Allegations of Misconduct

Al-Nahrain Journal of Science takes all misconduct allegations (pre- or post-publication allegations) seriously. All allegations must be directed to the Editor-in-Chief of the ANJS. The managing editor and the section editor (editor of the scientific section) shall handle ethics issues, review allegations, and initiate impartial and confidential investigations of cases.

The publication of a manuscript in a journal shows the relationship of trust between an author and publisher. The authors are expected to be aware of research misconduct. ANJS uses this definition of misconduct in dealing with the issue and strictly follows the publication ethics acknowledged by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Falsification, fabrication, and plagiarism are the primary concerns in avoiding research misconduct. Any divergence from these norms undermines the integrity of research.

Falsification and Fabrication of data

Fabrication is defined as making up data without actually collecting or synthesizing scientific data. Falsification is defined as the manipulation of research material to reach a favourable result. Fabrication and falsification could happen at any research stage (in the field) up to the publication of a manuscript, where misuse of citation can occur (referencing a citation when the citation does not support the argument). ANJS tries to identify any kind of fabrication or falsification in all levels of manuscript processing, from initial screening to comprehensive evaluation of a revised manuscript and even after a manuscript has been published. Reporting any fabrication and falsification is an ethical duty of our authors, co-authors, reviewers, editors, and readers. In any event of falsification or fabrication, ANJS keeps its right to retract or withdraw the fabricated or falsified article.

Plagiarism

In academia, plagiarism is considered academic misconduct and a major ethical concern. Plagiarism is deliberately using someone else’s intellectual property or data as one’s own without acknowledgement, such as citing the sources of the data (East 2010). Often, it is viewed as “a form of intellectual theft” (Ashworth et al. 1997, p. 200). Another category of plagiarism is self-plagiarism, which is when the author publishes his own idea, data, and text in different journals when no need for such duplication exists. ANJS uses all means to detect plagiarism. As a matter of quality assurance, a similarity of more than 20% in the text of a manuscript will be returned to the author to remove the similarities and reduce the chance of plagiarism.   

 

In line with the publication ethics approved by COPE, the ANJS disapproves of all unethical practices such as plagiarism, fabrication, duplication, data manipulation/falsification, and efforts to influence the review process (such as gifting authorship, inappropriate acknowledgements, and references).