open Access journal. All articles are freely available online immediately upon publication, without subscription or access fees, in accordance with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) definition.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution — Non-Commercial 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-NC 4.0). Under this licence, readers are free to:

• Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format.
• Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material.

Provided that:

• Appropriate credit is given to the original authors and source.
• A link to the licence is provided.
• Any changes made are indicated.
• The material is not used for commercial purposes.

There is no Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this journal. Accepted authors are not required to pay any fees for submission, review, or publication.

All articles are archived and permanently accessible on the journal website at:
www.presscouncil.in