Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

Our publication ethics and publication malpractice statement are largely based on the Code of Conduct and Best Practices Guide for Journal Editors (Committee on Publication Ethics, 2011).

Editorial Board Responsibilities

1. Publication Decisions

The editorial board is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal should be published. The Editor-in-Chief’s decision to accept or reject a manuscript for publication is based on its importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the scope of the journal.

2. Fair Play

The Editorial Board and reviewers evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the authors’ race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, citizenship, or political ideology.

3. Confidentiality

The Editorial Board must ensure that all materials submitted to the journal remain confidential while under review. The editorial board and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

4. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper will not be used by the editor or editorial board members for their own research purposes without the express written consent of the author.

5. Journal Self-Citation

An editor should not adopt any practice that requires authors to cite their journals as an express or implied condition of acceptance for publication. Any recommendations regarding articles to be cited in a manuscript should be made on the basis of their direct relevance to the authors’ work, with the goal of improving the final published research. Editors should direct authors to relevant literature as part of the peer review process; however, this should never include instructions to cite individual journals.

6. Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations

An editor should take reasonable steps to respond when ethical complaints have been raised regarding a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with the publisher (or society). Such steps will generally include contacting the authors of the manuscript or papers and giving appropriate consideration to each complaint or claim made, but may also include further communication with the relevant institutions and research bodies, and if the complaint is upheld, the publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other note that may be relevant. Any reported act of unethical publishing behavior should be investigated, even if discovered many years after publication.

7. Publication Decisions

The Editor-in-Chief of a journal is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The Editor-in-Chief may be guided by the policies of the journal's Editorial Board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

 

Reviewer Responsibilities

1. Contribution to Editorial Decisions

The peer-review process assists the editor and editorial board in making editorial decisions and can also serve the author in improving the paper.

2. Appropriateness

Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and withdraw from the review process.

3. Confidentiality

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be disclosed to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

4. Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

5. Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify cases where relevant published work mentioned in the manuscript has not been cited in the References section. They should indicate whether observations or arguments derived from other publications have been cited. Reviewers should notify the editor of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

6. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

 

Author's Duties

1. Reporting Standards

Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical or unacceptable behavior.

2. Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data from their studies along with a paper for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available if practicable. In any case, authors should ensure the accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for at least ten years after publication (preferably through an institutionally based or subject-based data repository or other data center), provided that the confidentiality of participants can be protected and that legal rights regarding proprietary data do not prevent their release.

3. Originality, Plagiarism

Authors should submit only fully original works, and should appropriately quote or paraphrase the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work should also be cited. Plagiarism takes many forms, from “passing off” another person’s paper as one’s own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial portions of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

4. Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication

In general, papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submitting the same paper to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Manuscripts that have been published as copyrighted material elsewhere should not be submitted. Also, manuscripts under review by a journal should not be resubmitted to a copyrighted publication.

5. Acknowledgement of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, should not be used or reported without the explicit written permission of the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the written permission of the authors of the work involved in these services.

6. Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported research. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.

The corresponding author ensures that all contributing co-authors and no uninvolved persons are included in the author list. The corresponding author will also verify that all co-authors have approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.

7. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors must include a statement disclosing any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project must be disclosed.

8. Fundamental Errors in Published Works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and to cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper in the form of an erratum.

References

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). (2011, March 7). Code of Conduct and Best Practices Guide for Journal Editors. Retrieved from https://publicationethics.org/