Editorial Policy

Ambo University is committed to fostering the meaningful exchange of information to help create an environment for constructive criticism and free exchange of ideas. As publisher of the Journal of Science and Sustainable Development, the Ambo University expects authors to adhere to the highest standards of integrity in research and the communication of research results and findings. Papers submitted to Journal of Science and Sustainable Development (JSSD) should include enough information (including in-text, Web appendix, or other online supplements) so as to allow a reasonably trained researcher to replicate the results.  This should include a precise description of the research and analysis procedures. Ambo University requires the authors of manuscripts submitted to JSSD to share additional details of their research findings and insights when requested by a journal editor.  If there are any proprietary restriction on information, authors must notify the editor at time of manuscript submission. 

 

In addition to the above, during the course of the review process the editor may request additional materials—including data—if they are seen as essential for judging the merits of the research.   Data and other requested materials would be viewed confidentially by the review team.   The editor must be notified in advance if such requests could not be met due to proprietary or other restrictions.

JSSD is committed to the protection of intellectual property. When supplementary materials are requested during the review period, they will be subject to the JSSD’s double-blind peer-review process in order to maintain author anonymity. Reviewer team members will not use ideas from or show another person the manuscript or supplementary materials they have been asked to review without the explicit permission of the manuscript’s author, obtained through the journal editor and/or editorial manager. Advice regarding specific, limited aspects of the manuscript may be sought from colleagues with specific expertise, provided the author’s identity and intellectual property remain secure.

 

JSSD expects all submissions to include data that are honestly and accurately reported according to the accepted best practices of scholarly publishing. In instances in which falsified or misreported data are suspected, the procedures outlined below will be followed.In any instance of suspected misconduct, the JSSD pledges to carry out the process of detection, investigation, and penalty with fairness and confidentiality during the internal inquiry. The process for detection, investigation, and, if necessary, penalty and retraction for suspected falsification/misreporting of data is as follows:

 

 

JSSD Editor, along with the Editorial Board, will serve to detect instances of data falsification. When an Editor suspects malfeasance (or is informed by a reviewer who suspects malfeasance), he/she shall make a judgment whether the claim has any merit. If the Editor determines that there has been potential misconduct, he/she shall inform the Managing Editor/ Director for Publication and Dissemination and provide a detailed account of the possible violation or misconduct. In the case where work has been published, readers suspecting falsification/misreporting should contact the editor. The sitting editor will then review the case, operating under the policies provided herein.

 

 

When informed by the journal Editor, the Managing Editor/Director for Publication and Dissemination shall determine whether further investigation is required. The Director for Publication and Dissemination may choose to assemble a review committee of scholars to determine the exact nature and extent of the suspected misconduct. Each individual investigation may warrant the assembly of a new ad hoc committee. Any committee member who is perceived to have a conflict of interest must recuse him-/herself from the process. The Editor of the journal in question shall not serve on the committee. If it is determined that an act of misconduct has been committed, the Director for Publication and Dissemination in consultation with the Vice President for Research and Community Service shall inform the author(s), in writing, with a detailed description of the alleged offense. The Director for Publication and Dissemination shall offer the author(s) an opportunity to respond to the allegation. In events in which more than one author is involved, the authors may collaborate on their response or respond individually. If the committee concludes that no offense has been committed, no further action shall be taken, and the Director for Publication and Dissemination shall inform the authors the same. If the committee determines that there has been misconduct, the process will move into a penalty phase.

 

In order to conduct a full and fair investigation, authors may be required to provide materials that go above and beyond the aforementioned (2. Requesting Supplementary Materials). If a paper uses proprietary data covered by a non-disclosure agreement signed by the author(s), and the author(s) are not able to meet the data requirements, the committee chair may ask for specific (appropriately redacted) details of the agreement that prevent the authors from providing the required materials. The committee may choose to provide an exemption. If the committee chooses not to waive the requirements, the author(s) will have the option of withdrawing the paper from the journal review process. However, in such cases, the committee chair may determine to continue the investigation and levy a penalty if misconduct is suspected.All information provided will be used solely for the purpose of conducting the investigation. All information will remain private and will not be distributed beyond the investigating committee. All materials will be destroyed upon the conclusion of the investigation.

 

 

In the event that an author (or authors) is found to have engaged in some form of misconduct, he/she shall be subject to a penalty, the nature and extent of which will be determined by the Vice President for Research and Community Service in consultation with Director for Publication and Dissemination and with the counsel of the committee members. The penalty shall be commensurate with the nature of the offense and will likely include a ban on submitting to JSSD for a period of time. All sitting Editors of JSSD will be informed of the penalty. The committee is empowered to customize penalties for each individual author in instances in which multiple authors are involved. In extreme circumstances, the committee reserves the right to inform an author’s institution, depending on the seriousness of the offense.

 

 

 

 

Ambo University publication policy prohibits an article under review at JSSD from being concurrently reviewed at another journal without prior discussion with and written permission from the involved JSSD editor.

 

 

As a publisher of peer-reviewed journal, Ambo University requires all journal submissions to adhere to the highest of ethical standards and best practices in publishing. All writing and research submitted to JSSD is expected to present accurate information and to properly cite all content referenced from other materials.

 

 

The value of a publication depends on its incremental contribution. Therefore, it is inappropriate to submit articles with substantial overlap. This overlap can result from the use of the same data or analyses or when providing parallel substantive or theoretical results. When there is a question about defining overlap, particularly that which arises from their own work, it is the authors’ responsibility to notify and alert the editor. The Editor will make a binding decision whether a manuscript submitted to JSSD is too similar to an article already published there or elsewhere.When writing a paper, it is important for authors to define its incremental contribution by referencing relevant work on which the paper builds. Authors are expected to search for and reference the related work of others. Authors are especially responsible for informing the Editor about their own work, whether it is published, in working paper form, or under review. When questions arise about related work, the Editor will provide guidance to the authors. Submitting a paper that is substantially the same as a previously published paper is considered a serious breach of professional ethics and may warrant the Editorial Manager contacting officials at the authors’ institutions of this breach. In the event that the author(s) is not affiliated with an institution, alternative steps may be taken, including a ban from submitting to JSSD.

 

 

As defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary, to plagiarize is “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own,” “use (another’s production) without crediting the source,” or to “present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/plagiarize). Ambo University considers other forms of plagiarism to include “self-plagiarism”—instances in which an author borrows from his or her own previously published work without the proper citation. It is also unacceptable to submit manuscripts to JSSD that have previously been published anywhere in any language. It is the authors’ responsibility to inform or notify the Editor upon submission if there is any doubt whether a manuscript may violate any of these terms.

 

 

In any instance of suspected misconduct, Ambo University pledges to carry out the process of detection, investigation, and penalty with fairness and confidentiality during the internal investigation. The process for detection, investigation, and penalty for suspected plagiarism is as follows:

 

 

The JSSD Editor, along with the Editorial Board and non–Editorial Board reviewers, will serve to detect instances of plagiarism. When an Editor suspects plagiarism (or is informed by a reviewer who suspects plagiarism), he/she shall make a judgment whether the claim has any merit. If the Editor determines that there has been potential misconduct, he/she shall inform the Director for Publication and Dissemination/Managing Editor and provide a detailed account of the possible violation or misconduct.

 

 

When informed by the journal Editor, the Director for Publication and Dissemination/Managing Editor shall determine whether further investigation is required. the Director for Publication and Dissemination/Managing Editor may choose to assemble a review committee of scholars to determine the exact nature and extent of the suspected misconduct. Each individual investigation may warrant the assembly of a new ad hoc committee. Any committee member who is perceived to have a conflict of interest must recuse him-/herself from the process. The Editor of the journal in question will not serve on the committee. If it is determined that an act of plagiarism has been committed, the Director for Publication and Dissemination/Managing Editor in consultation with the Vice President for Research and Community Service (VPRCS) will inform the author(s), in writing, with a detailed description of the alleged offense. The Director for Publication and Dissemination/Managing Editor shall offer the author(s) an opportunity to respond to the allegation. In events in which more than one author is involved, the authors may collaborate on their response or respond individually. If the committee concludes that no offense has been committed, no further action will be taken, and the Director for Publication and Dissemination/Managing Editor will inform the authors the same. If the committee determines that there has been misconduct, the process will move into a penalty phase.

 

 

In the event that an author (or authors) has been found to have engaged in some form of misconduct, he/she is to be subjected to a penalty. The nature and extent of the penalty will be determined by the VPRCS in consultation with the Director for Publication and Dissemination/Managing Editor and with the advice of the committee members. The penalty will be dictated by the nature of the offense and will likely include a ban on submitting to any journal published by Ambo University for a period of time. All sitting Editors of Ambo University journals will be informed. The committee is empowered to customize penalties for each individual in instances in which multiple authors are involved. In extreme circumstances, the Director for Publication and Dissemination/Managing Editor reserves the right to inform an author’s institution, depending on the seriousness of the offense.

 

 

Manuscripts that have been rejected are not eligible for further consideration by the same journal and thus should not be resubmitted. If a revision is allowed, it will be explicitly stated in the Editor’s decision. Other revisions of previously rejected manuscripts will be promptly returned to the authors without review.

Conflicts of interest may arise in a variety of situations, and therefore the author is required to inform the editor of such conflict. A conflict of interest may exist when a manuscript under review puts forth a position contrary to the reviewer’s published work or when a manuscript author or reviewer has a substantial direct or indirect financial interest in the subject matter of the manuscript. Because it is Ambo University policy to engage in a double-blind review process, a conflict of interest may also exist when a reviewer knows the author of a manuscript. The reviewer should consult the journal editor in such situations to decide whether to review the manuscript. A conflict of interest does not exist when an author disagrees with a reviewer’s assessment that a problem is unimportant or disagrees with an editorial outcome.

 

 

Protecting intellectual property is a primary responsibility of the reviewer and the editor. Reviewers, therefore, will not use ideas from or show another person the manuscript they have been asked to review without the explicit permission of the manuscript’s author, obtained through the journal editor. Advice regarding specific, limited aspects of the manuscript may be sought from colleagues with specific expertise, provided the author’s identity and intellectual property remain secure.

 

 

Sharing of reviewing responsibilities is inappropriate. The review is the sole responsibility of the person to whom it was assigned by the journal editor. Students and colleagues should not be asked to prepare reviews unless the journal editor has given explicit prior approval. Each person contributing to a review shall receive formal recognition. 

 

 

All reviews will use a double-blind peer review process. Reviewers and journal editors are expected to provide comments and critiques in a confidential, constructive, prompt, and unbiased manner appropriate for their position of responsibility. Collegiality, respect for the author’s dignity, and the search for ways to improve the quality of the manuscript should characterize the review process. The editor has the final authority for the acceptance or rejection of any article.