Ethical Policy
Authors should prepare their manuscripts submitted to this journal exactly according to the instructions given under “Guidelines for Authors”. Manuscripts which do not follow the format and style of the journal may be returned to the authors for revision or also get rejected. The journal reserves the right to make any further formal changes and language corrections necessary in a manuscript accepted for publication so that it conforms to the formatting requirements of the journal. Manuscripts and figures are not returned to the authors, not even upon rejection of the paper.
Author/s is/are responsible for all statements made in their work and obtaining necessary permission to republish any previously published illustrations and/or other relevant materials.
Plagiarism Policy
Plagiarism is defined by the World Association of Medical Editors as the appropriation of the language, ideas or thoughts of another without crediting their true source and representation of them as one’s own original work.
We deal with this problem and other cases of scientific misconduct at AJNFS based on the guidelines prescribed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
The journal uses Turnitin for plagiarism screening for submitted articles. Plagiarism or Similarity Index more than 10 will be sent back to authors for revision or may also get rejected if the plagiarism was detected high.
Ethical Policy for Editors
Decision on the Publication of Articles
The Editors of AJNFS is responsible for deciding which of the articles accepted for publication after undergoing peer review should be published. The Editors may be guided by the policies of the journal subject to such legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. However, Editors do not have the authority to influence the reviewers who are conducting the review of the articles submitted for peer review.
Fair Play of Review Process
Manuscripts shall be evaluated solely on their intellectual merit without regard to authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
Confidentiality
The Editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript will not be used by anyone who has a view of the manuscript (while handling it) in his or her own research without the express written consent of the respective authors.
Ethical Policy for Reviewers
Contribution of Peer Review
Peer review assists the reviewers in making editorial decisions, while editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Reviewers’ comments to the editors are confidential and will be sent to the authors if appropriate. The names of the reviewers remain strictly confidential; with their identities known only to Editors.
Relevance of Reviewers
Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review the assigned manuscript or unable to provide a prompt review should notify the Editor and excuse himself/herself from the review process.
Confidentiality
Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to, or discussed with, others except as authorized by the Editors.
Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. There shall be no personal criticism of the author. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that had been previously reported elsewhere should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the Editor’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.
Conflict of Interest
Reviewers should not review manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.
Ethical Policy for Authors
Reporting Standards
Authors of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and is unacceptable.
Data Access and Retention
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access to such, if practicable, and should in any event, be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
Originality of Manuscript
Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted.
Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication
An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
Acknowledgment of Sources
Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work.
Authorship of the Paper
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors in the “Acknowledgement section” of the paper.
Corresponding Author
The Corresponding Author is the author responsible for communicating with the journal for publication. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Acknowledgement of Funding Sources
Sources of funding for the research reported in the article should be duly acknowledged at the end of the article under “Funding” section.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.
Errors in Published Work
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the Editors and cooperate with the editors to retract or correct the paper.