Ethics & Malpractice
PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE
Journal of Engineering and Technology (JET) is committed to ensure the publication process follows specific academic ethics. Hence, Editors, Reviewers, Authors and Publisher are required to conform to the ethical standards of publication which are based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines.
DUTIES OF EDITOR
Publication decisions
The editor of the JET is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The editor may be guided by the policies of the journal editorial team and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
Fair play
An editor at any time evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Role of Editor in Peer Review Process
The editor plays a crucial role in overseeing the peer review process, ensuring fairness, impartiality, and timeliness. Typically, manuscripts are reviewed by at least two external reviewers and further opinions may be sought if deemed appropriate. The editor's key responsibilities are selecting reviewers with suitable expertise in the pertinent field and promoting inclusivity and diversity. They must adhere to established protocols to prevent the selection of fraudulent reviewers and meticulously evaluate all disclosures regarding conflicts of interest and recommendations for self-citation from reviewers to mitigate potential biases.
Confidentiality
The editor 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, as appropriate.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author.
DUTIES OF REVIEWERS
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.
Promptness
Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse himself from the review process.
Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. 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 an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor'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.
DUTIES OF AUTHORS
Reporting standards
Authors of original research articles must present an accurate account of the work conducted, along with an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the article. An article should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Data Access and Retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such data (consistent with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if practicable, and should in any event be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
Originality and Plagiarism
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Proper acknowledgment 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 Article
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. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the article, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects
If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the article.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their article any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their article. 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.
DUTIES OF PUBLISHER
Addressing Unethical Publishing Practices
The publisher will collaborate with the editors to implement necessary actions to resolve the issues in the event of suspected or confirmed scientific misconduct, fraudulent publications, or plagiarism. This may involve promptly publishing an erratum, issuing a clarification, or in the most serious cases, retracting the publication work. The publisher and editors will implement all prudent measures to identify and prevent the publication of research involving misconduct. They are committed to ensuring that such actions are neither encouraged nor knowingly permitted under any circumstances.
Ensuring Access to Journal Content
The publisher is dedicated to the enduring availability and preservation of academic research, ensuring accessibility through partnerships with various organizations and by maintaining our own digital archive.
MANUSCRIPT WITHDRAWAL, RETRACTION AND CORRECTION
Manuscript Withdrawal
This policy applies to articles In Press which are early versions of accepted articles not yet finalized for publication, can be withdrawn under certain circumstances. These include errors, accidental duplication of other articles, violation of publishing policies (e.g., multiple submissions, plagiarism), or publication due to editorial or production errors.
Manuscript Retraction
Retracting articles is a rare but significant action taken by authors or journal editors, often advised by the scholarly community. Retractions occur due to errors impacting the article's findings, extensive errors beyond correction, or breaches of journal policies like plagiarism or data manipulation. Factors considered for retraction include unreliable findings, plagiarism, unauthorized data publication, copyright infringement, ethical violations, compromised peer review, and conflicts of interest. UTeM Press follows best practices for retractions, including publishing a retraction notice in a subsequent issue, linking it to the original article online, adding a retraction note to the article and watermarking the PDF.
Manuscript Correction
A Corrigendum is issued to rectify errors or omissions in an article without affecting its integrity or findings. Authors are responsible for drafting the Corrigendum, which requires agreement from all authors.
