Ethics & Malpractice

To uphold the highest standards of publishing ethics, the Journal of Applied Membrane Science & Technology (JAMST) is committed to taking necessary measures to prevent publication malpractice. Our primary responsibility is to ensure the dissemination of original work to the academic community with the utmost quality and integrity. We hold our publisher, reviewers, and authors to the same high level of professionalism.

To achieve this, we expect authors to adhere to the highest standards of integrity, originality, and fairness, while editors and reviewers are expected to maintain objectivity, fairness, and confidentiality. JAMST fully adheres to the codes of conduct and international standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ensuring compliance with ethical best practices, error management, retractions, and, when necessary, legal review.

This ethical commitment applies to all parties involved in the publication process, including editors, editorial board members, reviewers, authors, and the publisher. Our guidelines are aligned with the Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors set by COPE.

EDITORS RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Publication Decisions

• The Editor-in-Chief, Editors, Editorial Board, and Journal Manager are key roles within the journal’s editorial team.
• The Editor-in-Chief holds the authority to decide which submitted articles will be published in the journal.
• The Editor-in-Chief has full control over the journal’s editorial content and ensures timely publication.
• The decision to publish manuscripts is based on their validity, relevance to researchers and readers, reviewers' feedback, and compliance with legal requirements such as libel, copyright laws, and plagiarism.
• Editors may seek input from the editorial board, other editors, or reviewers when making publication decisions.
• The Editor-in-Chief ensures that external factors, including government policies or other authorities, do not influence the review and publication process.
• Editors ensure that all manuscripts submitted for publication undergo peer review by at least two experts in the field.
• Editors are responsible for overseeing a fair, timely, comprehensive, and respectful peer-review process.
• In some cases, the Editor-in-Chief may reject manuscripts without peer review if they fall outside the journal’s scope, fail to meet quality standards, or lack scientific merit or originality.
• Editors are accountable for obtaining timely reviews for each manuscript and evaluating them promptly.
• The Editorial Board collaborates closely with the Editor-in-Chief to promote, develop, and expand the journal.
• The Journal Manager ensures that manuscripts are free of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors and comply with the journal’s editorial guidelines.
• The Journal Manager works in close coordination with the Editor-in-Chief to maintain the journal’s quality.

2. Confidentiality

• Editors assess submitted manuscripts based exclusively on their academic merit, considering factors such as significance, originality, research validity, clarity, and readability, as well as their relevance to the journal's scope.
• Editors must maintain confidentiality regarding submitted manuscripts and may only disclose information to the authors, reviewers, editorial board members, and the publisher, as necessary.

3. Fair Play

• Editors must ensure that the peer review process is conducted fairly and appropriately.
• Editors are expected to treat all authors with fairness, courtesy, objectivity, honesty, and transparency throughout the review and publication process.
• Manuscripts are evaluated solely on their intellectual content, without consideration of the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, citizenship, institutional affiliation, or political views.

4. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

• Editors are responsible for maintaining the internal integrity of the journal.
• Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for their own research without the explicit written consent of the authors.
• Any privileged information or ideas obtained during the manuscript handling process must be kept confidential and must not be used for personal gain.
• Editors are tasked with safeguarding the integrity of the published record by issuing corrections and retractions, when necessary, as well as investigating and addressing suspected or alleged research or publishing misconduct.
• Editors must recuse themselves from evaluating manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest, whether through collaboration, competition, or other relationships with the authors or institutions involved. In such cases, they must delegate the manuscript to another member of the editorial board.
• The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for promptly addressing ethical concerns raised about submitted manuscripts or published articles.
• The Editor-in-Chief is also responsible for investigating alleged unethical publishing behavior, even if the misconduct is discovered years after publication.
• Cases of alleged misconduct are handled according to the COPE flowchart. If an ethical concern is found to be valid upon investigation, the journal will publish a correction, retraction, statement of concern, or other appropriate action.

EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Publication Decisions

• The Editorial Board consists of distinguished experts in the field who serve as board members.
• Editorial Board members may be invited to contribute content to the journal.
• They assist the Editor-in-Chief in addressing ethical issues, complaints, and appeals related to publication standards.
• Editorial Board members provide guidance to ensure the journal upholds its standards.
• They are responsible for making decisions on whether to publish submitted papers.
• Manuscripts are reviewed by Editorial Board members based solely on their intellectual content.
• Editorial Board members offer their scientific expertise to the journal.
• They help attract new authors and encourage the submission of high-quality manuscripts.
• Editorial Board members collaborate with the Editor-in-Chief to shape the journal’s overall strategy.
• They serve as peer reviewers for submitted manuscripts.
• Editorial Board members promote the submission of high-quality manuscripts.
• They suggest topics and authors for commissioned reviews and commentaries.
• Editorial Board members contribute to the journal’s policy, scope, quality, value, and reputation.

2. Confidentiality

• Editorial Board members assess submitted manuscripts solely on their academic merit, including factors such as importance, originality, research validity, clarity, and readability, as well as their relevance to the journal's scope.
• They are required to maintain the confidentiality of all information related to submitted manuscripts.
• Editorial Board members must not disclose any details regarding a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the Editor-in-Chief.

3. Fair Play

• Editorial Board members must ensure that the peer review process is conducted fairly and appropriately.
• They are expected to treat all authors with fairness, courtesy, objectivity, honesty, and transparency throughout the review process.
• Manuscripts are evaluated by Editorial Board members solely on their intellectual content, without consideration of the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnicity, citizenship, institutional affiliation, or political views.

4. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

• Editorial Board members must ensure that the peer review process is conducted fairly and appropriately.
• They are expected to treat all authors with fairness, courtesy, objectivity, honesty, and transparency.
• Editorial Board members evaluate manuscripts based solely on their intellectual content, without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, institutional affiliation, or political philosophy.

REVIEWER'S RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Contribution to Editorial Decisions

• Peer review supports the Editor-in-Chief in making informed editorial decisions and can also assist authors in improving their work through constructive communication during the editorial process.

2. Promptness

• If any invited reviewers are unable to evaluate the study presented in a submission or believe that a timely review may be challenging, they should promptly notify the Editor-in-Chief so that alternative reviewers can be selected.
• Should a reviewer be unable to complete the evaluation of a manuscript within the specified timeframe, they must inform the Editor-in-Chief to facilitate the transfer of the article to another reviewer.

3. Confidentiality

• All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential and should not be disclosed or shared with anyone other than those authorized by the Editor-in-Chief.

4. Standards of Objectivity

• Reviews should be conducted with professionalism, honesty, fairness, and objectivity.
• Personal criticisms of the authors are strictly prohibited under any circumstances.
• Reviewers are expected to articulate their opinions clearly and provide relevant supporting arguments.

5. Acknowledgement of Sources

• Reviewers should identify and highlight relevant published works that the authors have not cited.
• Any assertion regarding an observation, explanation, or previously published argument should be substantiated with appropriate references.
• Reviewers must inform the Editor-in-Chief of any significant similarities or overlaps between the manuscript under consideration and any other published work with which they are personally acquainted.

6. Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

• Reviewers must disclose any conflicts of interest.
• Reviewers must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for their own research without the explicit written consent of the authors.
• Reviewers are required to keep any privileged information or ideas obtained during the manuscript review process confidential and must not exploit them for personal gain.
• Reviewers must recuse themselves from reviewing manuscripts in which they have competing interests, collaborations, or other connections with the authors or affiliated institutions, and should promptly inform the Editor-in-Chief of such circumstances.

AUTHOR'S RESPONSIBILITIES
1. Reporting Standards

• Authors share collective responsibility for the work they submit and publish.
• The creation of false or deliberately misleading claims is unethical and strictly prohibited.
• Authors must present their findings clearly and honestly, avoiding fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation to support their conclusions.
• Authors presenting original research findings should provide a thorough description of the work conducted and an objective evaluation of the significance of the findings.
• Authors should strive to describe their methods clearly and unambiguously, allowing for independent verification of their results.
• Sufficient detail and citations must be provided to enable others to reproduce the work.
• Original data should be reported accurately in the article.
• Review articles should be precise, accurate, factual, fair, and comprehensive, while recognizing that editorial opinions and judgments are separate.

2. Data Access and Retention

• Authors may be asked to provide the raw data from their study alongside their article for editorial review and should be prepared to make this data publicly accessible whenever possible.
• Authors should ensure that such data is available to other qualified professionals for a minimum of 10 years following publication, provided that participant confidentiality is maintained and that legal restrictions on private data do not impede its release.

3. Originality and Plagiarism

• Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original and must appropriately credit any work or words of others that they have utilized.
• Authors are required to submit their work ethically and responsibly, in compliance with all relevant regulations.
• Publications that have significantly influenced the research presented in the manuscript should be cited appropriately.
• Authors must avoid plagiarism in any form, as it constitutes unethical publication behavior.
• The journal employs a plagiarism detection system, such as Turnitin, and allows a maximum similarity threshold of 20%.

4. Multiple Submission

• Authors must declare that the manuscript is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.
• Authors should refrain from publishing manuscripts that describe essentially the same research in multiple journals or primary publications.
• Authors must avoid submitting the same article to more than one publication, as this practice is unethical and unprofessional.

5. Acknowledgement of Sources

• Appropriate acknowledgment of others' work must always be provided.
• Authors should cite publications that have significantly influenced their work to clarify the nature of the research being described.
• Authors are required to cite all sources utilized in the preparation of their manuscripts.
• Authors must declare that all content included in the manuscript is original.
• Authors should not use or disclose private information, including conversations, correspondence, or discussions with third parties, without obtaining written consent from the source.
• Authors should not provide confidential services unless they have received explicit written permission from the author(s) of the work in question.

6. Authorship of a Manuscript

• Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made significant contributions to the study's conception, design, execution, conduct, and interpretation.
• Co-authors should be those who have made substantial contributions, while others who contributed to the research study should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgment section.
• The corresponding author must ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the article and have agreed to its submission for publication.
• Corresponding authors must certify that the authorship accurately reflects each individual's contributions to the work and its reporting.

7. Hazards and Human/Animal Subjects

• Authors must identify any unusual hazards associated with the use of chemicals, procedures, or equipment in their manuscript.
• Authors should confirm that all procedures involving animals or human subjects were documented and approved by the appropriate institutional committee.
• Authors must include a statement in the manuscript indicating that informed consent was obtained for research involving human subjects, and they must ensure that the privacy rights of these individuals are always respected.

8. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

• Authors must disclose any factors that may influence the findings or their interpretation of the article within their manuscript.
• Authors should provide information about relevant funding sources and any existing or potential conflicts of interest.
• Authors are required to declare all sources of financial support for the project, including grant numbers or other reference numbers, if applicable.

9. Peer Review

• Authors are required to participate in the peer-review process and fully cooperate by promptly responding to editors' requests for raw data, explanations, evidence of ethical approval, patient consent, and copyright permissions.
• Authors should address reviewers' comments thoroughly and point by point, revising and resubmitting their manuscript by the specified deadline upon receiving a "revisions required" notification.

10. Fundamental Errors in Published Works

• When an author identifies a significant mistake or inaccuracy in their published work, it is their responsibility to inform the Editor-in-Chief promptly and request that the article be corrected or retracted.
• Authors are also responsible for correcting or retracting a published work if the editors or publisher become aware of the error or inaccuracy through a third party.

11. Publication Guidelines

• Authors must adhere to the journal's submission guidelines to be considered for publication.

12. Submission Check Form

• Authors are required to complete the checklist for author submissions.

PUBLISHER RESPONSIBILITIES

• The publisher ensures that journal editors, editorial board members, authors, reviewers, and other stakeholders adhere to best practices in publishing policies and procedures.
• The publisher is committed to fostering a more effective academic communication system for journal governance.
• The publisher supports the publishing and indexing of all journal articles.
• The publisher guarantees that the editorial team meets production schedules and completes work in a timely manner.
• The publisher collaborates with editorial committees to develop policies and standards that are appropriate for the journal.
• The publisher verifies publication rights and licensing agreements prior to publication.
• The publisher works closely with the Editor-in-Chief(s) to take necessary steps to address and correct any errors in an article where scientific misconduct, fraudulent publishing, or plagiarism is suspected or confirmed.
• The publisher promptly resolves any erratum, clarification, or retraction related to the concerned work.
• The publisher and the Editor-in-Chief must work collaboratively to detect and prevent the publication of articles involving research misconduct, ensuring that they do not promote or enable such behavior.
• The publisher and the journal uphold a commitment to equity and do not discriminate based on age, color, faith, ethnicity, disability, marital status, veteran status, national origin, race, gender, genetic predisposition or carrier status, or sexual orientation.
• The publisher employs ethics panels to periodically review and recommend actions regarding publication misconduct and issues related to journal policies and guidelines.
• The publisher is responsible for investigating any potential publishing misconduct and addressing situations involving alleged malpractice.
• The publisher is tasked with regularly reviewing and updating the journal's policies as needed.