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COPE Compliant

Publication Ethics & Policies

Scientific Records is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics. These policies govern the duties and responsibilities of authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher — in accordance with COPE, ICMJE, and WAME guidelines.

📋 COPE Guidelines
🔍 Double-Blind Review
🌍 Open Access
📅 Effective: 06 January 2024
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Overview
Introduction
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Scientific Records (SR) is a biannual journal (January–June; July–December) that publishes original research papers, reviews, clinical articles/case reports, and short communications in the areas of agriculture, veterinary and animal sciences, life and biomedical sciences, and allied disciplines. SR publishes manuscripts that contribute significantly to knowledge in the field of sciences.

Preference is given to original articles that develop new concepts or experimental approaches and are not merely repositories of scientific data. The journal aims to be an important forum for researchers from academic and private sectors to exchange the latest scientific findings.

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Scientific Records is published in compliance with the ethical standards of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME).

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Core Standards
Publishing Ethics
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The formal part of the scholarly communication system — the publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal — serves many purposes beyond simple communication. It is a building block in developing a rational and respected knowledge network, and prima facie evidence for the quality and impact of the research work of its authors and, by extension, the institutions that support them.

It is therefore important to lay down standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, and the publisher. This includes all parties treating each other with respect and dignity, and without discrimination, harassment, bullying, or retaliation.

Key Ethical Responsibilities by Role
  • 1.1
    Publisher
    Publishers must promote and comply with industry best practices. They shall provide editors with technical, procedural, and legal support, and ensure editorial decisions are independent and not affected by commercial or other external factors.
  • 1.2
    Editors
    Editors shall follow industry best practice, ensuring editorial decisions and the peer review process are fair, unbiased, and timely.
  • 1.3
    Reviewers
    Reviewers shall assist editors in making editorial decisions and may also assist authors in improving the paper. Reviews must be conducted objectively and reviewers are responsible for ensuring the process is fair, unbiased, and timely.
  • 1.4
    Authors
    Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works and should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal.
🔗 ICMJE 🔗 CONSORT 🔗 COPE 🔗 WAME
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Transparency
Conflict of Interest
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All authors are requested to disclose any actual or potential conflict of interest — including any financial, personal, or other relationships with other people or organizations within three years of beginning the submitted work — that could inappropriately influence, or be perceived to influence, their work.

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Examples of potential conflicts of interest that must be declared include: employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts should be disclosed at the earliest possible stage.

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Publisher Responsibilities
Duties of the Publisher
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  • 1.1
    Guardianship of the Scholarly Record
    The publisher plays a supporting, investing, and nurturing role in scholarly communication and is ultimately responsible for ensuring that best practice is followed in its publications. Scientific Records takes its duties of guardianship over the scholarly record seriously — our journals record "the minutes of science." We work with other publishers and industry associations to set standards for best practices on ethical matters, errors, and retractions. Reference: STM Ethical Principles and COPE Codes of Conduct.
  • 1.2
    Safeguard Editorial Independence
    We are committed to ensuring that the potential for advertising, reprint, or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions.
  • 1.3
    Collaborate to Set Industry Best Practice
    We promote best practices by following COPE guidelines and providing editors with Crossref/Turnitin Similarity Check reports for all submissions.
  • 1.4
    Provide Editors with Technical, Procedural & Legal Support
    We support editors in communications with other journals or publishers and are prepared to provide specialized legal review and counsel where necessary.
  • 1.5
    Educate Researchers on Publishing Ethics
    We provide extensive education and advice on publishing ethics standards — particularly for early career researchers — through workshops conducted at academic institutions.
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Editorial Responsibilities
Duties of Editors
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  • 1.1
    Publication Decisions
    The editor is solely and independently responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work and its importance to researchers and readers must always underwrite such decisions. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making these decisions.
  • 1.2
    Peer Review
    The editor shall ensure that the peer-review process is fair, unbiased, and timely. At least two external and independent reviewers must typically review research articles; where necessary, the editor should seek additional opinions. The editor shall select reviewers with suitable expertise, follow best practices to avoid fraudulent peer reviewers (WAME Best Practice), and review all disclosures of potential conflicts of interest made by reviewers.
  • 1.3
    Fair Play
    The editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy. The journal's editorial policies should encourage transparency and complete, honest reporting.
  • 1.4
    Journal Metrics
    The editor must not attempt to influence the journal's ranking by artificially increasing any journal metric. The editor shall not require that references to that or any other journal's articles be included except for genuine scholarly reasons.
  • 1.5
    Confidentiality
    The editor must protect the confidentiality of all material submitted to the journal and all communications with reviewers. Unless the journal operates an open peer-review system and/or reviewers have agreed to disclose their names, the editor must protect reviewers' identities. Unpublished materials must not be used in an editor's own research without the author's express written consent.
  • 1.6
    Declaration of Competing Interests
    Any potential editorial conflicts of interest should be declared to the publisher before the editor's appointment. The editor must not be involved in decisions about papers they have written themselves, or papers written by family members, colleagues, or related to products or services in which the editor has an interest.
  • 1.7
    Vigilance over the Published Record
    The editor should work to safeguard the integrity of the published record by reviewing and assessing reported or suspected misconduct in conjunction with the publisher. An editor presented with convincing evidence of misconduct should arrange the prompt publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other correction to the record.
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Reviewer Responsibilities
Duties of Reviewers
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Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript, or knows that its prompt review will be impossible, should notify the editor and decline to participate in the review process.

  • 1.1
    Contribution to Editorial Decisions
    Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and may also assist the author in improving the paper. Peer review is essential to formal scholarly communication and lies at the heart of the scientific method. Reviewers are asked to treat authors and their work as they would like to be treated and observe good reviewing etiquette.
  • 1.2
    Confidentiality
    Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers must not share the review or information about the paper with anyone or contact the authors directly without permission from the editor. Unpublished materials must not be used in a reviewer's own research without the author's express written consent.
  • 1.3
    Alertness to Ethical Issues
    A reviewer should be alert to potential ethical issues in the paper and bring these to the editor's attention, including any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which the reviewer has personal knowledge.
  • 1.4
    Standards of Objectivity & Competing Interests
    Reviewers should conduct reviews objectively and be aware of personal bias. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments. Reviewers should consult the editor before agreeing to review a paper where they have potential conflicts of interest. If a reviewer suggests that an author includes citations to the reviewer's work, this must be for genuine scientific reasons only — not to increase the reviewer's citation count.
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Author Responsibilities
Duties of Authors
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  • 1.1
    Reporting Standards
    Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
  • 1.2
    Data Access and Retention
    Authors may be asked to provide the research data supporting their paper for editorial review and/or to comply with open data requirements. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to such data, if practicable, and retain such data for a reasonable number of years after publication.
  • 1.3
    Originality and Acknowledgement of Sources
    Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms — from passing off another's paper as the author's own, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts without attribution — constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable.
  • 1.4
    Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication
    An author should not publish manuscripts describing the same research in more than one journal. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable. See ICMJE guidelines for acceptable forms of secondary publication.
  • 1.5
    Confidentiality
    Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved.
  • 1.6
    Authorship of the Paper
    Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed significantly to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made substantial contributions should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author should ensure all appropriate co-authors are included and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version. Authors take collective responsibility for the work.
  • 1.7
    Hazards and Animal Subjects
    If the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment with unusual hazards, the author must identify these in the manuscript. For animal or human subjects, the manuscript must contain a statement that all procedures comply with relevant laws and institutional guidelines. All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines, UK Animals Act 1986, EU Directive 2010/63/EU, or the US Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals.
  • 1.8
    Declaration of Competing Interests
    All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could be viewed as inappropriately influencing their work. All sources of financial support for the research should be disclosed. (WAME Editorial statement on COI)
  • 1.9
    Notification of Fundamental Errors
    When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper if necessary.
  • 1.10
    Image Integrity
    It is not acceptable to enhance, obscure, move, remove, or introduce a specific feature within an image. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable only if they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original. Manipulating images for purposes other than improved clarity may be considered scientific ethical abuse. (Rossner and Yamada 2004)
  • 1.11
    Clinical Trial Transparency
    Scientific Records supports clinical trial transparency. For relevant submissions, authors are expected to conform to industry best standards in clinical trial registration and presentation, for example the CONSORT guidelines as further set out in the policies of the relevant journal (ICMJE).
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Plagiarism is strictly prohibited. Any manuscript found to contain plagiarised content will be removed from the website and the author's employer will be notified for appropriate action.

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These policies are effective from 06 January 2024. Scientific Records reserves the right to update these policies as standards evolve. Authors are advised to check this page before submission.