Publication Ethics and Misconducts
The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher, and the society-owned or sponsored journals.
Duties of Editors:
1. Publication Decisions:
•Editors are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The decision should be guided by the journal’s editorial board policies and constrained by such legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
2. Fair Play:
•An editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
3. Confidentiality:
•The editor and any 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.
4. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest:
•Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.
5. Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations:
•Editors should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with the publisher.
Duties of Reviewers:
1. Contribution to Editorial Decisions:
•Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.
2. Promptness:
•Any selected reviewers 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 excuse himself from the review process.
3. Confidentiality:
•Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown 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. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
5. Acknowledgement of Sources:
•Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation.
6. Disclosure and Conflict 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.
Duties of Authors:
1. Reporting Standards:
•Authors should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance.
2. Data Access and Retention:
•Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review and should be prepared to provide public access to such data if possible.
3. Originality and Plagiarism:
•Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original works and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
4. Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication:
•An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary 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.
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 study.
7. Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects:
•If the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.
8. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest:
•All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.
9. Fundamental Errors in Published Work:
•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 cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
