Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Baghdad Journal of Biochemistry and Applied Biological Sciences (BJ-BABS) is committed to upholding the integrity of scientific integrity. We strictly follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)’s guidelines on how to deal with potential acts of malpractice as well as the guidelines mentioned in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

The COPE was established to provide a range of services and products aimed primarily, but not exclusively, at editors and publishers of academic journals and to provide advice and guidance on best practices for dealing with ethical issues in journal publishing. COPE advises editors and publishers on research and publication misconduct and publication ethics. It is possible to find an example of a recognized publication ethics and malpractice statement in the Code of Conduct of the COPE (click here). A code of conduct and guidelines can be found on the COPE’s website.

All the editors, authors, and reviewers of the BJ-BABS agree upon standards of proper ethical behavior and accept the responsibility for fulfilling the following duties and responsibilities as set by the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors (https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines).

 

Authors’ responsibilities

Authors warrant that their manuscript is their original work, that it has not been published before and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Parallel submission of the same manuscript to another journal constitutes a misconduct and eliminates the manuscript from consideration by the Baghdad Journal of Biochemistry and Applied Biological Sciences (BJ-BABS).

In case a submitted manuscript is a result of a research project, or its previous version has been presented at a conference in the form of an oral presentation (under the same or similar title), detailed information about the project, the conference, etc. shall be provided in a footnote/Acknowledgments. A paper that has already been published in another journal cannot be reprinted in BJ-BABS.

It is the responsibility of each author to ensure that manuscripts submitted to BJ-BABS are written with ethical standards in mind. Authors affirm that the manuscript contains no unfounded or unlawful statements and does not violate the rights of third parties. The Publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.

 

Reporting standards

  • A submitted manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit reviewers and, subsequently, readers to verify the claims presented in it. The deliberate presentation of false claims is a violation of ethical standards.
  • Authors are exclusively responsible for the contents of their submissions and must make sure that they have permission from all involved parties to make the data public.
  • Authors wishing to include figures, tables or other materials that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright holder(s). Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

 

Reviewers’ responsibilities

Reviewers are required to provide written, competent and unbiased feedback in a timely manner on the scholarly merits and the scientific value of the manuscript.

The reviewers assess manuscript for the compliance with the profile of the journal, the relevance of the investigated topic and applied methods, the originality and scientific relevance of information presented in the manuscript, the presentation style and scholarly apparatus.

Reviewers should alert the Handling Editor to any well-founded suspicions or the knowledge of possible violations of ethical standards by the authors. Reviewers should recognize relevant published works that have not been cited by the authors and alert the Editor to substantial similarities between a reviewed manuscript and any manuscript published or under consideration for publication elsewhere, in the event they are aware of such. Reviewers should also alert the Editor to a parallel submission of the same manuscript to another journal, in the event they are aware of such.

Reviewers must not have conflict of interest with respect to the research, the authors and/or the funding sources for the research. If such conflicts exist, the reviewers must report them to the Editor without delay.

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 without delay.

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

Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not use unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts without the express written consent of the authors. The information and ideas presented in submitted manuscripts shall be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.

 

Editors’ responsibilities

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the Baghdad Journal of Biochemistry and Applied Biological Sciences will be published. The Editor-in-Chief is guided by the Editorial Policy and constrained by legal requirements in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.

The Editorial Board reserves the right to decide not to publish submitted manuscripts in case it is found that they do not meet relevant standards concerning the content and formal aspects. The Editorial Staff will inform the authors whether the manuscript is accepted for publication within two weeks from the date of the manuscript submission.

Editors must hold no conflict of interest with regard to the articles they consider for publication. If an Editor feels that there is likely to be a perception of a conflict of interest in relation to their handling of a submission, the selection of reviewers and all decisions on the manuscript shall be made by the editor.

Editorial Board shall evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content free from any racial, gender, sexual, religious, ethnic, or political bias.

The Editor and the Editorial Staff must not use unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts without the express written consent of the authors. The information and ideas presented in submitted manuscripts shall be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.

 

NOTE: The Baghdad Journal of Biochemistry and Applied Biological Sciences is a member of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and applied for the Committee on Publication Ethics membership.