Publication Ethics

The Engineering Research Journal (ERJ) is committed to maintaining high standards through a rigorous peer-review together with strict ethical policies. Violation of professional ethical codes (such as plagiarism, fraudulent use of data and bogus claims of authorship) are to be taken very seriously by the ERJ editors. 

1- Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted by one of the authors. Submissions by anyone other than one of the authors are not accepted. The submitted paper, or any translation of it, must neither be published, nor be submitted for publication elsewhere. Violations of these rules will normally result in an immediate rejection of the submission without further review. The ERJ editor is entitled to set suitable measures to maintain the reputation of the journal. These measures and editor decisions are to be based on the authors' response. Penalties may include sending a letter of warning, imposing a ban on submissions for a period of time, or informing the author's superior about the misconduct.

The following initial checks are done at the publisher's office upon receiving a new submission: 

  • Format and completeness.
  • The publication status.
  • Author's background.
  • Plagiarism. 

2- Plagiarism

Papers submitted to ERJ must contain original material. An Initial Plagiarism Check is carried out for every manuscript submitted to ERJ. The check starts with a Google search which is built into ERJ's Paper Submission and Manuscript Tracking System hosted by the Egyptian Knowledge Bank (EKB). 

The tracking system provides the ERJ editor with a user-friendly tool to help detect plagiarism. The tool is powered by iThenticate—Similarity Check. CrossCheck is used through the web-based iThenticate system by uploading a document and running a similarity check against the CrossCheck database and the Internet. The check provides a "Similarity Index" which is the percentage of the manuscript matching other sources. iThenticate does not determine whether a manuscript contains plagiarism. Therefore, manuscripts with a high "Similarity Index" are examined if the other matching sources have been properly cited and what sections of the manuscript are similar. 

3- Data Fabrication and Falsification

Data Fabrication concerns the making up of research findings. Data Falsification means manipulating research data with the intention of giving a false impression. This includes manipulating images such as micrographs and SEM images, removing outliers or “inconvenient” results, changing, adding or omitting data points, etc. Generally, if an author’s figures are questionable, it is suggested to request the original data from the authors. 

ERJ follows the Code of Conduct of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and follows the COPE Flowcharts for Resolving Cases of Suspected Misconduct. 

4- Conflicts of Interest 

4.1 Authors

Authors should be aware of a possible Conflict of Interest. In such a case authors can still take responsibility for the accuracy of their paper, but must inform the reader with an appropriate statement in the acknowledgements. Declared conflicts of interest will be considered by the editor and reviewers and included in the published article. Conflicts include the following:

 

  • Financial: funding and other payments, goods and services received or expected by the authors relating to the subject of the work or from an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work.
  • Affiliations: being employed by, on the advisory board for, or a member of an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work.
  • Intellectual property: patents or trademarks owned by someone or their organization.
  • Personal: friends, family, relationships, and other close personal connections.
  • Ideology: beliefs or activism, for example, political or religious, relevant to the work.
  • Academic: competitors or someone whose work is critiqued. 

4.2 Peer-Reviewers 

  • ERJ revision is double blinded. The editorial board is committed to keeping the identity of both authors and reviewers anonymous. 
  • The authors are directed to upload their manuscripts without indication of their background. 
  • Reviewers must disclose to editors any conflict of interest that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and should not review specific manuscripts if the potential for bias exists.
  • Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work they’re reviewing before its publication to further their own interests. 

4.3 Editors and Journal Staff

Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts should recuse themselves from editorial decisions if they have conflicts of interest or relationships that pose potential conflicts related to articles under consideration. Other editorial staff members who participate in editorial decisions must provide editors with a current description of their financial interests or other conflicts (as they might relate to editorial judgments) and recuse themselves from any decisions in which a conflict of interest exists. Editorial staff must not use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain. Editors should publish regular disclosure statements about potential conflicts of interests related to their own commitments and those of their journal staff.