Ethics Policy
Ethical standards in scientific publishing are a cornerstone of academic communication. Publishing peer-reviewed articles serves purposes far beyond simple dissemination—it helps build a coherent and respected body of knowledge, demonstrating the quality of research conducted by authors and the institutions supporting them.
For this reason, it is essential to establish clear ethical standards for everyone involved in the editorial process: authors, editors, reviewers and the broader scientific community.
The Brazilian Journal of Fabaceae – BJOF follow an ethics policy, based on the precepts established by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).
Academic Record
These guidelines aim to support the significant efforts of editors and peer reviewers— volunteers—in maintaining the integrity of the academic record. Although ethical codes often focus on preventing misconduct, the general success of the publishing system reflects the commitment to good scholarly practices.
BJOF takes seriously its role as guardian of the academic record. All articles are registered and policies are in place to uphold the integrity of published content.
Commitment to Editorial Ethics
BJOF adopts ethical policies and procedures to guide editors, reviewers and authors in accordance with recognized best practices. The journal collaborates with other publishers and industry associations to maintain high ethical standards and to address errors or retractions when needed.
Editorial Independence
The BJOF is committed to ensuring that editorial decisions are not influenced by commercial factors such as advertising, reprints or other sources of revenue.
Support for Early-Career Researchers
The journal provides technical support, training and guidance on ethical publication practices, with special attention to early-career researchers.
Editorial Best Practices
The BJOF fully adheres to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), complying with its Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines. The editorial process includes double-blind peer review and strict ethical standards. Issues such as plagiarism, data falsification, image manipulation and improper authorship are addressed with a zero-tolerance policy.
Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
Authors submitting to the BJOF must comply with the following principles:
- Declare any potential conflicts of interest at the time of submission.
- Present results accurately and objectively discuss the relevance of the findings.
- Describe data and methods in sufficient detail to allow replication of the study.
- Make raw data available whenever possible. If unpublished, they should be accessible to reviewers and editors upon request.
- If errors or inaccuracies are identified after publication, authors should notify the editorial team immediately.
- The manuscript should not contain previously published material, except with legal permission and appropriate citation.
- Simultaneous submissions to other journals are not permitted.
The editorial team may contact the author's institution and take corrective or disciplinary action as needed.
Research Ethics Studies Involving Animals
Manuscripts involving animals must follow institutional, national, and international animal welfare guidelines. All studies must be approved by an institutional Animal Ethics Committee. After the Conclusion section, the following ethical statement must be included:
“Animal care and handling procedures followed the guidelines of the Animal Ethics Committee. (Insert committee name and approval number).”
Studies Involving Human Subjects
For research involving human participants:
- Prior approval from a Research Ethics Committee (REC) is required;
- Written informed consent must be obtained from all participants;
A declaration must appear after the Conclusion section as follows:
“I confirm that all legally required consents were obtained to publish personal data or images of study participants. The study was approved by [insert committee name and approval number]. I agree to provide BJOF with copies of these documents upon request.”
All submissions involving human or clinical research will be evaluated by the editorial team to ensure compliance with these requirements. Failure to comply may result in manuscript rejection.
Important Notes:
To ensure the anonymity and confidentiality of the author(s), during the review stage, the editor will omit the process number and the name of the ethics committee from the reviewers. The only information that will be stated is that the author has received approval from an ethics committee.
If the manuscript is approved for publication, this information (process number and committee name) will be disclosed in the Ethical Considerations field. This procedure will only apply to research involving animal or human studies.
