Publication Ethics

To ensure that FIJBAS publications are of top quality, get trust of the public and private sector in the innovative, creative and strategic discoveries which will not only improve productivity but also give recognition to the author(s) for their work, the following ethics guidelines are set in place and must be followed.

Falsification and fabrication of data:

Fabrication of data implies that the researcher didn't actually conduct the study, but instead faked the data while falsification of data occurs where the researcher conducted the experiment but made changes to data. 

Any Author(s) of manuscripts or published papers that are discovered to have fabricated or falsified the results which includes manipulation of tables or images as the case may be, could be punished and the published work will be removed.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is practice of using another person's ideas or work and pretending that it is your own. Honestly, it's unfair to make use of one’s work or ideas without giving credit to him/her. Plagiarism occurs when you copy just one word from a manuscript, or from a previously published work without proper citation. In line with FIJBAS policy, any manuscript with plagiarism test result more than 15% will be rejected and if by any error and it was discovered to have been published in FIJBAS, the publication will be retracted and returned to the owner for correction.

Multiple submissions

Multiple submission is act of sending a manuscript for publication in more than one journal at almost the same time. FIJBAS does not accept any manuscript submitted to other journals at the same time because it is a waste of time for peer reviewers and editors and could damage the credibility of author(s) as well as the journals. If discovered, sanctions will be imposed on author(s) whose articles have been submitted simultaneously elsewhere.

Redundant publications:

This is when you publish several similar papers that are built on the same research idea. Your findings are more appealing to FIJBAS if you harmonize them into one complete research paper and easy for policy makers’ understandability. Redundant publication in FIJBAS may attract sanctions.

Incorrect author contributions or the attributions of author(s):

The author listed must have made a significant contribution to research and must have endorsed the research. It is essential to list all author(s) who have made significant contributions to the research such as students and data analyst. Do not "gift" authorship to someone who did not contribute to the research paper. It is a serious offence to both parties and the paper could be rejected if you're found guilty of that. Submissions made by another person other than any of the author(s) will not be considered for review and publication as well.

Modification of the Citation

Sanctions can be imposed against author(s) whose work contains references that are designed to improve the quantity and quality of citations for authors’ works or articles that are published in a particular journal. Editors and reviewers should not request that authors’ references be added to increase the number of citations for their work, or that of an associate, to the journal or another journal to whom they are affiliated.

Editors and Reviewers

Editors and Reviewers are to decline involvement with a manuscript submission of an author that they have a recent publication or a current submission or share relationship of any kind with. Also, editors and reviewers are required to disclose if they have discussed the manuscript before with author(s).

Sanctions

The following sanctions can be imposed by FIJBAS for any paper informed of violations of her ethics guidelines for publication.

  • Rejection of the manuscript, as well as all other manuscripts submitted by the author(s).

  • Author(s) will not be allowed to submit manuscript for 2 years

  • A prohibition to serve as an editor or reviewer will be issued.

In the event of serious ethical violations, the FIJBAS may impose additional sanctions.

Investigations

Suspected breaches of our publication ethics, either before and after publication should be reported to Editor-in-Chief vie editor@fijbas.org or fijbaseditor@gmail.com

Corrections and Retractions

If there are any errors in articles published, the publisher will examine the issue and consult with the editors and the institution of the author. Author(s) can amend their manuscripts to correct mistakes, while errors made from publishers can be corrected by an Erratum. If there is evidence that misconduct took place, it may be necessary to retract the article in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)