Editorship

The journal adheres to internationally recognized standards of editorial conduct and best practices. Editors and all individuals involved in the publication process are expected to uphold fairness, professionalism, transparency, and ethical responsibility at every stage.

Editorial decisions are made objectively and are based solely on the academic merit, scientific significance, and relevance of the submitted work.

Ethical Standards

All research articles submitted to the journal must comply with rigorous ethical standards. The journal expects authors, reviewers, and editors to follow accepted international guidelines for responsible authorship, scientific research reporting, and editorial decision-making.

Principles of Transparency and Best Practice

The journal is committed to promoting transparency, inclusivity, accessibility, and scholarly merit. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by nationality, ethnicity, religion, race, gender, political beliefs, or institutional affiliation.

All editorial policies are designed to be fair, unbiased, and clearly communicated to all stakeholders.

Plagiarism Policy

All submissions are screened for originality using standard plagiarism detection tools. Any form of plagiarism or unethical reuse of content is strictly prohibited.

Key Expectations:

• Submitted work must be original
• Proper citation of all sources is mandatory
• Unauthorized reuse of text, figures, or ideas is unacceptable
• Suspected misconduct may lead to rejection or further investigation

Conflict of Interest

All participants in the publication process must disclose any potential conflicts of interest.

Authors
Authors must disclose any financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence their research and clearly state competing interests.

Researchers
Researchers must ensure independence in study design, data analysis, interpretation, and reporting, especially when external funding is involved.

Editors
Editors must avoid handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist and must recuse themselves when necessary.

Reviewers
Reviewers must disclose any conflicts that may bias their evaluation and decline review assignments where impartiality cannot be maintained

Informed Consent

For research involving human participants, authors must obtain appropriate informed consent.

Authors must ensure that:

• Participants are fully informed about the use of their data
• Written and legally valid consent is obtained
• Special care is taken when involving vulnerable populations
• Privacy and data protection standards are strictly maintained

Anonymity should be preserved wherever possible without compromising scientific accuracy.

Particular Considerations

• Identifying details such as names, initials, or identification numbers should not be used unnecessarily
• Images should only be used when scientifically necessary and with proper consent
• Efforts to protect anonymity must not distort scientific meaning
• Fully anonymized images may not require formal consent if no identification is possible
• In case reports, complete anonymity cannot always be guaranteed; therefore, consent is strongly recommended
• Simple anonymization methods (e.g., eye bars) may be insufficient if identification remains possible

Confidentiality

All manuscripts are treated as confidential documents. Editors and reviewers must not disclose any information about submissions except to those directly involved in the editorial process.

Unpublished data must not be used for personal, academic, or professional advantage.

Role of Funding Sources

Authors must clearly identify all sources of financial support and describe the role of funding agencies in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, and publication decisions.

Protection of Human and Animal Subjects

Research involving human participants must comply with recognized ethical standards and include appropriate approvals and informed consent.

Research involving animals must follow institutional and national guidelines for care and ethical use.

Studies involving environmental systems, public data, or ecosystems must demonstrate responsibility and compliance with relevant regulations.

Data Availability and Reproducibility

The journal encourages transparency and reproducibility in research.

Authors should provide a clear data availability statement indicating whether data are:

• Available in public repositories
• Included in supplementary materials
• Available upon reasonable request

Appeals and Complaints

Authors may appeal editorial decisions if they believe there has been an error in the review or evaluation process. Appeals must include clear justification.

The editorial board may:

• Uphold the original decision
• Seek an independent additional review
• Reconsider the manuscript based on merit

All appeal decisions are final.

Citation Practices

Authors, editors, and reviewers share responsibility for maintaining accurate and appropriate citation practices.

Authors must ensure that:

• All claims are supported by reliable references
• Original sources are cited wherever possible
• Citations are relevant and not excessive
• Unverified or unread sources are avoided

Citation manipulation is considered unethical and strictly prohibited.

Reviewer Suggestions

Authors may suggest potential reviewers or request exclusion of certain individuals. Suggested reviewers must be independent, qualified, and free from conflicts of interest.

Availability of Data and Materials

Reproducibility is central to scientific credibility. Authors should clearly state the availability of data, materials, and methods used in their research.

Corrections

Corrections are issued when errors affect interpretation or publication details but do not invalidate the research.

• A correction notice may be linked to the original article
• It may be published within a journal issue
• Minor typographical errors may not require formal correction

Retractions

Retractions are issued to correct the literature and inform readers when major concerns arise regarding the validity or integrity of an article.

• Applied in cases of serious errors, misconduct, or plagiarism
• Retracted articles are clearly marked
• A formal retraction notice is published and linked to the article

Expressions of Concern

Expressions of Concern may be issued to alert readers to serious unresolved issues while investigations are ongoing.

These notices are linked to the relevant article and may later be followed by a correction, retraction, or other editorial action depending on the outcome.

This comprehensive ethical framework ensures that the NIU Journal of Applied Sciences, Biotechnology and Computational Research maintains the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and scientific excellence in scholarly publishing.