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Open Access
Open Access is a publication model that enables the
dissemination of research articles to the global
community without restriction through the internet.
Thus, all articles published under open access can be
accessed by anyone with internet connection. Academia
Scholarly Journals (ASJ) strongly supports the Open
Access initiative. Abstracts and full texts of all
articles published by Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)
are freely accessible to everyone immediately after
publication.
Creative Commons
All articles published by Academia Scholarly Journals
(ASJ) are licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
This permits anyone to copy, redistribute, remix,
transmit and adapt the work provided the original work
and source is appropriately cited.
Publication Ethics
Introduction
Compliance with publication ethics ensures the
integrity of scientific publishing and confidence in
published articles. Therefore, Academia Scholarly
Journals (ASJ) expects all authors to adhere to
ethical requirements in the preparation of their
manuscript.
Plagiarism
The Merriam
Webster Online dictionary defines plagiarizing
as:
-
to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own
-
use (another's production) without crediting the source
-
to commit literary theft
-
present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source
Academia
Scholarly Journals (ASJ) considers plagiarism a
serious offense. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)
is committed to eliminating manuscripts with
possible cases of plagiarism from its review and
publication process. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)
uses the iThenticate plagiarism detection
application to check each manuscript for possible
cases of plagiarism.
Plagiarism check is the first step in the manuscript
review process. Manuscripts that are found to
contain unacceptable level of similarity with other
published works are immediately rejected. Please see
review process below.
Submitted manuscripts should be the original works
of the author(s). Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)
will follow COPE guideline in suspected cases of
plagiarism.
Duplicate submissions
Duplicate submission is a situation whereby an
author submits the same or similar manuscripts to
two different journals at the same time either
within Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) or any
other publisher. This includes the submission of
manuscripts derived from the same data in such a
manner that there are no substantial differences in
the manuscripts. Duplicate submission also includes
the submission of the same/similar manuscript in
different languages to different journals.
Fabrication and falsification of data
It is unethical to fabricate, manipulate or falsify
data in a manuscript. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)
is by COPE guidelines in dealing with suspected
cases of data fabrication and falsification.
Citations manipulation
A manuscript should contain only relevant citations.
Inclusion of citations that are not relevant to the
work is strongly discouraged. Similarly, irrelevant
self-citation to increase one’s citation is
unethical.
Peer Review
Introduction
The rigor of a peer review system ensures the quality of
a research article. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)
employs a rigorous peer review system. All submitted
manuscripts undergo a peer review process before
publication.
Double
Blind Peer Review
The review process is an important aspect of the
publication process of an article. It enables authors to
improve their manuscripts and aids editors in making
decision on manuscripts. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)
employs a double-blind peer review system.
A double-blind peer review system is an anonymous review system whereby the identity of the author(s) of a manuscript is concealed from the selected reviewers. All details that may enable a reviewer to identify the author(s) of a manuscript are removed from the manuscript before the manuscript is sent to the reviewer. Similarly, the reviewers’ identities are also concealed from the author(s) when sending the reviewers’ comments to the author(s).
Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) considers the double-blind peer system as a more effective review system because it limits possible bias from either the selected reviewers or from authors.
The Peer
Review Process
Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) employs a three-stage
review process – editorial office, external review and
editors’ decision.
The first stage of the review process takes place in the editorial office. On submission, a manuscript is reviewed to ensure that it meets the minimum requirements of the journal before it is sent to external reviewers. At this stage, the manuscript is reviewed for the following
-
Possible plagiarism: The manuscript is evaluated to compare the level of similarity with other published works. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) uses iThenticate plagiarism detection system to achieve this goal. Manuscripts that have high level of similarity with other works (including the author(s) previous works) are rejected at this stage. Authors are provided with the similarity report together with the decision to reject the manuscript. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) is a member of SimilarityCheck. Similarity Check powered by iThenticate is an initiative of CrossRef to help its members to prevent plagiarism.
-
Scope: After a manuscript has undergone similarity check and the level of similarity is judged to be appropriate, the content of the manuscript is checked to ensure that it fits within the scope of the journal selected by the author(s). In situations where the content of the manuscript does not fit the scope of the journal, the author’s consent is sought for the manuscript to be transferred to a more suitable journal. A transferred manuscript does not automatically translate to an accepted manuscript in the receiving journal. The manuscript still undergoes the usual peer review and may be accepted or reject if it is not suitable.
-
Recent references: Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) encourage authors to cite more recent articles. Preferably, considerable number of the cited articles should be works that were published within the last five years. This is especially important for articles submitted to journals in the life sciences.
-
English Language: Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) currently publishes full text of articles only in English language. Abstracts may be translated to other languages and published alongside the English language abstract.
-
Manuscripts are checked for the structure, organization, correctness and clarity of the language as it adheres to the journal's Instructions for Authors. The editorial office usually makes correction to minor grammatical errors in such a manner that it does not alter the manuscript. However, in situations where language is substantially difficult to comprehend, the manuscript is returned to the author to improve clarity of the language.
Manuscripts that fails in this first stage of the review process are returned to the author(s) for modification and resubmission. This first stage of the review is very important as it enables the author(s) improve the manuscript at an early stage. This first stage of the manuscript review is usually completed within a week.
Once a manuscript successfully completes the editorial office review process, it proceeds to the second stage. The second stage of the review process employs the double-blind review system. A minimum of two external reviewers are selected from our database, editorial board of the journal or other sources. These reviewers have expert knowledge of the subject area of the manuscript. The reviewers are invited to review the manuscript by sending them the abstract of the manuscript. Upon acceptance to review the manuscript, the full text of the manuscript is sent to the reviewers after the author(s) have been concealed.
Reviewers are required to evaluate the manuscripts and provide useful comments to enable the author(s) improve the quality of the manuscript. Reviewers also score the manuscript in terms of originality, contribution to the field, technical quality, clarity of presentation and depth of research. Finally, reviewers make one of the following suggestion about the manuscript;
-
Requires minor corrections
-
Requires moderate revision
-
Requires major revision
-
Not suitable for further processing. In this case, the reviewer provides specific reason(s) why the manuscript not be further processed.
It should be noted that though a reviewer may give a positive report on a particular manuscript, if another reviewer raises concerns that may fundamentally undermine the study and results the manuscript may be rejected.
Upon receipt of the reviewers’ comments, the editorial office reviews the comment. If the two reviewers’ comment have significantly different/or contradictory opinions about the same manuscripts, the manuscript is re-sent to a third reviewer. All reviewers’ comments (including the third reviewers’ comment where necessary) are thereafter sent to the author(s). The reviewers’ identities are concealed from the author(s). The total time taken to complete the second stage of the manuscript review dependent on the availability of the reviewers. However, it is usually completed between one to four weeks.
Using the reviewers’ comments, author(s) make corrections to the manuscript and submits a revised manuscript. Upon receipt of the revised submission, the manuscript undergoes the third and final stage of the review process. The original manuscript, the revised manuscript and all the reviewers’ comments are sent to an editor of the journal. The editor reviews the manuscript and makes one the following decisions
-
Accept as it is
-
Accept with minor correction
-
Requires major corrections
-
Send revised manuscript for review again
-
Reject
Manuscripts that are accepted as it is are scheduled for publication. Manuscripts that require corrections (either minor or major) are sent to the author(s) to affect the corrections suggested by the editor. After effecting the corrections, the editor reviews the manuscripts again before the manuscripts are accepted for publication. In some cases, the editor may require authors to make corrections a second time. In other cases, the editor may request for the revised manuscripts with (or without) the additional corrections to be sent to a specific reviewer who had earlier reviewed the manuscript before the manuscript can be accepted for publication.
Editorial Policies
This policy describes guidelines in the publication process of our journals. Specifically, Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) adopts and strive to adhere to the following standards and requirements:
COPE - Committee on Publication Ethics
ICMJE - International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
STM - International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers
WAME – World Association of Medical Editors
An author is an individual who has significantly contributed to the development of a manuscript. ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following four criteria:
Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
Final approval of the version to be published; AND
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Individuals who participated in the development of a manuscript but do not qualify as an author should be acknowledged. Organizations that provided support in terms of funding and/or other resources should also be acknowledged.
Whenever there is a need to make changes in the authorship of a manuscript or a published article, the changes will be implemented according to COPE specification. Only corresponding authors can make request for a change in authorship. Request should be made to the editor using the Changes in Authorship Form.
Further reading
ICMJE - Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors
COPE – flowcharts on Changes in Authorship
Submission of Manuscript
Authors should read the “Instruction for
Authors” on the journal’s page before making a
submission. Manuscript should be prepared
according to the style and specifications of the
journal’s policy.
Authors listed on the manuscript should have met
the requirements for Authorship specified above.
Where possible, specify the contribution of each
of the authors.
All authors should approve the final version of
the manuscript prior to submission. Once a
manuscript is submitted, it is therefore assumed
that all authors have read and given their
approval for the submission of the manuscript.
Contact information of all authors should be
stated on the manuscript. Surname/Other names,
affiliation, emails, and phone/fax numbers.
Declaration of Conflicts of Interest should be
stated in the manuscript.
Submission should be made online: info@academiascholarlyjournal.org
Conflict of interest
“Conflict of interest (COI) exists when there is
a divergence between an individual’s private
interests (competing interests) and his or her
responsibilities to scientific and publishing
activities such that a reasonable observer might
wonder if the individual’s behavior or judgment
was motivated by considerations of his or her
competing interests” WAME.
Authors should disclose all financial/relevant
interest that may have influenced the
development of the manuscript.
Reviewers should disclose any conflict of
interest and if necessary, decline the review of
any manuscript they perceive to have a conflict
of interest. Editors should also decline from
considering any manuscript that may have
conflict of interest. Such manuscripts will be
re-assigned to other editors.
Further reading
COPE - flowcharts on Conflict of Interest
ICMJE - Conflicts of Interest
STM – International Ethical Principles for Scholarly Publication
WAME - Conflict of Interest in Peer-Reviewed Medical Journals
A submitted manuscript is a confidential material. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) will not disclose submitted manuscript to anyone except individuals who partake in the processing and preparation of the manuscript for publication (if accepted). These individuals include editorial staff, corresponding authors, potential reviewers, actual reviewers, and editors. However, in suspected cases of misconduct, a manuscript may be revealed to members of Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ)’ ethics committee and institutions/organizations that may require it for the resolution of the misconduct. Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) shall follow the appropriate COPE flowcharts wherever necessary.
Further reading
ICMJE - Responsibilities in the Submission and Peer-Review Process
STM - International Ethical Principles for Scholarly Publication
Misconduct constitutes violation of this editorial policy, journal policies, publication ethics, or any applicable guidelines/policies specified by COPE, WAME, ICMJE, and STM. Any other activities that threaten/compromise the integrity of the research/publication process are potential misconducts. Suspected cases of misconduct will be investigated according to COPE guidelines
Corrections may be made to a published article with the authorization of the editor of the journal. Editors will decide the magnitude of the corrections. Minor corrections are made directly to the original article. However, in cases of major corrections, the original article will remain unchanged, while the corrected version will also be published. Both the original and corrected version will be linked to each other. A statement indicating the reason for the major change to the article will also be published. When necessary, retraction of articles will be done according to COPE retraction guidelines
Further reading
ICMJE - Scientific Misconduct, Expressions of Concern, and Retraction
COPE Guidelines
COPE Flowcharts
COPE retraction guidelines
WAME - Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals
STM - International Ethical Principles for Scholarly Publications
Reviewers’ Guidelines
”Reviewers should declare their conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the peer-review process if a conflict exists”. ICMJE
It is unethical for reviewers to “use information obtained during the peer-review process for their own or any other person’s or organization’s advantage, or to disadvantage or discredit others” COPE
• The origin of the manuscript
• Religious, political or
cultural viewpoint of the author
• Gender, race, ethnicity or
citizenry of the author
• Originality
• Contribution to the field
• Technical quality
• Clarity of presentation
• Depth of research
Reviewers should also:
• Observe that the author(s)
have followed the instruction
for authors, editorial policies
and publication ethics.
• Observe that the appropriate
journal’s reporting guidelines
is followed
The report should be accurate, objective, constructive and unambiguous. Comments should be backed by facts and constructive arguments with regards to the content of the manuscript. Reviewers should avoid using “hostile, derogatory and accusatory comments” PIE.
Reviewers should not rewrite the manuscript; however necessary corrections and suggestions for improvements should be made.
• Accept
• Requires minor corrections
• Requires moderate revision
• Requires major revision
• Not suitable for the journal.
Submit to another publication
such as (suggest a journal):
• Reject
Recommendation should be backed
with constructive arguments and
facts based on the content of
the manuscript.
• ICMJE - Responsibilities in the Submission and Peer-Review Process
• WAME - Conflict of Interest in Peer-Reviewed Medical Journals
Copyright Policy
Academia Scholarly Journals publications are under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License, which grants permission to anyone to copy/retrieve, distribute, duplicate, transmit its content provided the original work and source is cited.
Copyright of Published Articles
When an article is published by Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ), Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) does not take ownership of the copyright of the published article. In other words, authors retain the copyright to their articles and may republish these articles as part of a book or other materials. However, for author(s) to retain the copyright ownership of a published article, the following condition should be met;
Cite the original source of the publication when reusing the article
Accept that the article remains published by Academia Scholarly Journals (ASJ) website (except in occasion of a retraction of the article)
The article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The article is published open access
Manuscript Processing Fee Policy/ Manuscript Handling Fee
Academia Scholarly Journals is a self supporting organization and does not receive funding from any institution or agency or government. Hence, the operation of the Journals are solely financed by the manuscript processing fees received from Author(s). The handling fees are required to meet operations expenses such as employees’ salaries, internet services, electricity etc. Being an Open Access Publisher, Academia Scholarly Journals does not receive payment for subscription as the journals are freely accessible over the internet.
Authors of articles are required to pay a fair handling fee for processing their articles. However, there are no submission charges. Authors are required to make payment only after their manuscripts have been accepted for publication.
See
Manuscript Handling Fees for each journal
below.
Academia Scholarly Journals may also grants
some varing proportion of waivers to
Authors.
|
Journals
|
Handling
Fees
|
|---|---|
|
International Journal of Health, Safety and Environment (IJHSE) |
$600 |
|
International Journal of Agricultural Research, Sustainability, and Food Sufficiency (IJARSFS) |
$550 |
|
International Journal of Advances in Scientific Research and Reviews (IJASRR) |
$550 |
|
International Journal of Advances in Medical Science and Biotechnology (IJAMSB) |
$550 |
|
International Journal of Human Kinetic and Sporting Science (IJHKSS) |
$550 |
|
International Journal of Advances in Herbal and Alternative Medicine (IJAHAM) |
$550 |
|
International Journal of Management Science (IJMS) |
$550 |
|
International Journal of Sustainable Transport and Logistics (IJSTL) |
$550 |
|
International Journal of Religions and Traditions (IJRT) |
$550 |
|
International Journal of Wildlife and Endangered Species Conservation (IJWESC) |
$550 |
ASJ Editorial Policy
Our Editorial policy is to guaranty the best of practice in our publication process which is inline with Committee On Publication Ethics (COPE).