Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
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Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

All parties involved in the publication of the Journal of Public Affairs and Development (JPAD) should adhere to the ethical standards of the JPAD. Below are the duties of the publisher, editors, reviewers, and authors.

Publisher

  • The publisher accepts articles that have never been published in identical or substantially similar form, under simultaneous consideration by another publication; nor will be submitted to other publications.
  • The publisher promotes original papers based on rigorous data collection/comprehensive policy reviews, appropriate data analysis, and sound conclusion and recommendations.
  • All submissions including those submitted by the editorial board and previous editors-in-chief (EICs) will undergo peer review. EIC and associate editor are discouraged to submit a paper to the journal issue they are handling.
  • The Journal employs double blind peer review after the article passes the initial screening, which is conducted by the EIC and associate editor. It is committed to ensure the anonymity of the reviewers.
  • If accepted in the peer review stage, the article goes through language editing and copy editing. Laid out manuscript is subjected to series of proofreading before its printing.
  • The publisher encourages authors to declare in the article the source(s) of funding of their study.
  • The publisher does not discriminate authors based on their age, gender, religious belief, ethnicity, nationality, and academic or political orientation.
  • The publisher condemns any form of publication misconduct. Forms of misconduct include, but are not limited to, errors/inaccurate information, undisclosed conflict of interest, and plagiarism. The publisher is also not accountable to any copyright infringement committed by the authors in their articles. Investigation and pertinent actions will be undertaken to address these concerns.
  • The publisher is committed to conduct periodic review and revise, if necessary, its editorial policies.

Editors

  • The editor-in-chief (EIC) and associate editor are responsible for the initial screening of the articles submitted to the Journal. Their decisions should be based on the relevance of the article to the JPAD and conformity to the Journal’s style.
  • The EIC shall identify reviewers who have the needed expertise to provide critical assessment of the paper and have good publication/citation history.
  • The EIC takes full responsibility for the acceptance or rejection of the articles. His/Her decision should be based on the reviewers’ recommendations and the articles’ conformity to the ethical guidelines of the Journal. He/She may confer with the reviewers or the editorial board in making the decision.
  • The EIC and associate editor are discouraged to divulge any information to anyone other than the author, reviewers, and editorial board.
  • The editors are expected to respect and maintain the anonymity of the reviewers and authors during the peer review process.
  • The editors shall ensure fast and fair peer review and editorial processes.
  • The editors are forbidden to use the information/data in unpublished articles for their personal benefit, unless they have acquired written consent of the author.

Reviewers

  • Invited reviewers agreed to evaluate the paper because they have the required expertise to provide critical assessment and can help the journal editors make editorial decisions.
  • Reviewers understand that the Journal requests for prompt review of the article.
  • Invited reviewers who would like to decline the request should notify the EIC so that other potential reviewers will be considered. They may refrain from reviewing papers because they have conflict of interest, they cannot submit their evaluation on time, or the topic of the article is not their expertise.
  • Reviews shall be objective, expressed clearly, and supported by appropriate arguments.
  • Confidentiality of the papers being reviewed should be maintained. All information obtained through the peer review shall not be used for personal benefit, nor be shown to or discussed with others without the permission of the editor.
  • Reviewers shall inform the editors if there are any uncited literature or any forms of plagiarism.

Authors

  • Authors commit that the paper submitted to the JPAD, in identical or similar form, has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere.
  • The article adheres to the standards and guidelines of the Journal.
  • Authorship shall be limited to those who had sufficiently contributed to the write up of the article. Other individuals who provided valuable support in a particular stage of the research shall be named in the Acknowledgement section. Likewise, institutions and organizations that contributed to the success of the study should be duly acknowledged.
  • All co-authors agree to the content of the paper, to its submission to the JPAD, and with the policies of the Journal.
  • Authors signify that the articles contain no element of data fabrication, data falsification, plagiarism, and copyright infringement.
  • Authors shall disclose all sources of financial support and other potential reasons of conflict of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of the study. Likewise, they shall inform the editors of any expert with potential conflict of interest, who may be considered as reviewers of the paper. However, the editors have the prerogative to invite or not the said experts.
  • Authors are expected to notify promptly the editors of any fundamental errors in their published paper and cooperate with them to perform the appropriate actions.
  • All relevant literature are cited/quoted accurately including the works/words of others that significantly influence the nature of the study and, when relevant, authors’ published works on the same topic.
  • Obtaining permission to use quotations, illustrations, or portions of copyrighted works is the responsibility of the authors. They are also expected to acknowledge them in the article.
  • Authors have the copyright in the articles they published in the JPAD. However, the College holds the copyright for each issue of the JPAD to protect authors against unauthorized use of its contents and to ensure proper policing of use.

Dealing with Publication Misconduct

  • Should there be a publication misconduct, the complainant should write to the EIC and specify the details and evidence to support the allegations (e.g., intellectual piracy, inaccurate data).
  • The concerned author(s) or reviewer(s) will be given a copy of the complaint for his/her/their response.
  • EIC will promptly lead the investigation of the alleged misconduct of author(s) or reviewer(s).
  • Decisions vary considerably depending on the range of misconducts and will be made only with sufficient evidence.
  • The chair of the editorial board shall consult with the other members in making the decision.
  • For minor issues (e.g., inaccurate data, misleading text, wrong explanations), authors will be requested to provide the correct information immediately. The EIC will publish promptly an erratum if the paper has already been published. Otherwise, publication of his/her paper will be postponed until the author resolves the problem.
  • In the case of serious breaches of publication ethics (i.e., intellectual piracy, malicious manipulation of data), the EIC may resort to retraction of the paper if it is already been published or reject the article if it is not yet published.
  • If the alleged misconduct against the reviewer is justified with evidence, s/he will no longer be considered as future reviewer of any article.
  • If the publisher made editorial mistakes, the EIC will promptly publish an erratum in the next immediate issue.