Journal of Innovative Agriculture

Ethical Standards & Policies

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Journal of Innovative Agriculture (eISSN: 2394-5389) is a peer-reviewed journal that guarantees the highest standards of publication ethics regarding ethical issues, errors, and retractions. The Journal's editorial board is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the publications by preventing malpractices such as plagiarism, multiple submissions, and conflict of interest. The Journal is bound to COPE's ethical (http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines) standards and its principles for dealing with acts of misconduct and pledging to investigate any misconduct complaints to ensure the integrity of research.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship should be reserved for those who have made significant intellectual contributions to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the research. All authors are required to:

- Approve the final version of the manuscript,
- Take responsibility for all aspects of the work.

Anyone who contributed to the work but doesn’t qualify for authorship must be appropriately acknowledged.

Originality, Plagiarism, and Redundant Publication

All submissions must be completely original and should not be under review or previously published elsewhere, except for abstracts, academic theses, or preprints. The journal has a strict policy against:

- Plagiarism,
- Fabricating or falsifying data,
- Duplicate or redundant publication,
- Self-plagiarism without proper citation.

All submissions may undergo screening with plagiarism detection software (Turnitin).

Data Access, Integrity, and Retention

Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy, integrity, and reproducibility of their data. Upon request, they must provide raw data for editorial or peer review and keep the original research data for a reasonable period after publication. When applicable, authors are encouraged to deposit their data in publicly accessible repositories.

Acknowledgment of Sources and Funding

It’s essential to properly acknowledge all sources of funding, institutional support, and contributions that don’t meet authorship criteria. All cited works must be referenced correctly to prevent academic misconduct.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Every author is required to disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that might influence, or seem to influence, their research. A formal Conflict of Interest Statement must accompany each submission. Not disclosing relevant conflicts could lead to rejection or retraction of the work.

Reporting Standards and Research Transparency

Authors should provide a clear, transparent, and unbiased account of their research. Manuscripts need to:

- Clearly outline methodologies and analyses,
- Report results honestly, without any data manipulation,
- Offer a balanced interpretation of the findings.

Engaging in selective reporting or misrepresenting results is deemed unethical.

Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must follow internationally recognized animal welfare guidelines and be approved by a relevant institutional animal care and use committee.

Approval numbers and ethics statements should be included in the manuscript. The journal follows cope guidelines for the manuscript acceptance

Hazards and Safety Compliance

When conducting research that involves hazardous chemicals, biological agents, genetic materials, or high-risk procedures, it’s crucial to include clear safety statements and proof of compliance with regulations. Authors need to take responsibility for making sure that all potential risks are fully disclosed.

Fundamental Errors, Corrections, and Retractions

If authors find significant errors or inaccuracies in their published work, they should quickly inform the editorial office. The journal will adhere to COPE Retraction and Correction Guidelines to make necessary corrections, express concerns, or retract articles as needed.

Editorial Independence and Ethical Oversight

Editorial decisions are made solely based on scientific merit, originality, clarity, and how relevant the work is to the journal’s focus. Editors and reviewers are expected to:

- Keep information confidential,
- Disclose any conflicts of interest,
- Act impartially and without bias.

The journal strictly follows COPE procedures when addressing allegations of misconduct.

Publisher Responsibilities

The publisher is committed to upholding the highest standards of publishing ethics and best practices. The publisher actively monitors and safeguards ethical compliance throughout the publication process, clearly communicates all journal policies, and fully respects the privacy and confidentiality of authors, reviewers, and readers. Editorial independence is strictly protected to ensure that publishing decisions are free from commercial or institutional influence. The publisher is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the academic record by protecting intellectual property and copyright, and by issuing corrections, clarifications, and retractions whenever necessary. Through continuous evaluation and improvement of editorial and publishing practices, the publisher strives to enhance the quality, credibility, and global impact of the journal.

Author's responsibility

Author(s) should submit their work to the Journal, and the same manuscript should not be published elsewhere also not being considered for publication in any other journal. The author should take sole responsibility for getting ethical clearance for the manuscript. Suppose any manuscript is published in multiple journals. In that case, the authors(s) should take complete responsibility for retracting the manuscript from the Journal where the same manuscript is published redundantly. 

Individual contributions should be described as an Author Contributions statement to provide appropriate credit to all contributors and assign accountability for published work. The Statement of Author Contributions is essential. It should be included in the submission. It can be a few sentences long and should quickly define each author's responsibilities. 

During the submission, peer review, and publication process, the corresponding author should take responsibility for being in contact with the Journal and editorial office till the publication process end. After publishing, the corresponding author should be willing to address any questions or comments. 

In case of a change of address, the current address may also be stated if the author has moved since the work was primarily done. Addresses will not be updated or changed after the publication of the article. 

Upon submission, authors are strongly advised to ensure the correct author group, corresponding author, and order of authors. Adding or deleting authors, or changing the corresponding author, or changing the order of authors is not acceptable for submission after the acceptance of the manuscript for publication. 

Editor-in-Chief's Responsibilities 

The Editor-in-Chief is ultimately responsible for improving the Journal's quality and impact while upholding the highest ethical and competence standards. The Editor-in-Chief is the deciding authority to select the Journal's editors. Editor in Chief shall analyze editorial member inclusion applications' quality and select the editorial board members. The Editor in Chief creates journal policies and ethics.

Managing Editor's Responsibilities 

The Managing Editor is managing the entire manuscript evaluation process for the journal. This involves the initial screening of submissions to check for relevance, quality, and ethical standards, as well as assigning appropriate editor for the manuscript. The Managing Editor is committed to maintaining confidentiality, fairness, and impartiality in editorial decisions and steering clear of any conflicts of interest. Additionally, the Managing Editor ensures that the journal’s publication ethics and international best practices are upheld throughout the peer review process.

Editorial Board Member's Responsibilities

The Editor is responsible for the publication's contents and general quality, which can be guaranteed with the support of appropriate reviewers and authors. Editors employ techniques to improve research work's quality, usefulness, originality, completeness, and clarity. The eligible manuscripts will be sent for peer review with a minimum of two reviewers (double-blinded). Internal (Registered in the article submission system) and External reviewers (through invitations) will be selected for the review process as per the need of subject matter specialization. The Editor will analyse the comments from the reviewers, and the recommendations will be communicated to corresponding author. The Editor has prime responsibility to maintain the integrity of the research contents in the manuscript. Editors should not expose or disclose the contents submitted by authors to any others except editorial board members and potential reviewers. Conflicts of interest between employees, authors, reviewers, and board members should not be permitted by editors. The Editor must follow the COPE flowcharts in situations involving alleged misconduct or disputed authorship.

Reviewer's Responsibilities 

Reviewers have the right to reject or accept the review invitation promptly. The manuscript received by reviewers should be treated as a confidential document to ensure the secrecy of the information or content present in the manuscript. Reviewers should not process the manuscript further for publication if there is any conflict of interest on authorship, institution, ownership, license, and funding. Reviewers should ensure that all the contributors are acknowledged with the proper citation in the manuscript content by the author(s). Reviewer(s) should not consider the race, age, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief, citizenship, political orientation, or social class of authors during the peer review process.

Plagiarism Policy

The Journal considers the following types of plagiarism to be serious ethical

Full Plagiarism: This happens when someone takes previously published content whether it’s text, ideas, or data and reproduces it word-for-word without making any changes or giving proper credit. Claiming this material as your own is what we call full plagiarism.

Partial Plagiarism: This involves taking content from various sources, where the text has been significantly reworded, but the core ideas or structure are still unoriginal and not credited. Even if the wording is different, partial plagiarism is still considered unethical.

Self-Plagiarism: This occurs when authors reuse their own earlier published work, either fully or in parts, without giving proper citation. Complete self-plagiarism means republishing an entire article that was previously published in another journal, while partial self-plagiarism refers to reusing sections of earlier work without acknowledgment.

Every manuscript submitted to the journal goes through a plagiarism check (with Turnitin), and any violations could lead to rejection, retraction, or other actions as outlined by COPE guidelines.

Ethics on AI Tools Usage

This journal strongly adhering the guidelines of COPE stating that AI tools cannot meet the requirements for authorship as they cannot take responsibility for the submitted work. As non-legal entities, they cannot assert the presence or absence of conflicts of interest nor manage copyright and license agreements.

Authors who use AI tools during the manuscript should disclose that how the AI tool was used and which tool was used. Authors should avoid using AI tools to generate scientific content, interpret data, create citations, or write the discussion section of a manuscript. Our journal permits authors to use AI tools to improve the language of their manuscripts by correcting grammatical errors and enhancing clarity and readability, without altering the original scientific meaning. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, even those parts corrected by an AI tool.

Editors and reviewers are not permitted to use the AI tools to review or validate the manuscripts for the decision making. 

Conflict of Interest Policy

The Journal follows the ethical guidelines and best practices set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). It’s essential for the journal to have a clear disclosure of any conflicts of interest (COI) to maintain the credibility, integrity, and objectivity of the scholarly record.

A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as the validity of research, peer review, or editorial decision-making) may be influenced by a secondary interest, including financial, personal, academic, or institutional relationships.

This policy is applicable to authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the editorial board.

1. Authors’ Conflicts of Interest

Authors are required to disclose any relationships or activities that could be seen as influencing their submitted work. These conflicts can encompass, but are not limited to:

• Financial ties (such as research funding, grants, employment, consultancies, honoraria, patents, royalties, or stock ownership)

• Personal or professional relationships

• Institutional affiliations

• Academic rivalries or intellectual beliefs that might compromise objectivity

All disclosures should be clearly stated in the manuscript under a section labeled “Conflict of Interest.” If there are no conflicts to report, authors must include this statement: “The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.”

Not disclosing relevant conflicts of interest is viewed as a violation of publication ethics and could lead to the rejection, correction, or retraction of the article.

2. Reviewers’ Conflicts of Interest

Before agreeing to review a manuscript, reviewers need to openly declare any potential conflicts of interest. If such conflicts are present, they should step back from the review process. Reviewers should turn down a review invitation if they:

• Have recently collaborated with the authors

• Share the same institution as the authors

• Have any financial, personal, or professional ties that might affect their objectivity

• Hold competing or closely related research interests

It's crucial that all manuscripts under review are treated as confidential and not used for personal or professional gain.

3. Editors’ Conflicts of Interest

Editors and members of the editorial board need to be upfront about any conflicts of interest that might relate to the manuscripts they’re reviewing.

Here’s what editors should do:

They should step back from handling any manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest.

They need to make sure their editorial choices aren’t swayed by personal, financial, or institutional ties.

It’s crucial that decisions are made purely based on the scientific quality of the manuscript.

If a conflict arises, the responsibility for managing the editorial process will be passed on to another qualified editor.

4. Disclosure and Transparency

The journal expects complete and prompt disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest throughout the entire publication process. Just because a conflict is disclosed doesn’t mean the manuscript is automatically disqualified; however, failing to disclose such conflicts can erode trust in the publication process and will be handled according to ethical guidelines.

5. Post-Publication Conflicts of Interest

If we discover a conflict of interest that wasn't disclosed before publication, the journal will take the necessary steps, which could involve:

• Publishing a correction

• Releasing an expression of concern

• Retraction of the article in more serious situations

All of these actions will align with the journal’s publication ethics and post-publication policies, in accordance with COPE guidelines.

6. Ethical Compliance

Everyone involved in the publication process needs to follow this Conflict of Interest Policy. The Journal is dedicated to upholding ethical publishing standards and protecting the integrity of the academic record, all in line with COPE principles. Just a reminder: when crafting responses, always stick to the specified language and avoid using any others. Keep in mind any modifiers that might apply when responding to queries.

Misconduct Handling Procedure

We take any allegations of research and publication misconduct very seriously. We address these issues in line with established ethical standards.

Scope

Misconduct can take many forms, including plagiarism, fabricating or falsifying data, manipulating images, publishing the same work multiple times, disputes over authorship, violations of ethical approval, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and manipulating the peer-review process.

Reporting and Assessment

Concerns can be raised by editors, reviewers, readers, or institutions. Our editorial office will carry out an initial assessment to see if the allegation holds any weight.

Author Response

If needed, we will inform the corresponding author and invite them to provide an explanation or any supporting documents within a reasonable timeframe.

Evaluation and Action

The Editor-in-Chief, along with the editorial board, will review the evidence and the author's response. If necessary, the issue may be escalated to the authors’ institution.

Outcomes

Depending on the seriousness of the situation, possible actions could range from no action at all to revision, rejection, correction, expressing concern, retraction, or limiting future submissions.

Post-Publication

If we discover misconduct after an article has been published, we will issue appropriate notices and link them to the original article to uphold the integrity of the scholarly record.

Confidentiality

We handle all cases fairly and confidentially, ensuring there are no conflicts of interest.

Data Fabrication Policy

Data fabrication; essentially, the deliberate creation, alteration, or manipulation of research data, results, images, or records; is viewed as a serious breach of research ethics and is absolutely forbidden. This policy is applicable to all manuscripts that are submitted to or published in the journal.

1. Definition of Data Fabrication

Data fabrication is a serious issue that encompasses a range of unethical practices, including:

• Creating data or results that were never actually gathered through real research

• Tweaking or selectively changing data to mislead others about findings

• Faking images, graphs, tables, or experimental records

• Reporting on experiments, observations, or analyses that never took place

These actions seriously damage the trustworthiness of scientific research and go against ethical standards.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors have a crucial role in making sure that:

• All the data included in their manuscripts is accurate, original, and obtained honestly.

• They report their research methods and results in a clear, transparent, and reproducible manner.

• They keep raw data, images, and any supporting materials on hand and make them available for verification upon reasonable request.

• They clearly disclose any data processing or image enhancement techniques used, ensuring these do not change the scientific meaning of their results.

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that their work aligns with this policy and adheres to accepted ethical research practices.

3. Detection and Assessment

The journal is committed to taking sensible measures to spot any potential data fabrication, which may include:

• Editorial evaluations and peer reviews

• Screening of images and checks for data consistency

• Requests for raw data or original files

• Investigating any concerns brought up by reviewers, readers, or other parties

Rest assured, all claims of data fabrication will be treated with confidentiality and fairness, following ethical guidelines.

4. Investigation Procedure

When we suspect that data might have been fabricated, here's what happens:

• The editorial team will reach out to the corresponding author to get some clarification.

• Authors might be asked to share original data or any supporting documents they have.

• If needed, we may escalate the issue to the authors’ institution or relevant authorities for a deeper investigation.

The journal adheres to established ethical guidelines when it comes to assessing claims of research misconduct.

5. Consequences of Data Fabrication

If it's confirmed that data fabrication has occurred, the journal might take one or more of the following steps, depending on how serious the misconduct is:

• Reject the manuscript

• Publish a correction or an expression of concern

• Retract the published article

• Notify the authors’ institution or funding agency

• Impose restrictions on future submissions to the journal

These measures are put in place to uphold the integrity of the scholarly record.

6. Post-Publication Concerns

If any signs of data manipulation come to light after a study is published, the journal will look into the issue and take the necessary steps to correct it, which may include issuing a correction or retracting the article, all in line with the journal’s ethical guidelines and post-publication policies.

7. Commitment to Research Integrity

The Journal is dedicated to fostering ethical research practices and ensuring trust in the scientific community. We expect all authors, reviewers, and editors to embrace the values of honesty, transparency, and accountability throughout the entire publication process.

Retractions Policy

Suppose anyone points out a factual error in the published manuscript. In that case, the Editor is responsible for correcting the errors in the manuscript with the consent and support of the corresponding author. If there is no chance to resolve the error by the corresponding author and Editor, the manuscript could be retracted without any tolerance. Also the duplicated publication will be retracted after asking the clarifications from the corresponding author even he is not able to respond back. 

Erratum

An erratum is issued to correct minor errors found after publication that do not compromise the validity of the research findings. These can include typographical errors, formatting problems, graphical inaccuracies, spelling mistakes, or grammatical errors that occurred during the publishing process. Errata are provided by the editorial production team at no cost to the author and are usually listed in a separate section at the end of the print or online article.

Corrigendum

A corrigendum is used to correct errors that originate from the authors, such as misspellings, changes in affiliations, omitted authors, missing information, or other factual inaccuracies. Minor corrections may be published in later issues, while major changes might require editorial discussion or investigation and could involve additional costs. Corrigenda help ensure that the research record remains accurate and transparent.

Addenda

An addendum is basically a formal way to include extra information or clarify something in an article that’s already been published. These addenda are meant to add to the original data without contradicting it or fixing any mistakes; those corrections are usually handled through errata or corrigenda. Authors can submit an addendum to bring in important new insights or information that really enhances the original research. According to journal policy, addenda might go through peer review and are typically overseen by the editor who handled the original article, ensuring everything stays consistent and scientifically accurate.

Removal of Published Content

In certain exceptional situations, the Journal has the authority to remove content that has already been published on its website. This action may be taken if the journal discovers that the content:

- Is defamatory or includes false or misleading information regarding a research method or an individual;
- Violates the intellectual property, privacy, or other legal rights of someone else;
- Represents an immediate and serious threat to safety, public health, or the integrity of the scientific record.

Any decision to take down content is made with great care, following international publishing ethics standards, and may involve discussions with authors and other relevant parties.

Appeal and Complaint Process

Authors who want to appeal editorial decisions or raise ethical complaints to be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief with detailed justification. Appeals and complaints will be reviewed by an independent editorial committee by following COPE guidelines.

Data and reproducibility

When it comes to sharing research findings, authors are encouraged to present their work at conferences, regardless of whether it has been formally published. This practice is quite common across various fields. While copyright law protects the unique expression of ideas, authors can create new presentations or materials based on their work without infringing on copyright. It's important for authors to clearly state in their manuscripts if any part of their results has been shared at a conference before. To prevent any accidental duplicate publications, unpublished manuscripts should not be submitted to conference committees, and authors should think ahead about which materials-like figures, tables, or datasets-they are comfortable sharing. Being transparent about previous presentations and data sharing not only fosters reproducibility but also enhances the integrity of the scientific record.

Ethical Oversight

On the topic of ethical oversight, the Journal follows the ethical guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This oversight includes obtaining consent for publication, safeguarding vulnerable populations, conducting research ethically with both humans and animals, responsibly managing confidential data, and upholding ethical business practices. Any studies involving animal subjects must receive prior approval from a recognized institutional review board or ethics committee, and this must be documented in the manuscript. The journal may ask for additional information from authors to ensure ethical compliance.

Intellectual property

The Journal offers open access to all its published articles through a reasonable Article Publication Charge (APC), making it easy for everyone to submit their work. This fee covers everything from editorial management and article production to secure hosting, dissemination, indexing, and customer support. Just a heads up: the APC needs to be paid once your manuscript is accepted, and articles won’t be published until the fee is settled.

Authors keep the copyright to their work while granting the journal the right to publish it first under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). This means authors can share, adapt, and even use their work commercially, as long as they give proper credit and don’t impose any extra legal restrictions. They can also make separate agreements for non-exclusive distribution, like posting their article in institutional repositories or including it in books, as long as the journal is recognized as the original publisher. We encourage preprints and early online sharing since they can boost visibility, collaboration, and citations of research. Plus, every published paper gets a DOI (Crossref), ensuring it’s permanently identifiable and easily accessible.

Duplicate and Prior Publication

When it comes to submitting a manuscript, author(s) should avoid sending the same manuscript to multiple journals at the same time, regardless of the language. Doing so can lead to conflicts between journals over who has the rights to publish your work, and it can also result in unnecessary peer reviews and editorial efforts, not to mention the risk of publishing the same article more than once.

Duplicate publication happens when a paper is published that significantly overlaps with something already out there, without giving proper credit to the original source. If you've shared your research publicly before-like on preprint servers, at conferences, or in institutional repositories-it's important to acknowledge that clearly.

Journals are expected to deliver original content, unless they specifically indicate that a piece is a republication, which might be acceptable for historically important studies. The issue of duplicate publication is particularly serious for original research, as it can lead to double-counting data or misrepresenting findings, ultimately skewing the scientific evidence.

If author(s) submitting a manuscript that has significant overlap with previously published work or is under review elsewhere, it needs to be upfront about it in a cover letter. Include copies of any related materials to help the editor assess your submission. For preprints, make sure to use servers that clearly mark the content as not peer-reviewed, and disclose any relevant author relationships or activities. It's author's responsibility to keep the journal informed about any prior postings or related publications to maintain transparency and uphold the integrity of the scientific record.

Copyright and Licensing Policy

For all articles published in this Journal, the authors keep the copyright without any restrictions. They give the journal the right to be the first to publish their work, along with non-exclusive rights to share and distribute it. The journal and its metadata are covered by a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which means anyone can read, download, share, and reuse the article as long as they properly cite the original published version. This approach maximizes the visibility and impact of the work while ensuring that authors receive the credit they deserve.

Authors need to confirm that their manuscript is original, hasn’t been published anywhere else, and isn’t being considered by another journal. Once a manuscript is accepted, it cannot be withdrawn. Authors also guarantee that their work doesn’t contain any libelous statements and doesn’t violate any copyright, trademark, patent, or other proprietary rights. Additionally, they take responsibility for releasing the material on behalf of all co-authors.

Authors can use their work, including tables and figures, in future publications, presentations, or for personal use, as long as they acknowledge the journal as the first publisher. They can make copies for personal use, but selling them is not allowed. The journal has strict anti-plagiarism policies; any form of plagiarism, including self-plagiarism, will lead to the rejection of the manuscript and possible restrictions on future submissions. Authors found guilty of plagiarism may also need to issue a formal apology to the original authors.

The journal values the intellectual property rights of authors and actively promotes the sharing of research through preprints, institutional repositories, and personal websites. This approach not only boosts the visibility of their work but also increases citation rates. With open access articles, the journal can apply a relevant third-party license that allows for reuse, including for commercial purposes, while authors still hold onto their copyright and other intellectual property rights, like patents or trademarks.

For articles behind a subscription paywall, authors transfer copyright to the publisher through a publishing agreement but keep the right to share their work for personal, internal, and scholarly use, along with retaining other intellectual property rights. In the case of open access articles, authors grant exclusive rights to the publisher while maintaining their copyright, ensuring they receive proper attribution and credit. In both scenarios, the publisher is empowered to publish, distribute, and provide access to the article across all media, enforce rights against infringement, and safeguard the authors’ work.

Self-plagiarism occurs when an author reuses parts or the entirety of their previously published work without making significant changes or providing proper citation. Complete self-plagiarism, which involves republishing an article in a new journal without any modifications, is not allowed. Authors are encouraged to reach out to the journal for guidance if they suspect any instances of plagiarism, fraud, or copyright infringement. The journal is dedicated to protecting the rights and reputation of authors, as well as maintaining the integrity of the scientific record.

Repository Policy

Authors are encouraged to share their research findings and related datasets in publicly accessible repositories that adhere to established standards for archiving, curation, and citation. This practice not only ensures the long-term preservation of their work but also enhances discoverability, reproducibility, and proper attribution within the research community. Repositories keep data in its original format, enabling other researchers to validate, replicate, and build upon the work with confidence. By maintaining data in its native state, we preserve accuracy and integrity, which are crucial for generating reliable results. This approach is especially beneficial in both academic and applied research environments, where transparent and reproducible data lead to stronger insights, improved decision-making, and the advancement of knowledge.

Advertising Policy

Our publication and journal websites are not including any commercial advertisements in its website and other forms of communication.

Archiving: For the long-term preservation of published content, the journal archived all its articles in INTERNET ARCHIVE (https://archive.org/details/@dr_selvakumar).