Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

Tropical Aquatic Sciences (TAS) is a peer-reviewed electronic journal. This statement clarifies the ethical behavior of all parties involved in the act of publishing an article in this journal, including the Authors, the Chief Editor, the Editorial Board, the Peer-Reviewers, and the Publisher. This statement is strictly based on the standard guidelines developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Duties of Editors

  • Publication Decisions: The editor of Tropical Aquatic Sciences is responsible for deciding which of the submitted articles should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editor may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by legal requirements regarding libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
  • Fair Play: An editor evaluates manuscripts for their intellectual content at any time without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy.
  • Confidentiality: The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.
  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.

2. Duties of Reviewers

  • Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions, and through editorial communications with the author, it may also assist the author in improving the paper.
  • Promptness: Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should notify the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.
  • Confidentiality: Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.
  • Standards of Objectivity: Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.
  • Acknowledgement of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited. Any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge must be reported to the editor.

3. Duties of Authors

  • Reporting Standards: Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work.
  • Originality and Plagiarism: The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, this must be appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
  • Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publication: An author should not, in general, publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior.
  • Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.
  • Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript.
  • Fundamental Errors in Published Works: When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

4. Duties of the Publisher

The publisher, Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Universitas Mulawarman, takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and recognizes its ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint, or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions.