(PDF version for download)

Introduction

Kitaibelia journal follows high ethical and professional standards. This document outlines the best practice principles that we apply to our journal during the publication of scientific contents. All participants involved in our publishing process (editors, authors, reviewers and the publisher) have to agree upon standards of ethical behavior. Our guideline is largely based on the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors of the Committee on Publication Ethics – COPE (http://publicationethics.org/).

If you believe that papers published by Kitaibelia has not been carried out in line with the here detailed guidelines, please contact with the relevant editor or the responsible publisher (dean of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Debrecen).

 

Editors and Editorial Board

Kitaibelia has an established Editorial Board with recognized experts in the field of botany. The full names and affiliations of Editorial Board Members are available on our journal’s website (https://ojs.lib.unideb.hu/kitaibelia/about/editorialTeam). Contact information for the Editorial Office is also given on our website (https://ojs.lib.unideb.hu/kitaibelia/kapcsolat).

The Editor-in-Chief, the Executive Editor and the Editorial Board are responsible for i) evaluating manuscripts submitted to the journal on the basis of their academic and intellectual merit, without regard to age, gender, sexual orientation, disability, ethnic origin, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation or social class; ii) ensuring a fair peer review of the manuscripts (reviewers do not have any conflict of interest with the author(s) and have the knowledge and experience to undertake a decent review); iii) providing guidance to authors and reviewers on the whole publication process; iv) deciding on whether the manuscripts should be published or not; v) taking appropriate actions when ethical complaints are raised concerning a submitted or published manuscript.

 

Authorship and Contributorship

Authors i) must have substantial contributions to the conception or design of the submitted work; ii) should not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to more than one journal at a time, and should not publish the outcomes of the same research in more than one journal, including Kitaibelia (see more in Duplicate and redundant publication section of this guideline); iii) must ensure that they have written original works and that any relevant work of others have been appropriately cited and referenced (see more in Plagiarism section of this guideline) ; iv) should take full responsibility for the content and property rights of the submitted work; v) should agree that by submitting a manuscript to the journal, they adhere to principles listed in this PEMS statement; vi) should provide a list of references and all financial support; vii) should approve the final version of the manuscript published.

We consider the corresponding author to be the person who handles the manuscript and correspondence during the publication process. We ask that the corresponding author confirm that they have the authority to act on behalf of all co-authors in all matters pertaining to publication of the manuscript including supplementary material. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining such agreements and for informing the co-authors of the manuscript’s status throughout the submission, review, and publication process. In addition, the corresponding author also acts as the main point of contact for any enquiries after the paper is published.

We encourage authors to list anyone who does not meet the criteria for authorship in an Acknowledgments section in their publication, for example to recognize the contributions of anyone who provided research or writing assistance.

 

Editorial and peer-review process

We are committed to editorial independence. We strive to prevent this principle from being compromised through conflicts of interest, corporate, business, financial or political influence. We do not discriminate against authors, editors or peer reviewers based on personal characteristics or identity.

Peer review is critical to maintaining the standards of our publications. New submissions are initially reviewed by the Executive Editor. If the manuscription is suitable for consideration by Kitaibelia, will be sent to a minimum of two independent peer reviewers selected by the Executive Editor.

Reviewers i) assists in making editorial decisions and in improving the manuscripts; ii) treat all manuscripts as confidential documents; iii) must report to the editors if they are suspect any copyright infringement and plagiarism; iv) should be made objective assessment and comments must be clearly articulated with supporting arguments; v) should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.

We apply "single blind" review process (reviewers’ identities are kept hidden from authors). The peer reviewers’ assessments are used to inform the editor’s decision as to whether or not to recommend publication. The assessments and recommendations of the reviewers are sent to the authors. The Executive Editor is responsible for the objectivity of the judgements and findings of the reviews. Revised articles should be sent directly to the Executive Editor who is responsible for the final decision on whether or not to accept the MS for publication. When a MS has been accepted, the Executive Editor will inform the authors in which issue the article is scheduled.

If anyone involved in the publishing process ​engages in abusive behavior, we have the right to take action to protect others from this abuse. This may include, for example, withdrawal of a manuscript from consideration, or challenging clearly abusive peer review comments.

 

Plagiarism

We define plagiarism as ‘using someone else’s ideas, words, data, or other material produced by them without acknowledgement’. We do not tolerate plagiarism and we reserve the right to check all submissions through appropriate plagiarism checking tools. Submissions containing suspected plagiarism, in whole or part, will be rejected. If plagiarism is discovered post-publication, we will follow our guidance outlined in the Retractions, Corrections and Expressions of Concern section of this guideline. We expect our readers and reviewers to raise any suspicions of plagiarism, either by contacting the relevant editor or by the responsible publisher.

 

Duplicate and Redundant Publication

We do not support duplicate or redundant publication, or self-plagiarism. When authors submit manuscripts to our journal, these manuscripts should not be under consideration, accepted for publication or in press within a different journal, book or similar entity. However, deposition of a preprint on the author’s personal website, in an institutional repository, or in a preprint archive shall not be viewed as prior or duplicate publication.

 

Retractions, Corrections and Expressions of Concern

If an author has made an error, the journal will issue a corrigendum. If the journal has made an error, this will issue an erratum. Retractions are just reserved for articles that are seriously flawed and their findings and conclusions should not be relied upon. The publisher as well as the Editors are always willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed. If the journal’s publisher or editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct, they will deal with such allegations immediately and inform all parties involved.