Publication Ethics

Ethical standards for publication exist to ensure high-quality scientific publications, public trust in scientific findings, and that people receive credit for their work and ideas, as the journal is using the criteria of DOAJ, and COPE.

All manuscripts are subject to peer review and are expected to meet standards of academic excellence. If approved by the editor, submissions will be considered by peer reviewers, whose identities will remain anonymous to the authors. Authors can mention excluded reviewers in their cover letters and although this information will be forwarded to the handling editor this may not be honored due to editorial requirements in peer review.

Editors’ Responsibilities

  • The editor of a journal holds a vital position making important editorial decisions on all peer-reviewed submitted for publication.
  • The editor should maintain the transparency of the academic research & record, preclude professional needs from cooperating with ethical standards, and always be willing to publish retractions, rectifications, and erratum when required.
  • The editor should assess manuscripts for their scientific quality and intellectual content, free from any sort of biased decisions based on discrimination of race, gender, geographical origin, or religion of the author(s).
  • The editor should evaluate manuscripts objectively based on their academic merit free of any commercial or self-interests.
  • The editor should not disclose any information on submitted manuscripts before publication of the manuscript.
  • Promoting research rectitude must be preserved. If at any stage the publisher suspects any kind of misconduct in research, it should be investigated promptly in detail with suitable authority; and if any suspicious act of misconduct is observed in the peer review, it should be resolved with diligence.

Reviewers’ Responsibilities

  • Providing a detailed, constructive, and unbiased evaluation promptly on the scientific content of the work.
  • Indicating whether the writing is relevant, concise & clear, and evaluating the originality and scientific accuracy.
  • Maintaining the confidentiality of the complete review process.
  • Notifying the journal editor about any financial or personal conflict of interest and declining to review the manuscript when a possibility of such a conflict exists.
  • Notifying the journal editor of any ethical concerns in their evaluation of submitted manuscripts; such as any violation of ethical treatment of animal or human subjects or any considerable similarity between the previously published article and any reviewed manuscript.

Authors’ Responsibilities

  • All the work reported in the manuscript must be original and free from any kind of plagiarism.
  • The work should not have been published elsewhere or submitted to any other journal(s) at the same time.
  • Any potential conflict of interest must be clearly acknowledged.
  • Proper acknowledgments to other work reported (individual/company/institution) must be given. Permission must be obtained from any content used from other sources.
  • Only those who have made any substantial contribution to the interpretation or composition of the submitted work should be listed as ‘Authors’. While other contributors should be mentioned as ‘co-authors’.

Publisher's Responsibilities

  • The publisher is committed to work with journal editors, defining clearly their relevant roles, in order to ensure appropriate decisions regarding publication procedures and maintaining the transparency of editorial decisions.
  • The publisher ensures the integrity of autonomy and originality of each published article with respect to:

Plagiarism

  • Authors must not use the words, figures, or ideas of others without attribution. All sources must be cited at the point they are used, and reuse of wording must be limited and be attributed or quoted in the text.
  • Biochemistry letters uses (iThenticate) to detect submissions that overlap with published and submitted manuscripts.
  • Manuscripts that are found to have been plagiarized from a manuscript by other authors, whether published or unpublished, will be rejected and the authors may incur sanctions. 

Conflicts of Interest

Conflicts of interest occur when issues outside research could be reasonably perceived to affect the neutrality or objectivity of the work or its assessment. Potential conflicts of interest must be declared—whether or not they had an influence—to allow informed decisions.

If unsure, declare a potential interest or discuss it with the editorial office. Undeclared interests may incur sanctions. Submissions with undeclared conflicts that are later revealed may be rejected.

Conflicts include the following:

  • Financial—funding and other payments, goods and services received or expected by the authors relating to the subject of the work or from an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work
  • Affiliations—being employed by, on the advisory board for, or a member of an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work
  • Intellectual property—patents or trademarks owned by someone or their organization
  • Personal—friends, family, relationships, and other close personal connections
  • Ideology—beliefs or activism, for example, political or religious, relevant to the work
  • Academic—competitors or someone whose work is critiqued

Corrections and Retractions

When errors are identified in published articles, the publisher will consider what action is required and may consult the editors and the authors’ institution(s).

If there are errors that significantly affect the conclusions or there is evidence of misconduct, this may require retraction or an expression of concern. All authors will be asked to agree to the content of the notice.