Publication Ethics & Editorial Policies

The IJRAFS takes seriously the responsibility of maintaining high standards of research integrity, transparency and ethical behavior, from the initial submission to the article's final publication. The journal calls upon authors, reviewers, editors and other players in the publishing process to adhere to responsible scholarly practice.

IJRAFS strives to identify and resolve ethical issues that might arise during the manuscript submission, review and publication process. When considering submitted research, editorial decisions are based on originality, academic merit, relevance and ethics.

All manuscripts are screened at first, and then evaluated by qualified subject experts. The peer-review process is designed to ensure fair and objective evaluation of scholarly work, and to maintain confidentiality and academic integrity.

The journal provides journal authors, reviewers and editorial board members the opportunity to raise ethical concerns when they become aware of and suspect any problem with research or publication. Appropriate action may be taken when concerns are identified, such as requesting clarification, rejecting a manuscript, issuing a correction, and other suitable post-publication action as necessary.

Research Misconduct Policy

The International Journal for Research in Agricultural and Food Science (IJRAFS) considers research misconduct to be a serious violation of academic integrity. If the research is misconducted, it can involve, but is not limited to:

• Failure to give credit to another's work or use published material inappropriately without credit
• Constructing research data or results
• Falsification, manipulation or inappropriate presentation of data
• Duplicate or redundant publication
• Submission to more than one journal at the same time
• Faulty or misleading research or information; source falsification
• Other practices that undermine the integrity of scholarly research

If a reviewer, editor, or reader notices an ethical issue, the editor can make a preliminary evaluation of the issue. The author(s) will be contacted and requested to clarify, provide additional information or documentation.

If there is a concern, action may be taken based on the nature and severity of the concern. This can include rejection of the manuscript, corrections to the published manuscript, publication of an appropriate editorial notice, expression of concern, and/or retraction of the published article when appropriate.

Where the problem is not solved by a communication with the authors, the journal may ask for clarification from the institution or other appropriate authorities.

Authorship and Contributorship Policy

IJRAFS recognizes authorship as an important aspect of research integrity and expects all listed authors to have made a meaningful contribution to the submitted work. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the authorship information provided at submission is accurate and agreed upon by all contributors.

Authorship-related requests may include:

• Addition or removal of an author
• Changes to the order of authors
• Addition or removal of a corresponding author

Any request to modify the authorship of a manuscript should be submitted in writing to the editorial office with a clear explanation of the proposed change. The journal may require written confirmation or consent from all affected authors before approving an authorship change.

If an authorship dispute arises and cannot be resolved among the authors, the journal may place the manuscript or publication process on hold until the matter is clarified. For disputes concerning a published article, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant authors' affiliated institutions where appropriate.

Authors are also expected to acknowledge individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet the requirements for authorship. All contributors should be appropriately recognized according to their actual contribution to the work.