Publication Ethics
Integrity is the foundation of academic research. All members of the academic community at every stage of the research process have the responsibility and obligation to promote research integrity. To enhance the academic integrity of the Chinese Journal of Grassland, we have developed the following publication ethics guidelines based on relevant laws and regulations, ethical guidelines from domestic and international organizations, and the journal's actual situation:
1. Ethical Guidelines for Authors
1) The signed authors must meet one of the following criteria: (1) have made significant contributions to the conception, design, data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the research; (2) have written the article or made substantial revisions to the key content; (3) have conducted comprehensive review to the article and finalized its content; (4) take responsibility for all aspects of the research, and investigate and resolve any issues related to research integrity and the accuracy of any parts of the article.
Generally, each article has only one corresponding author. The corresponding author is responsible for the authenticity and reliability of the manuscript and ensures that all authors have read the manuscript. The corresponding author should provide detailed information of all listed authors to the editorial department.
2) The order of authors should be jointly determined by all listed authors based on their contributions. To prevent academic misconduct in authorship (e.g., nominal authors), authors should fill in and submit the “Author Contribution Statement Form” (included in the “Copyright Transferring Agreement and Author Declaration”) provided by the journal after the acceptance of manuscript. This Form is used to declare each author's individual contributions to the article. In principle, the order of authors should not be changed after submission. If such a change is indeed required, the first author and the corresponding author should submit an application letter signed and confirmed by all listed authors to the editorial department.
3) The affiliation of authors refers to the institution to which the author belongs or the institution where the author conducted the research. For collaborative papers involving multiple institutions, the sequence of affiliated institutions should correspond with the order of authorship. In cases where an author's institutional affiliation does not align with the institution that furnished the research facilities or approved and designed the research project, priority should be given to the institution where the actual research work was conducted. This institution should be listed as the primary affiliation.
4) Authors must abstain from all forms of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, and the plagiarism of ideas, data, figures, tables, and others' work.
5) Fabrication of data, materials, or results is strictly prohibited. Authors must preserve the integrity of original experimental data, images, and the intended meanings of cited references.
6) Manuscripts must not be concurrently submitted to multiple journals. Duplicate publications or dividing one study into several parts for publication is not allowed.
7) Authors are required to accurately indicate funding sources and should only include contributors who made significant contributions to the work. The research content must align with the funded project, and the project's approval date should precede the manuscript submission.
8) Authors must ensure their articles do not contain confidential information and comply with all research ethics standards.
9) The quality and accuracy of references cited in the manuscript are the responsibility of the authors.
10) Authors must adhere to national regulations for map usage, and obtain necessary permission before using any published figures or tables in their articles.
11) The manuscript's content duplication rate from other works and sources must be below 10%, and the main points and results in the article should not be duplicated with others.
12) Authors are responsible for the authenticity of their research and must provide original images, data, project proposals, and supporting materials when requested by the editorial department.
13) Conflict of Interest Declaration: Authors should declare any potential conflicts of interest related to the research. Authors should complete and submit the “Conflict of Interest Statement Form” (included in the “Copyright Transfer Agreement and Author Declaration”) to disclose all potential conflicts of interest involved in the research.
2. Ethical Guidelines for Reviewers
1) Reviewers must uphold principles of fairness and impartiality, avoiding bias related to the author's institution, region, qualifications, or ethnicity. It's imperative to maintain confidentiality and not disclose or misuse any information from the manuscripts they review.
2) Reviewers are expected to conduct manuscript evaluations and provide detailed feedback promptly as per the agreed timeline. If unable to meet the deadline, they should inform the editorial department promptly. Delegating the review task to students or colleagues without authorization is strictly prohibited.
3) Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest, such as personal, academic, or professional relationships, that might affect impartiality. In such cases, they should consult the editorial department for guidance on whether to proceed with the review.
4) Reviewers should employ their expertise to objectively assess manuscripts, offering reasonable and constructive feedback that upholds academic integrity and respects academic freedom. If a manuscript closely aligns with the reviewer's own work, they should avoid any actions that might unjustly diminish or suppress the author's work.
5) When reviewers encounter a manuscript that they have previously reviewed for another journal, they are obligated to report this to the editorial department.
3. Ethical Guidelines for Editorial Department and Editors
1) The editorial department must create clear journal guidelines, including research fields, article types, responsibilities of involved parties, manuscript handling procedures, and copyright issues.
2) If a manuscript accepted by the journal is later found to involve academic misconduct, the editorial department reserves the right to withdraw it.
3) Should any academic misconduct be discovered in a published article, the editorial department has the right to retract it.
4) If authors retract their published articles for improper reasons, the editorial department may impose relevant fees and inform the author's institution and funding bodies.
5) Each manuscript should be processed fairly and impartially, with decisions based on its importance, readability, originality, and reviewer feedback.
6) A uniform review process should be upheld for all submissions, ensuring review objectivity and impartiality. Editors should communicate with authors and reviewers when necessary.
7) Editors should choose reviewers based on their expertise. When selecting experts, editors should avoid individuals with conflicts of interest or those from the same institution as the author. Furthermore, it is imperative not to interfere with the expert review process due to any vested interests. Efforts should be made to provide authors with detailed suggestions for revisions or comprehensive reasons for manuscript rejection.
8) The editorial department should conduct thorough checks for ethical issues like multiple submissions or duplicate publications. Editors should conduct the duplication check for both manuscripts submitted to the journal for the first time and accepted manuscripts to be published.
9) The editorial department and editors are required to strictly maintain the confidentiality of both the reviewers' information and the research content of the authors.
10) Editors must uphold their independence and abstain from handling manuscripts where there is a conflict of interest, such as relationships with the author that involve family, mentorship, classmates, colleagues, or competition.
11) Editors are responsible for ensuring that the manuscript content meets both publishing and academic standards. They have the authority to make editorial deletions and modifications to the manuscripts. However, if authors disagree with these deletions and modifications, please state this timely.
12) Editors must protect the academic integrity of the manuscript content. They should not alter the academic substance of text and graphics due to editing. It is important to respect the author's viewpoints and writing style. Any revisions involving key academic perspectives in the paper should be made with the author's consent.
4. Advertising
Chinese Journal of Grassland does not publish any commercial advertisements. Both the articles published in the journal and content of the journal's official website and other online platforms are free from advertising content.
The above ethical guidelines shall be implemented from the date of publication.
Editorial Department of Chinese Journal of Grassland