Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

PUBLICATION ETHICS STATEMENT

Journal of Molecular Docking is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and taking all possible action against publication malpractices. This publication ethics and malpractice statement is compiled from various credible sources, such as Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Publishing and Editorial Issues Related to Publication in Medical Journals from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (Journal of Molecular Docking has been included in the list of journals that follow the ICMJE Recommendations), and Recommendations on Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals from World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). In addition, we also compare publication ethics with several major publishers, such as Elsevier, in preparing this statement. However, most ideas result from the development of the journal-publisher managers (developed in-house) to ensure that this statement is most in line with the ideal conditions faced by journal management.

 

FOR AUTHORS

  • All articles submitted to the Journal of Molecular Docking must be original works that have never been published and submitted exclusively to the Journal of Molecular Docking. Exceptions are given to preprint articles that have previously been published in several open-access repositories or articles published in scientific seminar proceedings and have obtained suggestions for improvement and indicate substantive changes from the previous version.
  • Authors are strongly advised to store the raw, processed research data in their institutional repository, or open-access repository that provides a permalink (for example, DOI) linked to the Data Availability section of the manuscript. More information can be found in the Archiving Policy.
  • The authors should guarantee that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the works and/or the words of others, they have been promptly cited or referenced. In all its forms, plagiarism constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. We will check each manuscript using Plagiarism Checker X Professional and Turnitin with a maximum similarity of 20% to ensure the article's authenticity, as shown in the Plagiarism Policy.
  • Authors are strictly prohibited from submitting the same manuscript (or having the same research data) with those submitted to the Journal of Molecular Docking to more than one journal at the same time until the Editor-in-Charge makes a final decision. This behavior is highly unethical and unacceptable because it disrespects the journal and publisher and costs the time and effort of the editors and reviewers who have volunteered. To check it, the Editor-in-Charge will conduct an online similarity check before and after the manuscript is declared accepted for publication and shortly before it is published. Authors proven to have multiple, redundant, or concurrent publications will cause their manuscripts to be rejected, despite obtaining recommendations for publication from reviewers. However, authors will not be subject to specific penalties such as an article embargo. Regardless, the Editor-in-Chief may contact the authors' institutions to inform the case in some instances.
  • In some instances where the submitted manuscript is suspected of being part of another study previously published separately (also known as a salami-slicing publication), the editor will contact the authors to confirm it. The Journal of Molecular Docking generally does not support dividing a single study into several related publications. Unless new essential findings are reported, manuscripts known to be salami-slicing publications will be rejected in the Journal of Molecular Docking.
  • Authors must always recognize the work of others that affects the research carried out in the form of a reference to the original source. The only information published through official media with a standard serial number (ISSN or ISBN) or other scientific publications can be freely referenced. Meanwhile, information obtained privately from the original source, such as conversations, correspondence, or discussions with third parties, shall not be used or reported as a reference until the information is public. Authors are also highly recommended to only use references with permalinks (such as DOI) to facilitate confirmation of the correctness of the quoted information. However, online references sourced from official institutional reports are permitted.
  • There are three types of authorship: first author, co-author, and corresponding author. In general, the first author is the person who has the most significant contribution to the research conducted, and his/her name is written first in the authorship list. The corresponding author is the person who corresponds with the editor in the manuscript submission process as well as the person who best knows all the elaborateness of the research being reported, so generally, the party who becomes the corresponding author is the principal investigator of the research. Meanwhile, other authors who are not included in these two criteria will be co-authors. The same person can also hold the first author and corresponding author position.
  • In general, the authorship in the Journal of Molecular Docking is based on the role and contribution of the author of the article produced. The description of the role of each contributor is mentioned in the Authors' Contribution section, in which an author can have more than one type of role. The distribution of contributor roles in the Journal of Molecular Docking refers to CRedit – Contributor Roles Taxonomy from the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), which consists of:
    • Conceptualization
    • Data curation
    • Formal analysis
    • Funding acquisition
    • Investigation
    • Methodology
    • Project administration
    • Resources
    • Software
    • Supervision
    • Validation
    • Visualization
    • Writing the original draft
    • Writing review and editing
  • All parties participating in this research project's substantive aspects but have roles outside those specified must still be listed as co-authors. In contrast, other parties participating in non-substantive aspects may be named in the Acknowledgments section. Corresponding authors must ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the paper. All co-authors must have approved the document's final version and submission for publication in the Journal of Molecular Docking.
  • Suppose work on a manuscript involves chemicals, living things, procedures, or hazardous equipment that are unusual and inherent in their use. In that case, the author must identify and address them in the manuscript. The aim is that other researchers who wish to replicate the research can know and be aware of these potential hazards.
  • Authors must disclose any financial or other conflicts of interest in their manuscripts that may be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscripts. All sources of financial support for research projects must be disclosed, whether from the authors' home institution or other external institutions. Potential conflicts of interest must be announced in the Conflict of Interest section. More information can be found in the Conflict of Interest Policy. At the same time, for research that receives grants from an institution, both governmental and private, the authors must include the number of grants received. Other information, such as the author who received the grant and the date of acquisition, can also be mentioned in the Funding section.
  • Editing figures for any purpose is not permitted except for adjustment of brightness, contrast, or color balance. For figures that contain important information but are difficult to observe, the author can add symbols, clues, or particular text intended to make it easier for readers to know the context of the image as long as it doesn't cover or omit other information. Authors are strongly advised to upload the original files for figures separately in the form of supplementary files, especially for figures with huge resolutions and file sizes. Authors are strongly advised to use colored figures rather than shaded/symbols/patterns, especially those in charts or diagrams. Other information regarding using figures can be found in the Author Guidelines.
  • When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper. Suppose the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error. In that case, the author must promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original article. More information regarding error handling in published manuscripts can be seen in the Retraction, Withdrawal, and Correction (R-W-C) Policy.

 

FOR EDITORS

  • The Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Molecular Docking determines the Editor-in-Charge of the submitted manuscript by considering several things, such as the field of expertise, potential conflicts of interest between the editor and the authors, and the editor's availability. The editors are responsible for deciding which articles should be published after peer review by at least two reviewers who are experts in their fields via a double-blind peer-review process. More information can be found in the Editorial Policies.
  • Editor-in-Charge evaluates submitted manuscripts based exclusively on their academic merit (importance, originality, study validity, and clarity) and their relevance to the scope of the journal, regardless of the author's race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, nationality, religious beliefs, political philosophy or institutional affiliation. The decision to edit and publish is not determined by government policy or other institutions outside the journal. The Editor-in-Chief has complete authority over all editorial content of the journal and at the time of publication of that content. At the same time, the Editor-in-Charge is fully responsible for the content of the manuscripts they handle and decide to publish.
  • Editor-in-Chief and Editor-in-Charge may not disclose any information on the submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, and publishers, as appropriate. Editor-in-Charge shall not use unpublished materials disclosed in the submitted manuscript for any reason. Privileged information or ideas obtained through the peer-review process must be confidential and not used for personal advantage. As a precaution, file submissions in the Journal of Molecular Docking that has been declared rejected and archived have been periodically deleted from the journal database to prevent data leaks that can be exploited by external parties.
  • It is the duty of the Editor-in-Chief to ensure that there is no potential conflict of interest between the Editor-in-Charge and the authors. The Editor-in-Chief must ensure that the Editor-in-Charge and the authors are not from the same institution and, as much as possible, ensure that they do not have any previous history of the relationship. If possible, the selected Editor-in-Charge is from a different country from the authors.
  • Editors and publishers should respond rationally when raised ethical complaints regarding published manuscripts. Any reported acts of unethical publishing behavior will be examined, even if discovered years after publication. However, the publisher will decide to follow up on the findings by considering the interests of all parties involved.
  • Every time the Editor-in-Charge finishes the editorial process until it produces a final decision (accepted or rejected), the Editor-in-Chief will send an acknowledgment certificate that can be used to claim the role of editor in Web of Science.

 

FOR REVIEWERS

  • The main task of the reviewer is to provide comments regarding the substance of the manuscript being reviewed. Reviewers are not expected to comment on technical matters such as writing, grammar, or other information that the Editor-in-Charge can handle. Comments from reviewers are recommendations, and the Editor-in-Charge may decide not to consider recommendations from reviewers under certain circumstances. If the two reviewers provide contradictory comments, the associate editor in charge may request additional recommendations from the third reviewer. More information can be found in the Peer-Review Policies.
  • Reviewers are strongly advised to provide comments based on the Journal of Molecular Docking guidelines via the form for reviewers, which is available when the reviewer agrees to conduct a peer review, although free-form comments are welcome. Journal of Molecular Docking does not recommend that reviewers provide notes and comments directly on the reviewed manuscript file.
  • Any appointed reviewers who feel unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or know that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the Editor-in-Charge and excuse themself from the review process. Suppose the reviewers have already received the assignment to review but experience a condition that makes them unable to complete the task on time. In that case, the reviewers must immediately inform the Editor-in-Charge. Editor-in-Charge will send a reminder notification if reviewers have not provided comments and recommendations after the deadline. If reviewers do not respond one week after being reminded, the Editor-in-Charge may appoint a third reviewer to provide comments and recommendations for replacement.
  • Reviewers are strictly prohibited from publishing or showing reviewed manuscripts to anyone other than the Editor-in-Charge and Editor-in-Chief Journal of Molecular Docking. However, while maintaining confidentiality, reviewers may co-review manuscripts with colleagues with the same expertise for training purposes after obtaining approval from the Editor-in-Charge. Reviewers are also allowed and recommended to keep information about the titles of manuscripts reviewed on several services such as Web of Science or ReviewerCredits.
  • Reviewers are expected to provide objective comments on the substance of the manuscript without any comments on matters outside the substance. Personal comments beyond substance, whether negative or positive, are highly undesirable, and the Editor-in-Charge reserves the right to remove such comments before passing them on to the authors.
  • Reviewers have the right to provide recommendations for references to authors, including those from the reviewers' publications, as long as they are relevant to the substance being discussed and are supportive or disproportionate to the manuscript's contents. However, reviewers cannot ask authors to cite their publications, especially if accompanied by coercion.
  • Reviewers should identify the accuracy of the statements in the manuscript against the source of references used. Reviewers are also expected to match the references cited in the manuscript with those listed in the reference list. If there are references suspected to be erroneous or do not fit the context of the manuscript, reviewers must inform the Editor-in-Charge as a critical consideration.
  • Reviewers should not consider manuscripts with conflicts of interest resulting from objects discussed explicitly in the manuscript. Reviewers must also state if they know (or suspect) the author's identity of the manuscript under review.

 

 FOR PUBLISHER

 

MALPRACTICE STATEMENT

In any form of established ethical publication, malpractice will lead to serious ethical violations of scientific publications and decisive actions needed to ensure all articles published by the Journal of Molecular Docking are free from various alleged misconduct and malpractice. In general, the Editor-in-Chief and editorial boards are guided by the core practices for allegations of misconduct from COPE to resolve the complaint and deal fairly with the misconduct. Complete policies related to malpractice management can be seen in the Retraction, Withdrawal, and Correction (R-W-C) Policy.

 

COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

There will be a defined process at the Journal of Molecular Docking for managing concerns against the publication, editorial board, peer reviewers, or publisher. Regarding a complaint, the complaints will be explained to the respected individual. Any issue about the journal business process, such as the editorial process, finding citation manipulation, unfair editors/reviewers, peer-review manipulation, etc., falls under the purview of complaints. The COPE guidelines shall be followed in processing the complaint situations. Complaints and appeals can be submitted via email at jmd@umpr.ac.id.