International Journal of Biomass and Renewables

Title: Publication Ethics

PUBLICATION ETHICS AND MALPRACTICE (WPE)

This is the statement of ethics for the International Journal of Biomass and Renewables (IJBR) published by Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Press (UTP Press). Through double peer-review, IJBR envisions choosing and releasing the best journals and books. The regulations on IJBR code of ethics are based on the framework established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). It comprises ethical guidelines for the chief editor, members of the editorial board and authors.

Authors’ Responsibilities

To monitor and ensure that only the latest and original work is submitted. Authors were to properly quote or cite other authors' work and/or words.
Making sure that the work produced is completely factual, does not contain any erroneous or unauthorized information, and has not been published previously in other journals.
To ensure that papers submitted are not being checked or considered by other publishers at the same time. The papers can only be published after getting a formal disapproval from the journal or after the journal has formally approved the withdrawal application.
To alert the Chief Editor or the publisher of any data inaccuracies in their written work so that the article can be corrected or retracted.
To add value to and be kept responsible for any shortcomings in their work.
Corrections and improvements suggested by reviewers/editors must be made, and the Copyright Transfer Form must be submitted.
To ensure that the manuscript does not violate any proprietary or personal rights of others (including, without limitation, any copyrights or privacy rights).
To affirm that no financial stake in the manuscript's subject matter has been acquired, and that the author is not associated with any company or individual that has a financial interest in the manuscript's subject matter.

Reviewers’ Responsibilities

To disclose any conflicting interests before agreeing to review an application.
To decline any review request due to a conflict of interest or insufficient information.
To conduct an authoritative, equitable, and competent evaluation of all entries professionally.
To report any ethical violations discovered during the evaluation process to the Chief Editor for further actions.
To guarantee an original submission and to be aware of any plagiarism or duplicate publication.
To get the publisher's permission before revealing the content of the submission.
To stay on schedule for the approval process and to ask the Chief Editor for an exemption to review the manuscript.

Editorial Board Members’ Responsibilities

Assisting the Chief Editor with the collection of manuscripts for publication in IJBR.
To assess the potential manuscript's content and language after the Chief Editor has chosen it.
To offer a suggestion about the manuscript's content and efficacy in accordance with the IJBR's framework.
To re-examine the manuscripts that the author(s) has corrected.
To make suggestions for improvements for the Chief Editor to consider when making a decision of selection.
Within a certain amount of time, provide input on the manuscript's content.
Assist in ensuring the highest quality of the manuscript written with the highest level of ethics and competence.
To suggest an original, high-quality manuscript.
To assist in contacting and obtaining manuscripts from friends, acquaintances, academic scholars, and students, among others, both within and outside the members' institutions.
Promote the IJBR at suitable venues such as National and International Conferences, Seminars, Symposiums, and Workshops.

Chief Editor’s Responsibilities

To assess manuscripts objectively and strictly based on their educational value.
To maintain manuscript confidentiality and not reveal any details about manuscripts to anybody other than those involved directly or indirectly in the publication process.
To be in charge of determining when and which papers will be issued.
To deliberately seek feedback from board members, reviewers, and authors on how to enhance the journal's reputation and visibility.
To include specific guidance on the submission process and what is required of writers to prospective contributors.
To ensure that the proper reviewers are chosen/identified for the job.
To ensure that authors submit only original work that has not been published or considered elsewhere, authors can submit only original work that has not been plagiarised. The editorial office can use appropriate software to search for similarities between submitted manuscripts and existing literature. It is not permissible to use claims that are fraudulent or intentionally misleading.
To ensure that other people's work and/or phrases are properly referenced or quoted.

Reporting

Authors should state their findings simply, accurately, and without fabricating, falsifying, or manipulating data in any way. Other researchers should be able to replicate and validate the results if the methods used in the study are explained clearly and unambiguously. The description, problem statement, results, and conclusion should all be included in a good abstract. Both equations and formulas must be typed correctly. Any article that does not meet the requirements will be returned to be corrected or permanently rejected.

Conflicts of Interest

If writers obtain any assistance that could be interpreted as influencing the outcome or analysis of their manuscript, a conflict of interest provision must be included in the manuscript. All sources of funding for the project should be publicly disclosed.

Authorship and Collaboration

A paper's list of writers can only include those who have made a substantial contribution to the study. Only those who have contributed significantly should be classified as co-authors. Others who contributed to the work in a substantive way must be remembered or identified as contributors. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the paper has all authorized co-authors and no unauthorized co-authors. Before submitting the document, all co-authors must accept the final version and agree to the version.

Multiple or Redundant

Authors should not submit manuscripts to more than one journal or primary publication representing exactly the same research output. A similar manuscript should not be sent to more than one journal at the same time, as this is unethical and inappropriate publishing activity.

Plagiarism and Self-plagiarism

Plagiarism, falsification, exaggeration, or lack of significant material should not be included in any of the manuscript's works. Even if the work or ideas are not quoted exactly or paraphrased, authors must directly reference others' work and ideas. Self-plagiarism (also known as "redundancy") can happen in one of two ways:

Authors reuse parts of their previous writings in subsequent research papers by using similar or nearly identical sentences or paragraphs from previous writings without citing or acknowledging them; or
Authors write several papers that are slightly different from one another and send them to different journals without acknowledging the other papers.