Publication Ethics

Advances in BioScience (ISSN 2583-0058) is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in scientific publishing. These guidelines are intended to outline the ethical responsibilities of authors, reviewers, and editors to ensure the integrity of the published scientific record and the credibility of the journal.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

  • Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must submit original manuscripts that have not been previously published and are not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Plagiarism in any form—including verbatim copying, paraphrasing without citation, and use of AI-generated content without proper attribution—is strictly prohibited.
  • Authorship Criteria and Contributor Roles: Authorship must be limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the conception, design, execution, data analysis, or interpretation of the research. All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and share responsibility for its content. Contributors who do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately. The journal encourages the use of the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) system to clearly specify each author’s contribution.
  • Data Accuracy and Research Integrity: Authors must present accurate, complete, and unbiased data. Fabrication, falsification, manipulation of data or images, and selective reporting of findings are unacceptable. Authors must retain raw data and provide it upon request for editorial or peer-review verification.
  • Ethical Approvals: For research involving human participants, animals, genetically modified organisms, or hazardous materials, authors must obtain approval from appropriate institutional ethics committees. Manuscripts must clearly state the name of the approving body and approval reference number. Studies involving human subjects must include a statement confirming that written informed consent was obtained. Identifiable information or images must not be published without explicit permission.
  • Data Sharing and Reproducibility: Authors are required to provide sufficient methodological detail to ensure the reproducibility of their findings. They must declare the availability of all underlying data, code, and materials and deposit them in recognized public repositories whenever possible, or provide clear instructions on how to access them upon reasonable request.
  • Avoidance of Duplicate or Redundant Publication: Authors must not submit the same manuscript or substantially similar content to more than one journal at the same time. Redundant publication or “salami slicing” without proper justification is considered unethical.
  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial relationships and interests that could be perceived as influencing the research, the interpretation of results, or the peer review process. This includes funding sources, employment affiliations, patent holdings, and any other relevant interests.
  • Citation of sources: Authors are responsible for accurately citing all sources of ideas, data, and previously published content used in their work and must properly acknowledge all relevant contributions.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

  • Fairness and Objectivity: Editors must ensure fair, objective, and transparent evaluation of all manuscripts, based solely on scientific merit, originality, quality, and relevance to the journal’s scope. Editorial decisions must be free from bias, discrimination, and undue commercial or personal influence.
  • Confidentiality and Integrity: Editors must maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts. They must not disclose or use unpublished information for personal gain or advantage.
  • Conflict of Interest: Editors must recuse themselves from handling any manuscript in which they have a potential conflict of interest and ensure that it is reassigned to an independent, qualified editor.
  • Handling Ethical Concerns and Misconduct: Editors must investigate all allegations of research or publication misconduct—including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, unethical research practices, and authorship disputes—in accordance with COPE guidelines, and take appropriate action in coordination with the authors’ institutions when necessary.
  • Retraction and Correction: Editors must ensure the integrity of the scientific record by issuing corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions in cases of confirmed misconduct or significant publishing errors, in accordance with COPE guidelines and the journal’s Retraction and Correction Policy.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

  • Confidentiality: Manuscripts under review must be treated as strictly confidential and must not be shared, discussed, or used for personal benefit outside the formal peer-review process.
  • Objectivity and Constructive Feedback: Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts objectively and provide clear, constructive feedback focused on scientific quality, avoiding personal criticism, bias, or inappropriate language.
  • Recognition of Ethical Issues: Reviewers must report any suspected ethical issues identified in the manuscript—including plagiarism, data manipulation, redundant publication, or missing ethical approvals—to the editor.
  • Timeliness and Expertise: Reviewers should accept review assignments only when they have the necessary expertise and can complete the evaluation within the agreed timeframe; if delays arise, they must promptly inform the editor.
  • Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must disclose any personal, financial, academic, or institutional conflicts that may affect their objectivity and should decline to review manuscripts where such conflicts exist.

Handling of Ethical Issues

  • Investigation of Allegations: All allegations of research or publication misconduct will be investigated promptly, fairly, and confidentially by the Editorial Board.
  • Action on Misconduct: If misconduct is confirmed, the journal will take appropriate actions to uphold research integrity. These may include retracting the article, publishing a statement of concern, notifying affected parties, and restricting future submissions from the authors involved.

Ethical Guidelines for Research

To ensure ethical research practices, Advances in Bioscience requires all authors to comply with the following international guidelines:

  • Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects, established by the World Medical Association.
  • Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals: A foundational document outlining internationally recognized ethical principles and standards for the care, use, and welfare of animals in research.
  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations: Provides comprehensive guidelines for the conduct, reporting, editing, and peer review of biomedical research.

Publication Ethics Resources

Authors, reviewers, and editors are encouraged to refer to the following resources for more information on publication ethics:

To ensure ethical publication practices, Advances in Bioscience requires that authors, reviewers, and editors adhere to these guidelines. Authors, reviewers, and editors are responsible for upholding the principles of publication ethics throughout their involvement with the journal. By submitting a manuscript to Advances in Bioscience, authors explicitly agree to abide by these ethical guidelines and to cooperate fully with any investigation of alleged misconduct. Violations of these guidelines may result in corrective actions, including retraction of published articles and restrictions on submission of future manuscripts.

For any questions or concerns regarding publication ethics, contact the Editorial Office at editor[at]sospublication.co.in.