Publication Ehics and Malpractice Statement

●Research and Publication Ethics Authors should observe high standards with respect to publication ethics. The Journal follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Any cases of ethical misconduct are treated very seriously and will be dealt with in accordance with the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/). All work submitted to The Journal of Agriculture and Development should be novel, rigorous, and substantial, and the Editors may make plagiarism checks at any time after submission.

●The corresponding author agrees by submission of a manuscript that 1) the work is free of plagiarism and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere; 2) all authors have agreed to publication in The Journal of Agriculture and Development; 3) all those contributing substantial ideas and work have been appropriately acknowledged or given co-authorship; 4) all addresses and institutional affiliations are complete and correct; 5) all national laws relating to the research have been complied with; 6) funding sources and conflicts of interest have been appropriately acknowledged; 7) authorization to publish all parts of the submission from employers, intellectual property or copyright holders, funders, and others is given; and 8) if the manuscript describes experiments using animals, the permission of the national or local authorities (giving the permission or the accreditation number of the laboratory and of the investigator) should be stated. A published paper subsequently found not to have fulfilled all these criteria may be retracted at the journal's sole discretion, or a correction may be published. We reserve the right to charge authors the full original cost of publishing any subsequently retracted paper, or the cost of publishing any correction.

 

Responsibilities of Editors

Fairness and Independence

Editors assess submitted manuscripts solely based on their academic merit, including importance, originality, validity of the study, and clarity, without considering factors such as the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy, or institutional affiliation. The decision to edit and publish is not influenced by external policies of governments or other agencies. The Editor-in-Chief has complete authority over the entire editorial content of the journal and the timing of its publication.

Maintaining Confidentiality

Editors and editorial staff are obligated to maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, sharing information only with the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisors, and the publisher, as necessary.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Editors and members of the editorial board must not use unpublished information from a submitted manuscript for their own research without explicit written consent from the authors. Any privileged information or ideas acquired through handling the manuscript should be kept confidential and not exploited for personal gain. Editors should abstain from handling manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions involved. In such cases, another member of the editorial board should be assigned to handle the manuscript.

Publication Decisions

Editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts undergo peer review by at least two expert reviewers in the field. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for determining which manuscripts will be published based on the validation of the work, its significance to researchers and readers, reviewers' comments, and compliance with legal requirements related to libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief may consult with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Involvement and Cooperation in Investigations

Editors, in collaboration with the publisher and/or society, take appropriate actions when ethical concerns arise regarding a submitted manuscript or published paper. Any reported instances of unethical publishing behavior are thoroughly investigated, even if discovered years after publication. The editors follow the COPE Flowcharts to address suspected misconduct cases. If the ethical concern is substantiated, the journal publishes a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other relevant notice.

Policy on complaints, disputes, and appeals: 

The journal will follow COPE guidelines for complaints, disputes between authors and appeals on editorial decisions.  Authors or others in the scientific community will be required to submit any complaint, dispute, or appeal in writing to the journal Editor-in-Chief.  All actions will be taken seriously and will be carefully reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief and appropriate Editorial board member(s).  Final decisions will be binding and in extreme cases an article could be removed from publication.  In some instances, an author will request a correction to published data and in those cases the Editor-in-Chief, consulting with the editorial board, will analyze the correction and if accepted will publish the corrected data in a subsequent journal issue.  In other cases, an article may be retracted due to an honest mistake, plagiarism, or other reason.  Authors will be informed of this and notification of a retraction will be published in a subsequent issue of the journal.

 

Responsibilities of Reviewers

Contributing to Editorial Decisions

Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and helps authors improve their manuscripts through communication. Peer review is an integral part of scholarly communication and plays a crucial role in scientific endeavors. AP-SMART acknowledges that all scholars who wish to contribute to the scientific process have an obligation to conduct a fair share of reviewing.

Timeliness

Reviewers who are invited to assess a manuscript and feel unqualified or unable to provide a prompt review should immediately inform the editors and decline the invitation, allowing alternative reviewers to be contacted.

Maintaining Confidentiality

Reviewers must treat any manuscripts received for review as confidential documents and should not disclose or discuss them with others unless authorized by the Editor-in-Chief under exceptional circumstances. This confidentiality requirement also applies to potential reviewers who decline the review invitation.

Objectivity Standards

Reviews should be conducted objectively, and observations should be formulated clearly with supporting arguments, enabling authors to utilize them for improving their manuscripts. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate.

Acknowledging Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited. Any observation, derivation, or argument previously reported in other publications should be accompanied by the appropriate citation. Reviewers should also inform the editors if they are aware of any significant similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published or unpublished work.

Intellectual Property: 

The generally accepted definition of intellectual property refers to “…creations of the mind: inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, images, names, and logos used in commerce (International Trade Administration).  The Journal of Agriculture and Development is covered by copyright protection and any questions as to data reproduction, sharing, or conflicts will be addressed by the journal Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

If an invited reviewer has any conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions associated with the manuscript and the work described therein, they should promptly inform the editors, declare their conflicts of interest, and decline the invitation to review. This will allow alternative reviewers to be contacted.

Any unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript should not be used by a reviewer for their own research without obtaining the explicit written consent of the authors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through the peer review process must be treated as confidential and should not be used for the reviewer's personal advantage. This requirement also applies to invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.

 

Responsibilities of Authors

Standards of Reporting

Authors of original research should provide an accurate description of their work and results, followed by an objective discussion of its significance. Sufficient detail and references should be included in the manuscript to enable others to replicate the study. Review articles should be accurate, objective, and comprehensive, while opinion or perspective pieces should be clearly identified as such. Any fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are considered unethical and unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be required to provide the raw data of their study along with the manuscript for editorial review and should be willing to make the data publicly accessible if possible. Authors should ensure that such data remains accessible to competent professionals for at least 10 years after publication, preferably through an institutional or subject-based data repository or other data center, as long as participant confidentiality is protected and legal rights regarding proprietary data are not violated.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that they only submit entirely original works and appropriately cite the work and/or words of others if utilized. Influential publications that have contributed to the nature of the reported work should also be acknowledged. Plagiarism takes various forms, ranging from presenting someone else's work as one's own to copying or paraphrasing substantial portions of another's work without proper attribution. All forms of plagiarism are considered unethical and unacceptable.

Multiple Submissions and Concurrent Publication

Research papers describing essentially the same study should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Authors should refrain from submitting a manuscript that has already been published elsewhere. Submitting a manuscript to multiple journals concurrently is unethical and unacceptable publishing behavior.

In certain cases, the publication of certain types of articles (e.g., clinical guidelines, translations) in multiple journals can be justifiable if specific conditions are met. The authors and editors of the involved journals must agree to the secondary publication, which must present the same data and interpretation as the primary document. The primary reference should be cited in the secondary publication.

Authorship of the Manuscript

Only individuals who meet the following authorship criteria should be listed as authors: (i) made significant contributions to the study's conception, design, execution, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation; (ii) drafted the manuscript or provided critical revisions for important intellectual content; and (iii) reviewed and approved the final version of the paper and consented to its submission for publication. Individuals who made substantial contributions but do not meet the authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgements" section with their written permission. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring appropriate co-authors are included and verifying that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript and agreed to its submission for publication.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Authors should disclose any conflicts of interest that could potentially influence the results or interpretation of the manuscript. These conflicts of interest, whether financial (such as honoraria, grants, employment, consultancies, stock ownership) or non-financial (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, beliefs), should be disclosed at the earliest stage possible, typically through a disclosure form submitted with the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the work should be disclosed including grant numbers or other references, if applicable.