PQ expects all submitted manuscripts to be original, unpublished work that is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere. Simultaneous submission of the same or substantially similar work to multiple publications is considered unethical behavior and is unacceptable.

However, certain forms of prior public presentation are typically permissible and do not disqualify a manuscript from submission, provided the author is transparent and discloses the prior appearance upon submission.

Permissible Prior Publication

The following forms of prior dissemination are generally acceptable, provided transparency and appropriate citation are maintained:

1. Preprints: Posting a manuscript to a preprint server before or concurrent with submission to PQ is generally permitted and is not considered prior publication. If the article is accepted, the author should update the preprint record with a publication reference, DOI, and a link to the published version.
2. Academic Theses/Dissertations: Work that has previously formed part of a PhD or other academic thesis is acceptable for submission. If the thesis is deposited in a publicly accessible university repository, the author must declare this upon submission. The journal does not expect a thesis to be embargoed until the resulting articles are published.
3. Conference Papers and Abstracts: Presentation of an abstract or a poster at a conference will generally not affect a paper's eligibility for publication. Likewise, publication of a working paper or a conference paper is usually permitted, provided the author did not assign copyright or sign an exclusive license to publish with the conference organizers/publisher. If a published conference paper is submitted, the author is expected to have substantially developed the work before submission to the journal.

Requirements for Transparency

Authors must disclose details of related works that they have previously published, or that are in press or under review, through clear citation and referencing upon submission. This disclosure ensures that the complete history of the work is documented and avoids issues related to redundant publication (publishing essentially the same research more than once) or self-plagiarism (reusing one’s own text without proper attribution), both of which are considered unethical.

The journal may use similarity checking tools, such as Samim-e Noor (https://www.samimnoor.ir) or Hamananjoo (https://tik.irandoc.ac.ir), to verify compliance with these policies and ensure the work is original.