Publication Ethics

Ethical Guidelines for Zien Journals

Zien Journals strives for the development of a coherent network of knowledge. The stakeholders of the peer-reviewed journals must contribute to maintain the quality of published manuscripts. The professional ethics and standards are to be followed by the authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers to comply with the worldwide accepted publication ethics and practices.  

     Responsibilities of-

  1. Publisher
  2. Editors
  3. Authors
  4. Reviewers

 

Policy on-

  • Modifications in Published Manuscript
  • Penalties
  • Plagiarism
  • Peer Review

1.    The publisher:

We follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)'s Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers.

We are making an effort to support the policies on ethical publishing. We are taking care of the smooth functioning of the system right from submission of the manuscript to publication. We are coordinating between the authors, reviewers, editors, and indexing service providers to ensure the journals' smooth functioning.

 

2.    The Editors:

We follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)'s Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. In addition, some key points are listed below.

  • Editors will acknowledge the received manuscript through the online submission system.
  • Editor should cross-check for the basic requirements of the manuscripts, such as plagiarism, grammatical mistakes, etc.
  • Editors must assign the reviewers to conduct the double-blind peer review of the manuscript upon clearing the first primary check.
  • The handling of the manuscript must be in a confidential manner in order to avoid conflict amongst the stakeholders.
  • The editor has the right to make the final decision on whether to accept or reject a manuscript with reference to its significance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal.
  • The editor should by no means make any effort to oblige the authors to cite his or her journal either as an implied or explicit condition of accepting their manuscripts for publication.
  • The editor should not use for his or her research any part of any data or work reported in submitted and as yet unpublished articles.
  • The editor should respond promptly and take reasonable measures when an ethical complaint occurs concerning a submitted manuscript or a published paper. The editor should immediately contact and consult with the author. In this case, a written formal retraction or correction may also be required.

 

3.    The Author:

Authors have to play a key role in scholarly publishing to enhance the quality of the publications.

The following are the ethical guidelines for the authors:

  • Authors must not submit the same manuscript to multiple journals.
  • Authors must not submit copied our previously published papers to any journal.
  • The information presented in the paper must be precise and brief.
  • All the data gathered must be honest/ original and without conflict.
  • The revised versions of anyone else’s work or self-work must not be produced unless there is a significant conclusion and necessity.
  • All the sources that have supported the authors to carry out the research must be declared and acknowledged
  • Those who have contributed significantly to the research should be listed as co-authors. The author should ensure that all co-authors have affirmed the final version of the paper and have agreed on its final publication.
  • The author should promptly inform the journal editor of any obvious error(s) in his or her published paper and cooperate earnestly with the editor in retraction or correction of the paper.
  • If the editor is notified by any party other than the author that the published paper contains an obvious error, the author should write a retraction or make the correction based on the medium of publication.

 

4.    The Reviewers:

We follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)'s COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. In addition, some key points are listed below.

  • Reviewers must check the area of their expertise before accepting the manuscript for review.
  • Reviewers must not suggest the authors to cite their work in the papers
  • The Reviewers must inform the editors if they are not available to complete the review work in the specified time
  • The reviewer should inform the editor and recuse himself or herself from reviewing the manuscript if there is a conflict of interest.
  • The reviewer should treat the manuscript in a confidential manner. The manuscript should not be disclosed to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
  • The reviewer should approach the peer-review job objectively. Personal criticism of the author is unacceptable.
  • The reviewer should immediately call to the editor’s attention a manuscript containing plagiarized material or falsified data.

 

 

Policy on Modification of Published Manuscript:

The published manuscript can be replaced provided the author must send the updated manuscript in the template format of the journals with proper justification of the replacement through email. The replacement of the manuscript is subject to the decision taken by the editorial board and reviewer board of the journal. If the paper is agreed to be replaced, the following will be implemented:

  • The manuscript in the journal database will be replaced.
  • The link in the online publication site will be replaced.
  • The old version should be kept separately, and if someone wants to check the old version, the editor can send the PDF to him/her.
  • Note that the replacement is acceptable only one time, and only for technical advances.

 The paper published in any of the issue of the journal can be removed upon complaint from the reviewer, author, reader, librarian, publisher or anyone else subject to noticed significant errors or plagiarism. Before removing the paper, a formal notice will be sent to the author for justification on the said cause. If the paper was agreed to be removed, the following will be implemented:

  • The paper in the journal database will be removed.
  • The link in the online publication site will be removed.
  • Next phrase or similar phrase stating the reason will be shown below the paper title in the Table of Contents and journal volume page: (This paper was removed because of plagiarism).

Policy on Penalty:

  • The submission is removed if it is found to be duplicate submission.
  • The author with multiple submissions is restricted to submit any papers with the journals for next one year.
  • The double publication, if found from any source will be reported to the authors and the editorial board members.
  • The publisher will be informed about publishing the same manuscript.
  • The authors are blacklisted for five years from submission to the journal.

 Policy on Penalty:

The manuscripts with plagiarism, including self-plagiarism or from other sources, will not be accepted for publication in our journal. The plagiarism, if noticed at any stage during review, publication, or post-publication, must be reported to the editorial team, and the necessary actions will be taken by the team, such as removing the manuscript and blacklisting the author.

 Policy on Peer Review:

We carry out the double-blind peer review of the manuscripts received for publication. The primary screening of the article is carried out by one of the editorial board members. After completion of primary screening, if the article is found suitable and has plagiarism below the specified limit of 20%, it is assigned to at least two reviewers. The reviewers' comments are communicated to the authors and authors are asked to revise the manuscripts according to the suggestions for improvements. After completing the suggested modification by the authors, the Editor makes the final decision about the acceptance/ rejection of the manuscript.