Greener Journal of Electronics and Communication

Open Access

Ethics Policy


Download the Ethics Policy in pdf

Introduction

The ethical requirements set by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), The Office  of Research Integrity (ORI), Council of Science Editors (CSE)International Association of Scientific Technical & Medical Publishers (STM), World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)  are the prerequisites of our publication ethics.  Greener Journals will stick strictly to the recommendations provided by these bodies and demands that authors should adhere to them.

  

Data fabrication/falsification

This has to do with research data manipulation with the aim of giving a false notion. This includes images manipulation (to make image elements vague, delete image elements or add new image elements), altering results to suit convenience, to change of data figure, adding or removing from data figures, and more.

In such a case, the editorial board will try to verify suspected data fabrication and demand the original data from the authors. The Editorial Board of Greener Journals will employ the recommended actions of COPE for the equivalent cases listed below.

Recommendation of COPE:

Suspected data fabrication in a submitted manuscript.

Suspected data fabrication in a published article.

 

Plagiarism 

Plagiarism refers to a situation where someone duplicates/delivers part or the complete work (data, figures, text, or theories) of another person as if it were his/her own without proper acknowledgment and reference to the true owner. Further information has been provided by the Office of Research Integrity on plagiarism

Recommendation of COPE:

Suspected plagiarism in a submitted manuscript.

Suspected plagiarism in a published article.

 

Authorship 

According to the Office of Research Integrity, a person claiming authorship of a scholarly publication must have met the following criteria: 

a.  Substantial participation in conception and design of the study, or in analysis and interpretation of data;

b.   Substantial participation in the drafting of the manuscript or in the substantive editing of the manuscript;

c.    Final approval of the version of the manuscript to be published;

d.    Ability to explain and defend the study in public or scholarly settings.

These criteria follow up on the recommendation of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors

Further information on authorship can also be found on ORI’s website.

 

Duplicate Submission

This is the submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time or publishing the same study in more than one journal.

 “Authors should not submit the same manuscript, in the same or different languages, simultaneously to more than one journal. The rationale for this standard is the potential for disagreement when two (or more) journals claim the right to publish a manuscript that has been submitted simultaneously to more than one journal, and the possibility that two or more journals will unknowingly and unnecessarily undertake the work of peer review, edit the same manuscript, and publish the same article” - Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

The Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has stated the conditions for which secondary publication of materials published in other journals or online may be acceptable and beneficial. The conditions are:     

  1. The authors have received approval from the editors of both journals (the editor concerned with secondary publication must have access to the primary version).
  2. The priority of the primary publication is respected by a publication interval negotiated by both editors with the authors.
  3. The paper for secondary publication is intended for a different group of readers; an abbreviated version could be sufficient.
  4. The secondary version faithfully reflects the data and interpretations of the primary version.
  5. The secondary version informs readers, peers, and documenting agencies that the paper has been published in whole or in part elsewhere—for example, with a note that might read, "This article is based on a study first reported in the [journal title, with full reference]"—and the secondary version cites the primary reference.
  6.  The title of the secondary publication should indicate that it is a secondary publication (complete or abridged republication or translation) of a primary publication. Of note, the NLM does not consider translations to be "republications" and does not cite or index them when the original article was published in a journal that is indexed in MEDLINE

 

Duplicate Publication 

“Authors who submit a manuscript for publication containing data, reviews, conclusions, etc., that have already been disseminated in some significant manner (e.g., published as an article in another journal, presented at a conference, posted on the internet) must clearly indicate to the editors and readers the nature of the previous dissemination” – Office of Research Integrity.

Recommendation by Council of Science Editors (CSE): Suspected Cases of Duplicate Publication.

 

Unethical Citations

Authors can use only citations that are relevant to the study. It is unethical to cite irrelevant works of others or employ irrelevant self-citation.

  

Copyright Infringement 

 Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright law without permission, infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works” - Wikipedia.

 

Non-compliance with regulatory standards affecting research

This includes the violations of related local/international regulations and law governing the use of funds, animals subjects, human subjects, untested drugs, new devices, radioactive, biological and chemical materials.

 

Greener Journals will retract already published articles with discovered unethical issues that escaped notice. Greener Journals may also review and update the content of this page when necessary.