Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement

The Sustainability and Biodiversity Conservation (SBC) journal adheres to the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all measures against any publication malpractices. Authors who submit to SBC must agree to the following ethical principles, ensuring that their work complies with internationally recognized standards.

Authorship and Contributorship

The submission of a manuscript with multiple authors represents a guarantee that all listed authors have made significant contributions to the work, are in agreement with its content, and approve its final version. The authors are responsible for ensuring that:

Substantial Contributions: They have made significant contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study.
Manuscript Drafting: They have critically revised the manuscript for intellectual content.
Final Approval: All authors have approved the final manuscript before submission.
Accountability: All authors agree to be accountable for any aspect of the work to ensure that questions related to its accuracy or integrity are investigated and resolved appropriately.

Animal Rights and Ethical Considerations

Authors submitting work involving animals must obtain ethical approval from an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or an equivalent body, and they must comply with internationally accepted ethical standards. SBC strictly adheres to the Animal Research: Reporting In Vivo Experiments (ARRIVE) guidelines by the National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research (NC3Rs). We are also committed to the WMA Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. In case of link problems please refere to the Author Guidlines menu and scroll down to the templates and forms.

Authors must provide:

The approval number or code of the relevant ethics committee.
Information on how the research conforms to both local and international regulations.
Written consent from local or national wildlife authorities if applicable. SBC reserves the right to reject manuscripts that lack ethical approval or documentation.

Editorial Independence and Responsibility

Editors at SBC make decisions based solely on the scholarly merit of submitted manuscripts, free from external influence or bias, including consideration of the author’s race, gender, religion, or institutional affiliation. Editors ensure:

Editorial Confidentiality: Information about submitted manuscripts is confidential and shared only with those involved in the editorial process.
Independence: Decisions on publication are based on the manuscript’s relevance, originality, and the strength of the scientific content.
Conflict of Interest Management: Editors will excuse themselves from handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist, asking other members of the editorial board to manage the manuscript.

COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors can be found here.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure

All authors are required to disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could potentially influence the results or interpretation of their work. This includes:

Financial support from institutions or corporations.
Relevant relationships with entities that may gain or lose financially from the publication. Editors and reviewers are also required to disclose any conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from reviewing manuscripts where a potential conflict exists.

Peer Review Process

SBC employs a rigorous double-blind peer review process:

Manuscripts are reviewed by at least two independent experts to assess their scientific quality, significance, and technical accuracy.
Reviewers provide feedback to the authors, which must be addressed in a timely and detailed manner. SBC encourages constructive criticism to improve manuscripts while maintaining respect for the author.
Confidentiality of the review process is strictly maintained, and reviewers must not share any part of the manuscript outside the review process without permission.

Plagiarism, Data Fabrication, and Falsification

SBC takes plagiarism, data fabrication, and falsification very seriously. Authors must submit original work, and any overlap with previously published work must be clearly cited. SBC uses plagiarism detection software such as Crossref Similarity Check and iThenticate Plagiarism Detection Software to screen submissions for plagiarism. Plagiarism includes:

Verbatim copying without appropriate citation.
Substantial paraphrasing of another's work.
Self-plagiarism, where authors reuse their own previously published work without proper attribution.

Data Accessibility and Retention

Authors should ensure that all data generated during the research is available for validation and replication. Upon request, authors must provide the raw data, and the data should be retained for at least 10 years following publication. The sharing of data through publicly accessible repositories is encouraged to facilitate transparency and reproducibility.

Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Manuscripts submitted to SBC must be original and not under consideration or previously published elsewhere. Simultaneous submission to multiple journals is considered unethical and unacceptable. However, secondary publication may be allowed if:

The original publication is cited.
There is prior agreement between the authors and editors of both journals.
The work is in a different language or format (e.g., review, translation).

Human and Animal Experimentation

For studies involving humans or animals, authors must comply with relevant ethical guidelines and legislation. Informed consent must be obtained from all human participants, and their privacy rights must be respected. Animal studies must adhere to welfare guidelines and require ethical committee approval. For potentially hazardous materials, chemicals, or procedures, authors must clearly outline safety measures taken. Please see the Animal Rights and Ethical Considerations section mentioned above!

Corrections and Retractions

Authors are obligated to notify the journal promptly if significant errors or inaccuracies are discovered in their published work. Corrections, errata, or retractions may be issued, and the editors will follow COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines for handling such situations.

Copyright and Open Access

As an open-access journal, SBC applies the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license to published works, allowing free access and reuse of content as long as the original source is properly cited. This promotes transparency and the broad dissemination of knowledge. Authors are encouraged to post their work in institutional repositories to increase visibility and citation potential. More about the CC BY license can be found at Creative Commons.

By adhering to these rigorous publication ethics, SBC aims to maintain the highest integrity in scientific publishing. Ethical concerns or misconduct cases will be investigated thoroughly, and necessary actions, such as corrections or retractions, will be taken to uphold the journal’s standards.