Journal of Wildlife and Ecology considers publication ethics to be one of its key objectives, and as such follows all internationally approved publication guidelines. Journal of Wildlife and Ecology uses a double-blinded peer-review process for all articles to ensure compliance. The purpose of a double-blinded peer review method is to ensure the research work’s integrity and uniqueness. The journal’s peer review procedure functions as a filter, improving the quality of research submitted for publication. This procedure also aids in making the research more applicable in real time by removing any faults or gaps in the article that were noticed by the reviewers. The COPE (https://publicationethics.org/) principles on publication ethics have been adopted by the Journal of Wildlife and Ecology (JWE).
ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR EDITORS
All submissions are examined fairly based on the intellectual content of the work, regardless of the authors’ gender, race, ethnicity, religion, citizenship, or political values, i.e. manuscript information is kept anonymous, and any observed conflict of interest must be disclosed. The Editorial Board is responsible for determining publication decisions for submitted articles based on the reviewer’s assessment of the manuscript, the journal editorial board’s rules, and legal restraints against plagiarism, libel, and copyright infringement.
ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR REVIEWERS
All manuscripts are fairly examined based on the article’s intellectual content, independent of the author’s gender, race, ethnicity, religion, citizenship, or political values (s). Any conflict of interest identified throughout the review process must be reported to the Editor. The manuscript’s information is kept private at all times. Any material that may be relevant to a manuscript’s rejection for publication must be shared with the Editor. Reviewers are supposed to assess a manuscript’s critical analysis, comparative analysis, and, most crucially, the research work’s integrity and uniqueness.
ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS
Reviewers are asked to notify the journal editor if they have a conflict of interest that could influence the review report in either a favourable or negative way. The Editorial Office will investigate as thoroughly as feasible before to invitation; however, we welcome reviewers’ cooperation in this regard. Reviewers who are asked to evaluate a manuscript that they previously assessed for another journal should not regard this as a conflict of interest in and of itself.
- Submitted manuscripts to JWE are the original work of the author(s).
- Only unpublished manuscript must be submitted.
- Submitting a manuscript to many journals at the same time is unethical.
- A certification stating that “The data reported in the paper (give title) have not been published in whole or in part in any other journal/periodical and are not under consideration for publication in any other journal/periodical. All of the authors/co-authors are familiar with the material and have agreed on the authorship sequence “must be included with the article.
- Any errors found in the article after it has been submitted must be reported to the Editor as soon as possible.
- Any conflict of interest must be clearly stated.
- The sources of data (Figure, table, picture and etc) used in the development of the article is acknowledged.
ANIMAL RIGHTS POLICIES
Authors submitting manuscripts to the JWE must specify that the research project protocol has been authorised by a properly formed Ethics Committee of the institution where the study was done and that it complies with the provisions of internationally acknowledged standards. Without presenting certifications, JWE has the right to reject any manuscript based on unethical conduct of animal studies. All wildlife investigations must contain a statement stating that the subject granted informed permission. Authors must receive written, signed permission from local or national wildlife conservation authorities, or their Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, and provide a copy of the document to the JWE Editorial Office. JWE emphasizes that animal studies must adhere to internationally recognized norms and that authors must receive previous certificates from their Institutional Animal Welfare and obtain the relevant equivalent ethical committee(s) clearance before beginning their investigations.
ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR PUBLISHERS
The PEACE (Pakistan Educational Alliance for Conservation of Ecology) publisher will take all appropriate actions to clarify the situation and revise the paper in question in the event of any scientific misconduct, plagiarism, or fraudulent publication at any time. This includes publishing an erratum, clarification, or, in the worst-case scenario, retraction of the relevant work as soon as possible. The publisher, in collaboration with the editors, must take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers containing research misconduct, and must never promote or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place. When ethical issues about a submitted manuscript or published work are highlighted, the publisher will take appropriate action. Even if it is discovered years after publication, every reported act of unethical publishing behavior will be investigated. If the ethical concern is judged to be valid after the investigation, the journal will publish a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other applicable remark.
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
JWE publishes papers under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) as a completely open access journal. This license was created to encourage open access that is, free direct access to and unlimited reuse of all forms of creative works. Authors agree to make articles legally available for reuse for nearly any purpose, without permission or costs, under this license. These articles may be copied, distributed, or reused by anybody as long as the author and original source are correctly cited. After publishing in JWE, authors are allowed and encouraged to upload their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their own website), as this can lead to fruitful exchanges and increased citation of published work.