Publication ethics

Members of the editorial board of the International Journal of Biology and Chemistry in their professional activities adhere to the principles and norms of «Publication Ethics for Scientific Journals of al-Farabi KazNU». The publication ethics was developed by the international publication ethical standard of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Publication ethics establish the norms, principles, and standards of ethical behavior for editors, reviewers, and authors, measures to identify conflicts of interest, unethical behavior, instructions for the withdrawal (retraction), correction, and refutation of the article.

All participants in the publication process, each author, scientific editor, reviewer, executive secretary, members of the editorial board of the scientific journal International Journal of Biology and Chemistry must unconditionally adhere to the principles, norms, and standards of publication ethics. Compliance with ethical principles is important both to ensure and maintain the quality of a scientific journal, as well as to create trust and respect between the participants in the publication process.

Unethical behavior is considered to be the actions of authors, editors, or publishers, in the case of an independent review of their own articles; in the case of contractual and false review; in the conditions of resorting to agency services for the publication of scientific research results; false authorship; falsification and fabrication of research results; publication of unreliable pseudo-scientific texts; transfer of manuscript articles to other publications without the permission of the authors; transfer of authors' materials to third parties; conditions when copyright and confidentiality principles of editorial processes are violated; case of manipulation with citation; and plagiarism.

Unethical behavior is considered to be the actions of authors, editors or publishers, in the case of an independent review of their own articles; in the case of contractual and false review; in the conditions of resorting to agency services for the publication of scientific research results; false authorship; falsification and fabrication of research results; publication of unreliable pseudo-scientific texts; transfer of manuscript articles to other publications without the permission of the authors; transfer of authors' materials to third parties; conditions when copyright and confidentiality principles of editorial processes are violated; case of manipulation with citation; and plagiarism.

Publication ethics principles for Editorial Board members

Members of the editorial board of the International Journal of Biology and Chemistry are responsible for the development, improvement of the journal, for promoting the journal in international databases, must follow the principles of freedom of opinion, satisfy the scientific and professional needs of authors and readers of the journal, and avoid the influence of the author's commercial interests, the reviewer and the publisher of the journal to make decisions on the publication of materials, should also take all possible measures to improve the quality of scientific publications, protect the confidentiality of information data at all stages of the publication process.

Equality of all authors. The members of the editorial board are responsible for deciding whether to publish a manuscript submitted by the authors in the journal or reject it. Editorial board members should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnicity, citizenship, political views of the authors, or commercial considerations.

Making a decision to publish the manuscript. The decision on which of the manuscripts submitted to the editorial office should be published is made by the editorial board of the journal, based on the results of checks for compliance with the requirements for formatting, plagiarism, and based on the results of scientific review. When deciding on the publication of a manuscript, the editorial board is guided by the policy of the journal and publication ethics, does not allow publication of articles with signs of plagiarism, violation of the principles, standards and norms of scientific ethics and copyright infringement.

The members of the editorial board are responsible for the publication of articles with known signs of unethical behavior, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, excessive self-citation by authors, conflicts of interest. If in the writing process of a manuscript, the principles of publication and/or scientific ethics were violated, the scientific editor of the journal, based on the decision of the editorial board, must retract the publication. Articles can be withdrawn by the author(s) or the editors of the journal.

The editors carry out the withdrawal (retraction) of published articles in case of violation of publication and/or scientific ethics, based on the recommendations of COPE. An article is withdrawn (retracted) in the next cases:

- if there is clear evidence that the data obtained is unreliable or obtained as a result of illegal actions, for example, data falsification;

- discovery of the fact of publication of the manuscript in another edition before its publication in the International Journal of Biology and Chemistry;

- detection of plagiarism in the article, including the detection of the borrowing of figures, graphs, tables, etc.

- presence in the article of gross errors that can negatively affect other scientists and their research, for example, a miscalculation or an experimental error;

- the appearance of claims about copyright for the article or its individual parts by third parties;

- presence in the article of information that contradicts the principles, standards and norms of publication and/or scientific ethics.

In such cases above, the editorial board of the journal conducts a check, according to the results of which the article can be withdrawn (retracted) from publication. For this, an act of retraction of the article from publication is drawn up, which is confirmed and signed by the scientific editor. A copy of the act is sent to the corresponding author of the article.

After that, on the journal's website, the article is marked as retracted, indicating the reasons. The editorial board publishes information about the withdrawal (retraction) of the article on the main page of the journal's website and places the information, after the procedure of withdrawal (retraction) of the article, in the subsequent issue of the journal.

The editorial board of the International Journal of Biology and Chemistry will responsibly, objectively and carefully consider all reasonable appeals regarding violations found in published issues.

The editors consider it the responsibility and obligation of the authors and reviewers to inform the editors as quickly as possible about the mistakes and violations that they have identified after the publication of the material.

Confidentiality principle. At the stage of consideration of the manuscript (before its publication), editors and members of the editorial board should not disclose information about it to anyone other than the authors, appointed reviewers and the publisher. Any manuscript received for review should be treated as confidential material. Manuscripts should not be displayed or discussed with third parties without the permission of the scientific editor.

Editorial board members ensure that rejected manuscripts will not be used in their own research by members of the editorial board without the written consent of the authors.

Consideration of claims of unethical behavior. The editorial board should individually consider each complaint of unethical behavior by the author(s) of the manuscript and articles published in the International Journal of Biology and Chemistry, regardless of the time of its submission. Members of the editorial board must take objective and adequate action concerning such claims. If the arguments of the claim are confirmed, the members of the editorial board have the right to refuse to publish the manuscript and stop further cooperation with the corresponding author, publish the corresponding refutation, and also take other measures to further suppress the unethical behavior of the author(s).

Editorial Board, their duties and responsibilities

The duties and responsibilities of the Scientific Editor, Executive Secretary, Editorial Board members of the International Journal of Biology and Chemistry are specified in the respective approved job descriptions.

Author's publication ethics principles

One-time publication. The author(s) guarantee that the manuscript of the article submitted to the editor has not been submitted for review in other publications. Submission of a manuscript at a time in several journals/publications is unacceptable and is a gross violation of the principles, standards and norms of publication ethics.

Authorship of the manuscript. The person who made the greatest intellectual contribution to the preparation of the manuscript (with two or more co-authors) is indicated first in the list of authors. For each article, an author must be appointed for correspondence, who is responsible for the preparation of the final version of the article, communication with the editorial board, must ensure the inclusion of all research participants (if the number of authors is more than one), who have made a sufficient contribution to it, in the list of authors, and also get approval the final version of the manuscript from all authors for submission to the editors for publication. All authors mentioned in the manuscript/article are responsible for the content of the work.

The principle of originality. The author(s) guarantees that the research results presented in the manuscript represent original independent work, and do not contain incorrect borrowings and plagiarism, which may be detected during the process of checking the manuscript through the plagiarism checking system.

Authors are responsible for publishing articles with signs of unethical behavior, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, self-citation, falsification, fabrication, data distortion, false authorship, duplication, conflicts of interest, and deception.

The principle of confirmation of sources. The author(s) are obliged to correctly indicate the scientific and other sources that they used in the course of the research. In the case of using any parts of someone else's work and/or borrowing statements from another author(s), the manuscript must contain bibliographic references indicating the author(s) of the original source. Information obtained from questionable sources should not be used in the preparation of the manuscript.

If the reviewers, scientific editor, member(s) of the editorial board of the journal have doubts about the authenticity and reliability of the research results, the author(s) should provide additional materials to confirm the results or facts presented in the manuscript.

Correction of errors in the publishing process. If errors and inaccuracies in the article are revealed at any stage of the publication process, the authors are obliged to urgently inform the scientific editor about this and provide assistance in eliminating or correcting the error for publication on the journal's website of the corresponding correction (Erratum or Corrigendum) with comments. If gross errors are found that cannot be corrected, author(s) must withdraw the manuscript/article.

Compliance principle of publication ethics. Authors are obliged to comply with ethical standards related to criticism or remarks regarding research, as well as with respect to interaction with the editorial board regarding peer review and publication. Non-compliance with ethical principles by the authors is regarded as a gross violation of publication ethics and provides a basis for the removal of the manuscript from peer review and/or publication.

Principles of publication ethics for reviewers

The principle of objectivity of peer review. The reviewer(s) of the International Journal of Biology and Chemistry are obliged to conduct an objective peer review of the manuscript. Personal criticism of the author(s) of the manuscript is unacceptable. The reviewer must give reasons for his comments and justify his decision to accept the manuscript or to reject it.

Nationality, religious affiliation, political or other views of the author(s) should not be taken into account in the process of reviewing the manuscript by the reviewer(s).

Reviewer contributions to editorial decisions. The peer-review provided by the reviewer(s) facilitates editorial decisions about publication and also helps the author(s) improve the manuscript. The decision to accept the manuscript for publication, return the work to the author for change or revision or the decision to reject the publication is made by the editorial board based on the results of the review.

The principle of timeliness of peer review. The reviewer is obliged to provide a review within the time period determined by the editors, but no later than two months from the date of receipt of the manuscript for review. If the consideration of the article and preparation of the review within the prescribed timeframe is impossible, then the reviewer must immediately notify the scientific editor of this.

Reviewer, who believes that his qualifications do not correspond or are insufficient to make a decision when reviewing the submitted manuscript must immediately inform the scientific editor about this and refuse to review the manuscript.

The principle of confidentiality on the part of the reviewer. The manuscript provided to the peer reviewer should be considered confidential material. The reviewer has the right to demonstrate it and/or discuss it with others only after receiving written permission from the scientific editor of the journal and/or the author(s).

The information and ideas of scientific work obtained during the peer review and the support of the publication process should not be used by the reviewer(s) for personal gain.

The principle of confirmation of sources. The reviewer should indicate scientific papers that would have influenced the research results of the manuscript in question but was not cited by the author(s). Also, the reviewer is obliged to draw the attention of the scientific editor to significant similarities or coincidences between the manuscript in question and a previously published work that he knows about.

If the reviewer has sufficient grounds to believe that the manuscript contains plagiarism, incorrect borrowing, false and fabricated materials or research results, then he should not allow the manuscript to be published and inform the scientific editor of the journal about revealed violations of the principles, standards, and norms of publication and scientific ethics.

Conflict of interest

A conflict of interest, as defined by the Publication Ethics Committee (COPE), is conflict situation in which authors, reviewers, or editorial board members have implicit interests that can influence their judgments regarding published material. A conflict of interest arises when there are financial, personal, or professional conditions that can affect the scientific judgment of the reviewer and editorial board members, and, as a result, the editorial board's decision regarding the publication of a manuscript.

The executive editor of the journal should require all participants in the manuscript publication process to disclose conflicts of interest.

The scientific editor, editorial board member, and reviewers must disclose potential conflicts of interest that could somehow influence the editorial board's decision. Members of the editorial board should refuse to consider the manuscript if they are in any competitive relationship related to the research results of the author(s) of the manuscript, or if there is another conflict of interest.

When submitting a manuscript for consideration to the journal, the author(s) declares that all sources of research funding are indicated in the manuscript content; also indicate what commercial, financial, personal, or professional factors exist that could create a conflict of interest in relation to the submitted manuscript. The author(s), in the cover letter, if there is a conflict of interest, may indicate scientists who, in their opinion, will not be able to objectively evaluate their manuscript.

The reviewer should not consider manuscripts that may cause a conflict of interest arising from competition, collaboration, or other relationships with any of the authors related to the manuscript.

If there is a conflict of interest with the content of the manuscript, the executive editor must notify the scientific editor of this, after which the scientific editor delegates the verification and review of the manuscript to another editor/reviewer.

The existence of a conflict of interest between the participants during the review and review process does not mean that the manuscript will be rejected.

All interested parties should, as far as possible, avoid the emergence of a conflict of interest in any variation at all stages of publication. In the event of any conflict of interest, the person who discovered this conflict must immediately notify the editorial board of this. The same applies to any other violation of the principles, standards, and norms of publication and scientific ethics.