Publication Ethics

Herald Journals (HJ) adopts the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on publication ethics.

HJ is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against publication malpractice as stated in the Code of Conduct, standards developed by the (COPE) and follows COPE Flowcharts for resolving cases of suspected misconduct and irregularities.

It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: The author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher and the society.

Authors of HJ must adhere to the following:

Authorship: 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. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

Reporting standards: Authors of original research work should present an accurate account of it as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent, deliberate and inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention: Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such, if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

Originality and Plagiarism: Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work or words of others this must be appropriately cited or quoted.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their 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 his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
Author(s) should state that the article they are submitting was approved by the relevant research ethics committee or institutional review board. If human participants were involved, manuscripts must be accompanied by a statement that the experiments were undertaken with the understanding and appropriate informed consent of each. If experimental animals were used, the materials and methods (experimental procedures) section must clearly indicate that appropriate measures were taken to minimize pain or discomfort, and details of animal care should be provided.

Reviewer of HJ must adhere to the following:

Promptness: In case, any reviewer feels that it is not possible for him/her to complete review of manuscript within stipulated time then the same must be communicated to the editor, so that the same could be sent to any other reviewer.

Confidentiality: Information regarding manuscripts submitted by authors should be kept confidential and be treated as privileged information.

Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers 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 had been previously reported elsewhere should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the Editor in Chief's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest: Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers. Please visit (COPE) Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers   http://publicationethics.org/files/Ethical_guidelines_for_peer_reviewers_0.pdf

Editors of HJ must adhere to the following:

Decision on the Publication of Articles: The Editor-in-Chief of HJ is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be accepted for publication. The Editor-in-Chief may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and subjected to such legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Review of Manuscripts: The Editor-in-Chief must ensure that each manuscript is initially evaluated by the editor, who may make use of appropriate software to examine the originality of the contents of the manuscript and after passing this test, manuscript is forwarded to two referees for blind peer review, and each of whom will make a recommendation to publish the manuscript in its present form or to modify or to reject the same. The review period will be from ten days to two weeks (Maximum one month in extra ordinary circumstances).

Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by anyone who has a view of the manuscript in his or her own research without the express written consent of the author.

Fair play: Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their intellectual merit without regard to authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.

Confidentiality: The Editor in Chief/Editors 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.

The Publisher, HJ must adhere to the following:

Author(s) Declaration: We ask authors for a declaration that the submitted work and its essential substance have not previously been published and are not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Plagiarism Detection: The peer review process is at the heart of the success of scientific publishing. As part of our commitment to the protection and enhancement of the peer review process, HJ has an obligation to assist the scientific community in all aspects of publishing ethics, especially in cases of (suspected) duplicate submission or plagiarism.

Publication: It is the duty of HJ to publish all accepted manuscripts having satisfied editorial requirements according to the established criteria for publication.

Recent Issues

Quick Links
Track Manuscript
Become a Reviewer
Become an Editor
Abstract and Indexing
Waiver Policy
Processing Fees
Open Archives Initiatives
Open Access Policies
Editorial Policy
Conflict of Interest
Journals By Category
Agricultural Sciences
Arts and Education
Biological Sciences
Earth Sciences
Engineering
Medical Sciences
Social Sciences