Publication Ethics

The Global Journal of Biosciences and Environment (GJBE) is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics for all parties involved in the act of publishing: authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher. This statement is based on the core principles set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices, and applies to every submission handled by the journal.

1. Core Ethical Standards

• Originality. Manuscripts must be original, properly cited, and not under consideration elsewhere. Simultaneous submission to more than one journal is not permitted and will result in rejection.
• Research integrity. Methods, data, images, references, and conclusions must be accurate and transparent. Authors must be able to provide raw data for editorial review on request and retain it for a reasonable period after publication.
• Conflicts of interest. Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose all relevant financial, personal, or professional conflicts of interest that could be perceived to influence the research or its evaluation.
• Corrections. Corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions may be issued when required, following COPE's retraction guidelines.

2. Duties of Authors

• Reporting standards. Authors of original research must present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
• Data access and retention. Authors may be asked to provide raw data in connection with a manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to provide public access to such data, consistent with the journal's data availability expectations.
• Originality and plagiarism. Authors must ensure the work is entirely original, and that any use of the work or words of others is appropriately cited or quoted. All manuscripts are screened using similarity-detection software before being sent for review; see the journal's Plagiarism Policy for thresholds and consequences.
• Multiple, redundant, or concurrent publication. An author should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently is unethical.
• Acknowledgement of sources. Proper acknowledgement of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
• Authorship of the paper. Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors, and all co-authors must have seen and approved the final version and agreed to its submission.
• Hazards and human or animal subjects. If the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment with unusual hazards, this must be clearly identified. Studies involving human participants, human data, or animals must have been carried out in accordance with relevant institutional, national, and international guidelines and regulations, and appropriate ethical approval must be stated in the manuscript.
• Disclosure and conflicts of interest. All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
• Fundamental errors in published works. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal's editorial office and cooperate to retract or correct the paper.

3. Duties of Editors

• Publication decisions. The editors are responsible for deciding which submitted articles should be published, guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. Editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making these decisions.
• Fair play. Manuscripts are evaluated for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
• Confidentiality. Editors and 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. Editors must not use unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the express written consent of the author. Editors will recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a conflict of interest.
• Involvement and cooperation in investigations. Editors will take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints are presented concerning a submitted or published manuscript, in conjunction with the publisher. Every reported act of unethical publishing behaviour will be investigated, even if it is discovered years after publication.

4. Duties of Reviewers

See the journal's dedicated Reviewer Guidelines for the full evaluation framework. In summary, reviewers must:

• Contribute to editorial decisions through objective, constructive review conducted in a timely manner.
• Maintain confidentiality of the manuscript and the review process, both during and after review, and not use unpublished information from a review for personal advantage.
• Alert the editors to any substantial similarity between the manuscript under review and any other published work of which they have personal knowledge.
• Disclose any conflict of interest before accepting a review invitation and decline to review where a conflict exists.
• Evaluate manuscripts based on scientific merit alone, without regard to the authors' nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender, or other characteristics.

5. Handling of Misconduct Allegations

GJBE follows COPE flowcharts and guidelines when responding to allegations of research or publication misconduct, including but not limited to fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, image manipulation, undisclosed conflicts of interest, redundant publication, and authorship disputes. The general process is as follows:

1. An allegation or concern is received by the editorial office, either from a reader, reviewer, editor, or third party.
2. The editor-in-chief conducts a preliminary assessment to determine whether the concern warrants further investigation.
3. Where warranted, the corresponding author is contacted for an explanation, and relevant institutional bodies may be notified if the matter is serious.
4. The editorial board reaches a decision based on the evidence gathered, which may include no action, a request for correction, publication of an expression of concern, or retraction.
5. Outcomes are communicated to all relevant parties and, where a correction or retraction is warranted, published transparently with a linked notice.

6. Complaints and Appeals

Authors who wish to appeal an editorial decision, or anyone who wishes to raise a concern about the conduct of the journal, its editors, or reviewers, may do so via the journal's Complaints and Appeals procedure.