Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

GENERAL

Ecology, Economy and Society ― the INSEE Journal (EES) Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement is based, in large part, on the internationally accepted guidelines and standards.

Recognising the ethical and other responsibilities, all reasonable measures are taken by EES against malpractices. EES is also committed to ensure that reprint, advertising or other commercial revenue or any other gains (including political and social) has no impact or influence on decisions of the Editorial Board. EES publishes contributions based only on their quality, importance, originality, and relevance to its Aims and Scope. Manuscripts are evaluated on the basis of their intellectual content without regard to caste, gender, sexual orientation, race, religious belief, citizenship, ethnic origin, or political philosophy of the authors. Relevant duties and expectations of authors, reviewers, and editors of the journal are stated below.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF AUTHORS

By submitting a manuscript to EES, the contributor(s) certify that the expressions in the manuscript are their own, original work and that it has neither been published previously nor is currently being considered for publication elsewhere. They also confirm that the sources of any ideas and/or words in the manuscript that are not their own have been properly attributed through appropriate citations and/or quotes, following the relevant Citation Style.

All contributors have to submit a declaration (individually, in case of multi-authored submissions) on the (a) copyright-free attribute of the content, (b) plagiarism-free attribute of the content, and any such. In case copyrighted material is used, the necessary permission must be enclosed with the submission in a separate file (see, Guidelines). Authors who publish in EES will release their articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial license (Attribution 4.0 International). Each of the authors will sign a declaration to this effect before publication. This license allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given. The author(s) retain copyright on work published by EES unless specified otherwise.

Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to include any images or artwork for which they do not hold copyright in their articles, or to adapt any such images or artwork for inclusion in their articles. The copyright holder must be made explicitly aware that the image(s) or artwork will be made freely available online as part of the article under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial license (Attribution 4.0 International).

Submitting the same manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unacceptable. Such redundant publication is generally considered to constitute unethical publishing behaviour; if discovered, such practices shall result in rejection of a manuscript under consideration, and even retraction of a published article or any such action the Editors mat deem fit.

It is expected that authors of manuscripts reporting on original research will present an accurate and comprehensive account of the work performed, accompanied by an objective discussion of its significance. Relevant data, information, and other such should be represented accurately in the manuscript. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. The fabrication of results and the making of fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behaviour and may be cause for rejection or retraction of a manuscript or published article or any such action the Editors may deem fit.

All sources of financial support for the research should be reported in the manuscript.

The authors’ names should be listed in the submission in order agreed by them, and all authors take responsibility for their own contributions. Only those individuals who have made a substantive contribution should be listed as authors; those whose contributions are indirect or marginal (e.g., colleagues or supervisors who have reviewed drafts of the work or provided proofreading assistance, and heads of research institutes/centers/labs) should be named in the “Acknowledgments” section at the end of the submission, immediately preceding the List of References. The corresponding author must ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the submission, and that all listed co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the article and agreed to its submission for consideration of publication.

Where an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her/their article that has been published in EES, s/he has an obligation to promptly notify the editors and cooperate with them to correct the article or retract it as deemed appropriate.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF REVIEWERS

Reviewers of EES perform the work for the journal on purely voluntary basis and without any financial return. Their contribution in maintaining the quality of contents is acknowledged through a list of all reviewers published in the journal once in every two years.

All communications with reviewers are carried out only by the journal office. Reviewers are free to decline invitations at their discretion. Further, they should excuse themselves from the assignment if it becomes apparent to them at any stage that they do not possess the required expertise to perform the review, or that they may have a potential conflict of interest in performing the review (see, the Guidelines for EES reviewers).

Reviewers who have accepted manuscript assignments are normally expected to submit their reviews within four weeks.

Privileged information or ideas obtained by reviewers through the peer review process must be kept confidential and not used for any other purpose, including personal advantage. Every manuscript must be treated as a confidential document.

Reviewers are requested to be objective and refrain from engaging in personal criticism of the author(s). They are encouraged to express their views clearly, explaining and justifying all recommendations made. They are requested to provide detailed and constructive feedback to assist the author(s) in improving their work, even if the manuscript is, in their opinion, not publishable currently.

Reviewers should suggest relevant published work which have not been cited by the author(s). They also point out any instances where proper attribution of sources has not been provided. They should call to the attention of the responsible Editor or Associate Editor any major resemblances between a manuscript under consideration and other published articles or papers of which they are aware, as well as any concerns they might have in relation to the ethical acceptability of the research reported in the manuscript.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF EDITORS

The concerned Editor/Associate Editor has the responsibility for deciding if a submission made to EES should be published, and in doing so is guided by the journal’s policies as determined by the Editorial Board and approved by the Advisory Board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The Editor/Associate Editor may consult with the other members of the Editorial Board, as well as with reviewers, in making such decisions.

The Editor/Associate Editor will evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the caste, gender, sexual orientation, race, colour, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the author(s).

The Editor/Associate Editor/Managing Editor will disclose only appropriate and necessary information about a submission under consideration to the author(s), reviewers and potential reviewers. Additionally, the Editor/Associate Editor/Managing Editor will make every effort to ensure the integrity of the blind review process.

When evaluating a manuscript for publication, in addition to considering standard criteria pertaining to the rigor of the manuscript, the quality of its presentation, and its contribution to humanity’s stock of knowledge, the Editor/Associate Editor will also seek evidence that ethical harms have been minimized in the conduct of the reported research. They will question whether the benefits outweigh the harms in the particular study’s case. Since EES welcomes submissions from any country, it is necessary to recognize that laws and regulations regarding research ethics and ethical approval vary worldwide. As such, the Editor/Associate Editor may seek clarification in this regard with the author(s) and request that they supply a letter from the relevant institutional ethics committee or board that approved the research if necessary.

The Editors will be guided by internationally accepted guidelines when considering retracting, issuing an expressions of concern about, and issuing corrections pertaining to articles that have been published in EES.