Journal of University of Jinan (Science and Technology) follows internationally recognized publication ethics. In accordance with the guidelines published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and considering the specific circumstances of our journal, we have established the following ethical standards for publication and statements regarding academic misconduct, which should be strictly adhered to by all authors, editors, reviewers, and relevant stakeholders.
1. Responsibilities of Authors
(1) Authors should ensure that any research involving human or animal subjects complies with international standards such as the Declaration of Helsinki, the Nuremberg Code, and the Belmont Report.
(2) When the research subjects are humans, the study must adhere to the principles of voluntary participation, no harm to the subjects, and informed consent, with appropriate measures taken for anonymity and confidentiality. Authors must declare in their manuscripts that their research has been reviewed by the relevant ethics committee (with the approval number provided), and that informed consent has been obtained from the subjects or their family members. Furthermore, authors are required to provide the ethics committee's approval documents for review by the editorial office.
(3) For research involving animal subjects, authors should state in their manuscripts that their study has been reviewed by the relevant ethics committee (with the approval number provided), and should also provide the approval documents to the editorial office for verification.
(4) Authors should report original research objectively and truthfully, without engaging in academic misconduct. This includes, but is not limited to:
§ Not modifying raw data or altering analysis results during data analysis, and avoiding selective reporting of research findings.
§ Avoiding plagiarism of ideas, data, research methods, expressions and wordings, as well as general plagiarism (i.e., excessive quotation from the published work of others) or ghostwriting.
§ Not submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously.
(5) Authors of an article should meet the following three criteria: ① The author must have directly participated in all or most of the research work and made significant contributions. ② The author must be involved in writing the article. ③ The author must be able to defend the article and take direct responsibility for its content. When multiple authors collaborate on an article, the order of authorship should reflect the level of contribution each author has made. The first author is the primary contributor and creator of the article. Unless otherwise stated, the first author holds the primary rights, responsibilities, and obligations with respect to the article.
(6) Authorship attribution should not be modified arbitrarily. Any addition, removal, or reordering of authors should be done before the manuscript is accepted. If modifications to authorship are necessary, the corresponding author must explain the reasons for the changes and submit a signed confirmation from all authors consenting to the modifications to the editorial office. In the case of adding or removing authors, the confirmation should also include the consent of the added or removed authors.
(7) Authors should declare their specific contributions to the research and disclose any potential conflicts of interest related to the study. Potential conflicts of interest arise when an author (or their institution/employer) has financial, personal, or affiliative relationships that could influence their decision-making, work, or manuscript. When mentioning certain products in the article, authors should also disclose whether there are any conflicts of interest with competing products.
(8) Authors should agree to share their articles and research data in databases.
(9) Authors should use references closely related to their submitted manuscript, and the references should be properly cited.
(10) If the research is supported by funding, the full name of the fund project should be clearly listed.
(11) Authors may name peer reviewers to avoid during submission.
(12) Authors must allow the editorial office to conduct peer review to their submitted manuscripts. When necessary, authors should provide the original research data.
(13) Manuscripts must strictly adhere to the manuscript template of the journal.
(14) If authors find any significant errors in the articles published in the journal, they should promptly communicate with the editorial office.
2. Responsibilities of Editors
(1) Editors should treat authors, peer reviewers, and editorial board members in an objective and fair manner, maintaining professional communication with these individuals.
(2) Editors should send anonymized manuscripts to peer reviewers through the editorial system. Based on the reviewers' opinions and the journal's selection requirements for manuscripts, editors should make decisions such as acceptance, revision, re-review after revision, or rejection.
(3) Editors should provide authors with comprehensive, detailed, and clear suggestions for revisions or reasons for rejection based on the results of peer review. If serious quality issues are identified in a manuscript, editors should communicate with the Editor-in-Chief / Editorial Office Director.
(4) Editors should respect authors' requests to avoid specific peer reviewers. If authors have objections to the review results or revision suggestions, editors should respond and provide explanations.
(5) When dealing with manuscripts submitted for supplementary issues or special columns, editors should handle them in the same manner as regular manuscripts, based solely on the academic value of the manuscripts.
(6) Editors should respond diligently, scientifically, rigorously, and promptly to every question raised by authors.
(7) Editors should use the academic misconduct detection system of China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) to detect the replication rate of manuscripts, and they must keep the contents of unpublished manuscripts absolutely confidential.
(8) Editors should collect evidence, investigate, and withdraw manuscripts found to involve academic misconduct. If such an article has already been published, its distribution should be controlled.
(9) When issues are identified in published articles, timely measures should be taken for correction or retraction.
(10) Editors should protect and keep updated the personal information of authors, readers, peer reviewers, and editorial board members.
(11) Editors should be mindful of potential authors and peer reviewers in their daily work.
(12) Editors should not participate in the handling and review of manuscripts from authors with whom they have competing, collaborative, or other related conflicts of interest. This requirement also applies to editorial board members.
3. Responsibilities of Peer Reviewers
(1) Peer reviewers should evaluate the scientific quality, academic significance, novelty, readability, practicality, rigor, adherence to academic standards, and potential academic misconduct or ethical issues of the manuscripts from professional perspectives.
(2) They should provide professional, objective, detailed, and clear review comments to assist the editors in making decisions and help authors improve their manuscripts.
(3) Peer reviewers should promptly notify the editorial office of any potential conflicts of interest, such as financial, institutional, or other relationships that may cause bias.
(4) They should alert the editor to any similarities between the manuscript under review and any published or submitted work with which they are familiar.
(5) If peer reviewers think that the research area of a manuscript is not within their expertise or are unable to review it in a timely manner, they should inform the editor promptly, allowing the editor time to engage with other reviewers.
(6) Peer reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential and must not show or discuss them with others.
(7) Peer review should be conducted objectively, with viewpoints expressed clearly and supported by appropriate evidence, without engaging in personal criticism of the authors.
4. Responsibilities of Other Relevant Units
(1) Journal of University of Jinan (Science and Technology) is sponsored by the University of Jinan and supervised by Shandong Provincial Education Department. These institutions should require the journal to adhere to academic publishing ethics, publish high-quality manuscripts, promote communication and exchange in the fields of naturals sciences, and provide a platform for the dissemination of achievements. The supervising and sponsoring institutions shall not interfere with the editorial and publishing processes of the journal.
(2) Dedicated funds from the University of Jinan and APCs from authors are the main sources of income for the journal. The sponsoring institutions or any other sponsoring organizations shall not interfere with the editorial and publication decisions of the journal.
(3) The journal does not publish commercial advertisements. However, it may occasionally feature industry updates from sponsoring organizations, showcasing the latest research findings to enhance interaction and communication within the industry. Sponsors may not interfere with the publication of the journal's academic content.
(4) The journal occasionally holds marketing activities to expand its influence. Sponsors of these activities shall not interfere with the publication of the journal's academic content.
If authors, readers, or other experts have any comments regarding the publication ethics of the journal or articles published in the journal, they are encouraged to send their comments to the journal's email address. Upon receipt, the editorial office will address the comments as soon as possible and provide feedback as appropriate. We welcome active oversight from our readers and authors and encourage them to share their comments and suggestions with us, thereby contributing to a positive academic environment.
The above provisions shall be effective from the date of publication and the editorial office of Journal of University of Jinan (Science and Technology) is responsible for the interpretation.