Publication Ethics

The Journal of Algebra and Related Topics is a peer-reviewed journal. It is necessary 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, and the publisher.

Our ethics statements are based on COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

         1. Publication and Authorship

  • Author(s) need to ensure that the submitted article is the work of submitting author(s) and is not plagiarized, wholly or in part. They must also make sure that the submitted article is original, is not wholly or in part re-publication of the author’s earlier work, and contains no fraudulent data.
  • Funding sources for the research reported in the manuscript should be duly acknowledged. It is the responsibility of the authors to follow up any publishing mandates outlined by their funding organization.

         2. Responsibilities of Authors

  • The corresponding author is the author responsible for communicating with the journal for publication. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to its submission for publication.
  • Author(s) need to ensure that all data in the submitted article are real and authentic. They must make sure that all authors have significantly contributed to the research submitted in the article, and that all and only the contributors to the article are listed as authors.
  • The Journal of Algebra and Related Topics is a peer-reviewed journal, and authors are obliged in our single-blind peer review process.
  • When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published works, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal’s Editor-in-Chief and cooperate with them to either retract the paper or to publish an appropriate erratum.
  • Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining nature of reported work.

     

         3. Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • Any reviewer who feels unqualified to review an assigned manuscript or unable to provide a prompt review should notify the related editor or editor-in-chief to be excused from the review process.
  • Private information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Manuscripts received must be treated as confidential documents.
  • Reviews shall contain no personal criticism of authors. Reviewers should clearly express their views with supporting arguments, and reviews should be conducted objectively and constructively.
  • Authors should cite relevant sources. Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors.  If a reviewer finds any substantial similarity or overlap between the submitted manuscript and any published works, the editor-in-chief or related editor must be notified promptly.
  • Reviewers hold the responsibility for objective in their judgments; have no conflict of interest with respect to research, with respect to the authors and/or with respect to the research funders; point out relevant published work which is not yet cited by the author(s), and treat the reviewed articles confidentially.

         4. Responsibilities of Editors

  • Editors hold full authority to reject/accept an article; only accept a paper when reasonably certain; promote the publication of correction or retraction when errors are found; preserve the anonymity of reviewers, and have no conflict of interest with respect to articles they reject/accept.
  • If an Editor feels that there is likely to be a perception of a conflict of interest in relation to their handling of a submission, they will declare it to the other Editors. The other Editor will select referees and make all decisions on the paper.
  • Based on the peer review of a manuscript, the editor-in-chief and the related editor are responsible for determining which manuscripts are best suited for publication.

          5. Publishing ethics issues

  • Members of the Editorial Board ensure the monitoring and safeguarding of the publishing ethics. This comprises the strict policy on plagiarism and fraudulent data, the strong commitment to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed, and the strict preclusion of business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards.
  • Whenever it is recognized that a published paper contains a significant inaccuracy, misleading statement or distorted report, it will be corrected promptly. If, after an appropriate investigation, an item proves to be fraudulent, it will be retracted. The retraction will be clearly identifiable to readers and indexing systems.