Ethical principles of authors of scientific articles

Ethical Principles of Authors of Scientific Articles

Author of a scientific article is the person who participate (to a considerable extent – in case if there are several authors) in is writing the work, namely, in formulating its concept, in its scientific designing, in collecting the background materials, their analysis and interpretation of received results. In case of collaborative article, all participants must meet these criteria. The consent of all authors for the publication is required.

Author of a scientific article is the person who participate (to a considerable extent – in case if there are several authors) in is writing the work, namely, in formulating its concept, in its scientific designing, in collecting the background materials, their analysis and interpretation of received results. In case of collaborative article, all participants must meet these criteria. The consent of all authors for the publication is required.

The authors ensure that:

    • their scientific work is original (not previously published in other publications in its present or close form) and reliable (does not contain a deliberately erroneous or fraudulent assertions);
    • borrowed fragments or assertions are properly cited (with an obligatory indication of the author and original source). Excessive borrowing, as well as plagiarism in any form, including non-cited quotations, paraphrasing or assigning rights to the results of other people’s research (as well as reproduction of own earlier published texts in the form of several quotations or without proper indication) are unethical and unacceptable;
    • the submitted manuscript is not under consideration in other editorial offices;
    • all possible conflicts of interest related to copyright and publication of the material are properly settled;
    • the contribution of all persons that somehow influenced the course of the research is adequately reflected, in particular, the article contains the links to the works that mattered for conducting this research;
    • all persons who have made a significant contribution to the article are listed (the persons that have not participated in the research cannot be listed among the co-authors);
    • the publication does not violate any existing copyright; in case that such violations are revealed the corresponding losses will be reimbursed the Publisher.

If the author finds substantial errors or inaccuracies in the article at the stage of review or after its publication the editorial office should promptly notified.

COUNTERACTION TO PLAGIARISM

The editorial office of the “Journal of the Institute for African Studies” presumes that while submitting the manuscript to the Journal every author agrees with the following principles of counteraction to plagiarism and other unethical practices of research and publications.

It is unacceptable:

    • literal copying of more than 10% of the work of another person without proper attribution(reference to authorship, correct citing?use quotation marks);
    • incorrect paraphrasing of another person’s paper, including changing of more than one sentence in a single paragraph or section of text, re-composing the sentences in different order without appropriate reference to the original. Substantial incorrect paraphrasing (more than 10% of the original work) without a reference to the source is equivalent to the literal copying;
    • usage of elements of another person’s works (for example, picture, table, methodology of drafting a scheme, executing computation or analysis) without proper attribution, without expressing appreciation, without reference to the source and quotation marks. Authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder to use elements of his works;
    • literal copying and paraphrasing of one’s own works more than by 10% (self-plagiarism);
    • simultaneous submitting of the same manuscript to several publications;
    • duplication of publications (publication of a manuscript several times by introducing minor alterations to it);
    • compiling a “new” manuscript from previously published works of the author.

“Journal of the Institute for African Studies” publishes only original articles. The reprints of already published materials are not allowed. If the elements of a manuscript have been previously published in another article the authors are required to refer to the earlier work and indicate the significant difference of new work from the previous one, as well as to show the link of recent research outcomes with the findings presented in the previous work.

The editorial office recommends to specify the materials that the authors have prepared earlier (during a research that underlies the submitted article), including materials for conferences, presentations, etc. in the list of references.
For publication of a translated article a legal agreement with the author and publisher of the original research is needed.

PLAGIARISM-RELATED DISPUTE RESOLUTION

Editorial office of “Journal of the Institute for African Studies” adheres to the standards of academic ethics and seriously treats all cases of plagiarism. Manuscripts, questionable from the point of view of ethics, are checked by the editors through the Internet system “Antiplagiat”.

To ensure objectivity the editorial office thoroughly examines every such case and considers the arguments of all concerned parties. Before taking further actions the editorial office makes its best to get the most accurate information from the authors of the controversial publication or from the copyright owners. The decision of the editorial office is impartial, objective and unaffected by the third parties.

In the event of a serious breach of copyright as well as of other ethical norms and rules of research and publications, the manuscript is rejected and cooperation the editorial office with the author may be terminated. In addition, the editorial office has the right to apply to the Council of Ethics of the Association of Scientific Editors and Publishers, to the appropriate Dissertation Council, as well as to Dissernet with a request to verify the specified author’s previous publications for plagiarism for the period up to 5 years.If there is a suspicion of plagiarism the authors must prove their authorship or correctly present the borrowed parts of text. After that the editorial office may reconsider the manuscript.
If the article has been published before a violation of ethical principles is established, it can be withdrawn from the Journal with the appropriate reference at the official Web-site of the Journal.

The editorial office reserves the right not to respond to accusations of plagiarism if the initiator provides false personal information or acts in an unethical or threatening manner. The editorial office is not obliged to discuss the cases of alleged plagiarism with the persons that have no direct connection to it.