Publication Ethics Statement

The statement of ethics for International Journal of Pharmaceuticals, Nutraceuticals and Cosmetic Science (IJPNaCS), Universiti Teknologi MARA Puncak Alam Campus. This statement was adapted from the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) covering the code of ethics for the authors/contributors, reviewers, editorial board members and chief editor.


Peer-Review Policy

All articles submitted to IJPNaCS undergo a rigorous peer-review process with at least two reviewers, conducted in accordance with a double-blind review process. The average duration of the peer-review process is between four and eight weeks.


Plagiarism and Self-plagiarism

The Journal will request the authors for a plagiarism check proof for all submitted articles prior to publication. If plagiarism is detected by editors, peer reviewers, or editorial staff at any stage of the publication process, the article may be rejected based on the percentage of plagiarism observed, and the author will be notified. The manuscript must be free of any forms of plagiarism, falsification, fabrication, or omission of material. It is expected that authors explicitly cite the work and ideas of others, even if they are not quoted verbatim or closely paraphrased. The authors must be cautious of self-plagiarism (also known as "redundancy"), which can occur in two ways. The first is when authors recycle portions of their previous work by including identical or nearly identical sentences or paragraphs from earlier writings in subsequent research papers without proper quotation or acknowledgment. The second is when authors create multiple papers that are slightly different from each other and submit them for publication in different journals without acknowledging that the papers are related.


Editorial and Article Quality Policy

Authors must ensure that any articles submitted to IJPNaCS are original and have not been published elsewhere or are under consideration by any other journals. The content of the articles must be original and not the result of plagiarism or a violation of copyright from other works. The Editors reserve the right to reject any articles that do not meet the required quality standards.


Duties of Authors

Authors are expected to uphold the integrity of their submissions by ensuring that their work is entirely original and has not been previously published in other journals. In the event that the authors have incorporated the work and/or words of others, proper citation or quotation is required. Additionally, authors are prohibited from submitting articles that are simultaneously under review or consideration by other journals and must wait for a formal rejection or acceptance of a withdrawal request from the journal before proceeding with publication. Authors are also required to report any inaccuracies in data published in their work to the Chief Editor or publisher, ensuring appropriate corrections or retractions are made. Furthermore, authors are responsible for making significant contributions to their work and should be accountable for any deficiencies in their research. Reviewers or editors may provide comments for corrections and improvements, which authors are expected to address in their revised manuscripts.


Duties of Reviewers

It is the responsibility of reviewers to ensure the impartiality and fairness of the review process by disclosing any competing interests before agreeing to review a submission. Reviewers are expected to conduct a professional and objective review of all submissions, while being vigilant to detect any instances of plagiarism or redundant publication. Additionally, reviewers should complete the review within the designated time frame and communicate any extension requests to the Chief Editor. In cases of conflicts of interest or inadequate knowledge, it is the reviewer's obligation to decline the review invitation. Permission must be sought from the publisher before sharing any submission content with third parties. Reviewers should promptly report any ethical misconduct encountered during the review to the Chief Editor for further action.


Duties of Chief/Managing Editor

The Chief/Managing Editor is obligated to evaluate manuscripts fairly and based solely on their intellectual merit, to ensure confidentiality of manuscripts and not disclose information regarding manuscripts to anyone other than those involved in the publishing process, to determine when and which articles are to be published, to actively seek the opinions of board members, reviewers, and authors regarding how to improve/increase the image and visibility of the journal. In addition, they are to provide clear instructions to potential contributors regarding the submission process and what is expected of the authors, to ensure that appropriate reviewers are selected/identified for the reviewing process, to ensure that authors submit only original, non-plagiarized work that has not been published or under consideration elsewhere, and to ensure that work and/or words from other publications are appropriately cited or quoted. The Chief Editor/Managing Editor may use appropriate softwares to check for similarities of the submitted manuscripts with existing literature and must ensure that fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are not included in any manuscripts. The Chief Editor/Managing Editor must also ensure that manuscripts are of the highest quality and adhere to the journal's standards and must provide assistance and advice to writers in order to ensure that manuscripts meet the journal's standards


Duties of Editorial Board Members

Members of the Editorial Board are responsible for assisting the Chief Editor with the selection of manuscripts to be published in the journal. They must evaluate the content of potential manuscripts that have been selected by the Chief Editor and provide recommendations in terms of quality and suitability of the manuscript in accordance with the scope of the journal. In addition, they must reevaluate articles that have been revised by the authors and provide suggestions for improvement for the Chief Editor's final selection. In addition, they must reevaluate articles that have been revised by the authors and provide suggestions for improvement for the Chief Editor's final selection. Editorial Board Members must also provide feedback within a given timeframe, assist in ensuring the manuscripts published are original work, and are ethical standards and procedures for research. In addition, they must play a significant role in soliciting and acquiring articles from colleagues and researchers within and outside the member's institution.

Duties of Copyeditor

Ensure that all submitted manuscripts follow the journal format, including full names of all authors, affiliations, and email addresses; an abstract written in one paragraph with keywords in lowercase; figures and tables captioned and written below/above with sources; spelling of words according to British English; sentences/words in other languages written in italics; jargon written in the correct format and spelling; the manuscript written according to the format (Introduction, Literature Review, Methodology, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgment, References/Bibliography); diagrams with high resolution (1200 dpi); copyrighted materials with formal written permission from the original copyright owner; and citations and references in the specified format. Ensure that URL digital object identifier (DOI) links are included in a complete and accurate format in the reference list as specified in bibliographic writing style. Ensure that the author's name and year of publication mentioned in the text are consistent with the reference list. Check each of the above before the typesetting and proofreading process is carried out. The copyeditor also has the right to return the manuscript to the Editor-in-Chief if there is any violation or non- compliance with the above matters. Collaborate and maintain good communication with the Editor-in-Chief throughout the editing process until the publication process is completed (published). Copyeditor will need to communicate with authors during copyediting, proofreading, etc.


Duties of Advisory Board Members

To provide guidance on critical choices and key policy areas, particularly the journal's strategic direction, and to suggest topics for supplementary issues.

 

Duties of Technical Team

Assist with the webpage maintenance and handling the archives, Upload article metadata in indexing body to increase visibility. 



Authorship


Credit for authorship should be based on the person's substantial contributions to the three criteria outlined below:

  1. Research Design, Acquisition, Analysis, or Interpretation of Data: Individuals who have made significant contributions to the conceptualization and design of the research study, the collection and analysis of data, or the interpretation of findings.
  2. Drafting the Paper: Authors who have actively participated in the writing and revision of the manuscript. This includes individuals who have contributed to the intellectual content, organization, and coherence of the paper.
  3. Critical Revision and Approval of the Final Version: Authors who have provided substantial feedback, critique, and editing during the revision process.
It is important to note that all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the acknowledgements section. This allows recognition of their contributions without conferring authorship credit.

To ensure appropriate authorship credit is given to all contributors, we kindly request that a brief but exhaustive statement describing the specific contribution of each listed author is added to the manuscript. This statement should be placed after the conclusion and before the references section. For an example of how to structure this statement, you can refer to the provided template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1xZgX6ENwsIX6y5HO39xbiMEDJss9v-tV/edit).

In accordance with the guidelines set by IJPNaCS, the corresponding author assumes the responsibility of facilitating communication among all co-authors and obtaining their approval for the final version of the manuscript to be published.

It is important to note that any changes in authorship, including additions or removals, after the acceptance of a manuscript are strictly prohibited by IJPNaCS. However, changes in the order in which authors are listed may be allowed after acceptance, subject to editorial approval.