Publication Ethics
Publication Ethics
NJTEP is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics in order to protect the integrity of the scientific record and sustain public confidence in research. All authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to comply with the following ethical standards.
Data Fabrication and Falsification
Fabrication refers to the invention of data or results without conducting any actual study. Falsification refers to the manipulation or misrepresentation of genuine research data or results. Both are serious forms of research misconduct that undermine the scientific enterprise.
Consequences: Any manuscript found to contain fabricated or falsified data — including the manipulation of figures, images, or results — will be rejected immediately. Articles already published will be retracted. Authors responsible may be barred from future submissions and from serving as reviewers or editors for NJTEP.
Plagiarism
Plagiarism involves using the ideas, words, data, or creative work of others without proper acknowledgement. It encompasses both direct copying and the paraphrasing of others' work without citation. Every form of plagiarism violates intellectual property rights and breaches the fundamental principles of research integrity.
Consequences: Manuscripts found to contain plagiarised content will be rejected. Articles already published that are subsequently found to contain plagiarism will be retracted or corrected as the situation demands. Manuscripts with a similarity index above 35% are automatically rejected at the screening stage.
Simultaneous Submissions
The concurrent submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal is prohibited. This practice is a serious breach of publishing ethics: it places undue demands on reviewers and editors, and it risks multiple publications of the same work — a distortion of the scientific record.
Consequences: Authors found to have submitted the same manuscript to multiple journals at the same time will have their manuscript rejected and will be prohibited from submitting to NJTEP for a period of two years.
Redundant Publication
Splitting a single research project into multiple publications for the purpose of increasing output, without a genuine new contribution in each paper (so-called "salami slicing"), is considered redundant publication and is not acceptable. Authors should present their research findings comprehensively in a single, complete manuscript.
Consequences: Redundant publications identified in NJTEP will be rejected or retracted and may result in sanctions against the authors involved.
Authorship and Attribution
Authorship must reflect genuine, demonstrable scientific contributions to the research and the manuscript. All individuals who made a meaningful contribution — regardless of their seniority, including students and technical staff — must be listed as authors. Equally, listing individuals who did not contribute substantively ("gift authorship" or "ghost authorship") is unethical and prohibited.
Consequences: Misrepresentation of authorship may lead to rejection of the manuscript, notification to the institutions of the authors involved, and sanctions including prohibition from future submissions to NJTEP.
Citation Manipulation
Authors must not manipulate their reference lists to artificially inflate citation counts — whether of their own work, the work of associates, or particular journals. Editors and reviewers must not request that authors add citations for any reason other than genuine academic relevance.
Consequences: Confirmed citation manipulation will result in rejection of the manuscript and may lead to further sanctions.
Editor and Reviewer Responsibilities
Editors and reviewers who have a recent or ongoing relationship with a manuscript under consideration — whether through co-authorship, institutional affiliation, personal relationship, or shared funding — must recuse themselves and declare the conflict. Any prior discussions with the author(s) about the manuscript must also be disclosed to the Editorial Office.
Reviewers must treat all manuscripts as confidential documents and must not share, cite, or use any content from a manuscript under review without the express written consent of the authors.
Sanctions for Ethics Violations
NJTEP may impose the following sanctions for confirmed breaches of publication ethics:
- Rejection of the offending manuscript and all other pending submissions from the same author(s)
- Submission ban: Prohibition from submitting to NJTEP for a period of 2 years following a confirmed violation
- Editorial restrictions: Removal from roles as reviewer or editorial board member for NJTEP
- Additional penalties: NJTEP reserves the right to impose further measures appropriate to the severity of the violation
For serious misconduct, NJTEP may publicly report the violation and formally notify the author's institution or funding body.
Reporting Suspected Misconduct
Any suspected breach of NJTEP's publication ethics — whether identified before or after publication — should be reported promptly to the NJTEP Editorial Office. All reports are investigated in accordance with established procedures, with appropriate confidentiality for all parties.
Corrections and Retractions
When errors are identified in published articles, NJTEP will take the following steps:
- Assess the error: The Editorial Board will evaluate the nature and severity of the issue, consulting editors and the author's institution as needed.
- Minor corrections: Authors may submit corrections to minor errors. These will be published as an Erratum linked to the original article.
- Significant errors: Where errors are substantial but do not invalidate the conclusions, NJTEP will publish a formal correction notice.
- Misconduct-related retractions: Where misconduct is confirmed, the article will be retracted in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines. The retraction notice will remain permanently linked to the original article and will be clearly flagged as retracted in all indexing databases.
Author Acknowledgement
Submission of a manuscript to NJTEP constitutes the authors' acknowledgement that they have read and understood these publication ethics guidelines, that they agree to comply with all policies herein, and that they accept full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and ethical soundness of the work submitted.
Contact and Support
For all ethics-related enquiries, contact the NJTEP Editorial Office:
Email: njtepnip@gmail.com
Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Nestor M. D. Chagok — +2348147744559
Website: https://njtep.nipngr.org/index.php/njtep/about/contact
