Publication Ethics
Publication Ethics
Sciental Journal of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences (SJEHSS) is the platform to publish education, humanities, social sciences and allied fields. The journal is published by the Sciental Journals Publishing, Ghana.
The publisher has adopted the following ethical practices and responsibilities to ensure a smooth publication process. The publisher is committed to ensuring that any commercial revenue does not influence editorial decisions.
Duties of Authors
Reporting standards
Authors of the manuscript should present the accurate work performed with clear objectives with the significance of publication. Any data, results, and findings must be accurately presented in the manuscript. A manuscript should contain sufficient details and references to permit others to replicate the work. Inaccurate or fraudulent information constitutes unethical behaviour and is unacceptable.
Data access and retention
Raw data can be submitted with the manuscript for editorial review. Any other information the author feels must be disclosed should be sent with the paper for editorial review. The provided data must have public access, and the author must be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
Originality and plagiarism
Plagiarism in academic and other scholarly publishing is an offence. Authors must ensure the originality of the word before submission. The work referred to and included in the publication must be appropriately cited and quoted. Any form of plagiarism, such as copying or paraphrasing any source or work without proper attribution, leads to the rejection of the manuscript. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication
The author should not submit or publish the same manuscript to multiple journals. Any such submission constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable. Previously published papers with minute modifications should not be submitted to any journal. If it is essential to include the data from one's publication in the secondary publication, it is mandatory to cite the primary publication.
Acknowledgement of sources
The sources used to prepare the manuscript directly or indirectly must be appropriately cited. Credit to the other's work with acknowledgement must be given. Information obtained from restricted, closed access and confidential sources must not be included without written permission from the copyright owners.
Authorship of the paper
Authors are the individuals who have significantly contributed to the preparation of the manuscript, such as the conception, design, execution, interpretation, and experimentation of the study. No author or co-authorship will be offered to anyone not significantly involved in the manuscript preparation process. All the paper's coauthors must approve the final version of the manuscript before submission.
Disclosure and conflict of interest
Any conflict of interest related to the manuscript or any financial aspect, data, or result interpretation must be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest stage possible.
Fundamental errors in published works
Any fundamental error in the published work must be notified to the journal editor or publisher as soon as the author identifies it. Suppose the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error. In that case, the author must promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.
Duties of the Editorial Board
Publication decisions
The journal editor is responsible for decision-making related to the articles to be published by the journal. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editor 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 may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Fair play
An editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
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, as appropriate.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's research without the author's express written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Editors should recuse themselves (i.e. should ask a co-editor, associate editor, or other member of the editorial board instead to review and consider) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers. Editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. If needed, other appropriate action should be taken, such as the publication of a retraction or expression of concern.
Involvement and cooperation in investigations
An editor should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper in conjunction with the publisher (or society). Such measures will generally include contacting the author of the manuscript or paper and giving due consideration to the respective complaint or claims made. Still, they may also communicate further with relevant institutions and research bodies. If the complaint is upheld, the publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other note may be relevant. Every reported unethical publishing behaviour must be looked into, even if discovered years after publication.
Duties of reviewers
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. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication and lies at the heart of the scientific method.
Promptness
Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorised by the editor.
Standards of objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
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 followed by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and conflict of interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer's research without the author's express written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts with conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
References
- https://doaj.org/apply/transparency/
- https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
- https://ijds.ub.ac.id/index.php/ijds/ethics
