Ethical Guidelines for the Editors

Editors play a pivotal role in ensuring the quality, integrity, and credibility of the Journal of Chemical Research and Innovation. Their responsibilities span the entire editorial process—from manuscript submission to publication. The following ethical guidelines outline the professional duties and standards expected from editors and members of the editorial board.

1. Editorial Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for:

  • Maintaining the academic quality and integrity of the journal by publishing original, high-quality research.

  • Upholding freedom of expression within legal and ethical boundaries.

  • Ensuring the reliability and credibility of published work.

  • Meeting the needs of authors, reviewers, and readers.

  • Maintaining ethical publishing standards.

  • Issuing corrections, clarifications, or retractions when necessary.

Best Practices:

  • Encourage constructive feedback from authors, reviewers, and readers to improve journal quality.

  • Ensure a genuine double-blind peer review process.

  • Promote innovation, originality, and adherence to anti-plagiarism policies.

  • Educate contributors about ethical research and publication practices.

  • Apply journal policies fairly, free from institutional or personal pressure.

2. Editorial Board Formation

  • The Editor must ensure that the Editorial Board comprises qualified and diverse scholars, with at least 50% representation from international experts.

  • The Editorial Board should include:

    • Editorial Committee: Responsible for logistics and operations.

    • Advisory Committee: Responsible for reviewing submissions and providing expert guidance.

  • Editors should orient new members regarding their roles, ethical standards, and journal policies.

  • Editorial Board meetings should be held at least twice a year to review progress and ensure quality standards.

3. Fair Play and Impartiality

  • Manuscript selection must be based solely on academic merit and relevance to the journal’s scope.

  • Discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, or institutional affiliation is strictly prohibited.

  • Editors must ensure impartiality in the peer review process and require reviewers to disclose any conflicts of interest.

  • Editors must respond promptly to all author communications and assign manuscript IDs for transparent tracking.

4. Confidentiality

  • Editors must maintain strict confidentiality during the double-blind review process.

  • Manuscript information should be shared only with authors, reviewers, and editorial board members.

  • Author and participant privacy must be protected; personal or identifiable data should not be disclosed without explicit consent.

  • Editors and reviewers must not use unpublished materials for personal research or gain.

5. Manuscript Preparation and Formatting

  • Editors must publish clear author guidelines outlining the required format, style, and structure of manuscripts.

  • The preferred referencing style (e.g., APA, MLA, or Chicago) should be explicitly stated and consistently applied.

6. Peer Review Process

  • All submissions must undergo double-blind peer review, with at least one reviewer from outside the author’s country.

  • Editors must provide reviewers with detailed evaluation criteria and feedback forms.

  • Reviewer comments should be promptly shared with authors, and editors must ensure that all suggested revisions are addressed.

  • The editor should maintain a qualified reviewer database and regularly assess peer-review practices for quality improvement.

  • In cases of conflicting reviews, the matter should be referred to the Advisory Committee for final decision.

7. Handling Research Misconduct

  • Editors should encourage reviewers to report ethical issues, such as plagiarism, data manipulation, or lack of informed consent.

  • All manuscripts must undergo plagiarism screening (e.g., via Turnitin).

  • If misconduct is discovered post-publication, the Editor must take corrective action, including issuing corrigenda or retracting the article.

8. Transparency and Authorship Policy

  • Editors must ensure that multiple papers from the same principal author do not appear in the same issue.

  • Editorial Board members (including the Editor) may publish only one paper per issue, either as principal author or co-author.

  • Authorship should reflect only those who made substantial contributions to the research; honorary or coercive authorship is unethical and prohibited.

9. Conflict of Interest

  • Editors must not handle manuscripts in which they have any personal, professional, or financial conflicts of interest.

  • The same standard applies to reviewers and board members.

  • When an editor submits a paper to the journal, it must be handled independently by an Associate Editor, and the review process must remain confidential.

  • The journal should maintain and regularly update a public list of potential conflicts of interest among editorial members.

10. Disclosure

  • Editors must not use unpublished materials or data from submitted manuscripts for personal or institutional gain.

  • Any information obtained during the editorial process must remain confidential.

11. Publication Decisions

  • Manuscripts must be evaluated purely on academic merit and alignment with the journal’s scope.

  • Editors should provide clear justification for rejections, which may include:

    • Lack of relevance to the journal’s scope.

    • Insufficient depth or methodological rigor.

    • Ethical violations or data inconsistencies.

  • Editorial decisions must be communicated to authors promptly.

  • Editors must not overturn decisions arbitrarily or under external influence.

12. Appeals Procedure

Editors are responsible for establishing a transparent and fair appeal mechanism for:

  • Manuscript rejection disputes.

  • Objections regarding publications causing reputational or ethical harm.

  • Alleged breaches of research or publication ethics.