Publication Ethics

General Statement

Ar-Rasheed University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (RUJBAS) is a peer-reviewed research journal published biannually by Ar-Rasheed Smart University, Sana'a, Yemen. The journal adheres to established publication ethics standards by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to ensure the integrity of scholarly publishing. RUJBAS requires all parties involved in the publication process-authors, editors, and reviewers-to act in accordance with these ethical guidelines to prevent any misconduct. 

Author's Responsibilities

  • Authors are required to ensure the complete originality of their work. Any use of others' work or ideas must be accompanied by proper citation. Plagiarism in any form represents unethical publishing practice and is unacceptable. The journal uses plagiarism detection software to screen submissions. If plagiarism is identified, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on plagiarism will be followed, and if plagiarism is discovered after publication, the article will be retracted and a note of retraction will be published.
  • Authors must not submit the same manuscript concurrently to more than one journal. This practice constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
  • Authors are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of the work presented in their manuscript, which must contain sufficient and accurate new data or findings. The fabrication of data or results constitutes serious misconduct.
  • The submitted manuscript must cite all relevant publications used in the work.
  • For research involving hazardous chemicals, procedures, or equipment, authors must explicitly identify these risks within the manuscript. For studies involving human or animal subjects, authors must confirm compliance with all relevant ethical standards and provide documented evidence of approval from the appropriate ethics committees.
  • Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research. All such contributors must be listed as co-authors. Individuals who have participated in substantive but non-authorial aspects of the work should be acknowledged separately.
  • The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all significant contributors are listed as co-authors and that all co-authors have reviewed, approved, and consented to the final manuscript's submission.
  • All sources of research funding must be disclosed and will be published.
  • It is the duty of an author who discovers a significant error in their published work to promptly notify the journal editor and to cooperate in correcting the record, whether by issuing an erratum or retracting the article.

Changes in Authorship

  • Authors must ensure that the author list and order are final at the time of initial submission. Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors are permitted only before manuscript acceptance and require the Editor's approval.
  • To request a change, the corresponding author must write to the Editor, stating the reason and providing written confirmation of agreement from all authors, including those to be added or removed.
  • Changes after acceptance are granted only in exceptional cases, and no changes are possible once the article is published.

Editors' Responsibilities

  • Editors are responsible for the initial screening of submissions, the management of the peer review process-including reviewer selection-and rendering final publication decisions in line with journal policy. They also review the final proofs before publication.
  • Editors are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts. Information regarding a submission must not be disclosed to any party other than the corresponding author, assigned reviewers, and necessary editorial staff, as appropriate.
  • Editors are required to address any ethical concerns regarding submitted or published manuscripts promptly and in accordance with established publication ethics guidelines.
  • Editors evaluate manuscripts solely on the basis of their intellectual and scientific merit - their importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal's scope -without regard to the authors' race, gender, religious belief, ethnicity, citizenship, or political philosophy.
  • Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a personal, professional, or financial conflict of interest. In such cases, the manuscript will be assigned to another editor.

Reviewers' Responsibilities

  • Reviewers must contribute to editorial decisions by evaluating the scientific merit of the manuscript. This assessment should address its originality, addition to existing literature, adequacy of references, clarity of presentation, and overall organization.
  • Reviewers who feel they lack the expertise to evaluate a manuscript or are unable to complete the review within the required timeframe should promptly inform the editor and decline the review invitation.
  • Reviewers are expected to maintain strict confidentiality regarding the manuscripts they receive. They must not share or discuss the content with others unless expressly authorized by the editor.
  • Reviewers should provide a comprehensive and constructive report for the authors, outlining their assessment and offering clear, well-supported feedback. Authors are expected to address all points raised in the review during their revision of the manuscript.
  • Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest at the earliest opportunity. This allows the editor-in-chief to determine whether an impartial review is feasible or to decide that the reviewer should decline the invitation.

Research Involving Human or Animal Subjects

Human Rights

  • When reporting research involving human data, authors must state whether the procedures were reviewed and approved by an appropriate ethics committee. If no formal ethics committee was available, the research must have been conducted in accordance with the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki as revised in 2013. Should any uncertainty arise regarding compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki, authors must provide a clear justification of their methodology and confirm that the relevant review body explicitly approved any questionable aspects of the study. Approval by an ethics committee does not prevent journal editors from independently evaluating the ethical appropriateness of the research.

Patient Consent

  • All authors must adhere to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines concerning patient and study participant privacy and informed consent. A written informed consent for publication is required from all participating patients. While data pertaining to individual participants should be described comprehensively, personally identifiable information should be omitted unless it is essential to the research-for instance, photographs of a patient's face that demonstrate a specific symptom. Patient initials or any other personal identifiers must not be used in images. For manuscripts containing case details, personal information, or patient images, authors are required to secure signed informed consent for publication from the patients or their legal representatives prior to submission.

Animal Research

  • When reporting experiments involving animals, authors must specify whether institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed. The name of the ethics committee that approved the study should be provided. Additional guidance on animal research ethics can be found in the International Association of Veterinary Editors' Consensus Author Guidelines on Animal Ethics and Welfare.

Editorial Processes

  • The corresponding author is responsible for submitting the manuscript to the journal. Upon receipt, the journal sends an acknowledgment to the corresponding author.
  • All submitted manuscripts undergo a preliminary editorial evaluation. The Editor-in-Chief (EIC) assesses the manuscript's suitability for the journal, its originality, and its potential interest to readers. Manuscripts that fail to meet these criteria may be rejected without proceeding to peer review.
  • If the manuscript passes the initial assessment, the EIC selects two suitable peer reviewers with relevant expertise and no conflicts of interest and invites them via email. This invitation includes the manuscript's title and abstract.
  • All manuscripts undergo a double-blind peer-review process, where the identities of both authors and reviewers are concealed. Once reviewers accept an invitation, the manuscript text - excluded of all author names, affiliations, and identifying details - is sent to them via email.
  • Reviewers are asked to evaluate the manuscript and submit their written reports within a period not exceeding two weeks, and an additional period may be granted in special cases. Reviewers must provide a clear recommendation: accept, reject, or request major or minor revisions.
  • The EIC makes the final publication decision based on the reviewers' reports and recommendations. In cases of widely divergent reviews, the EIC may seek an additional review to inform the decision. The decision, along with all reviewer reports, is then communicated to the corresponding author.
  • If a manuscript is rejected or requires revision, the EIC must provide the authors with the reviewers' constructive comments to guide improvement. Simultaneously, reviewers should be notified via email of the final editorial decision regarding their assigned manuscript.
  • The journal may request the original reviewers to re-examine a revised manuscript. However, if only minor revisions were required, the EIC may conduct the follow-up assessment instead.
  • Upon acceptance, the manuscript is forwarded to the production department for typesetting and publication preparation.

Declaration of Competing Interests

On behalf of all co-authors, the corresponding author is required to disclose any financial and personal relationships with other parties that could be perceived as inappropriately influencing the submitted work. This disclosure statement must be included within the manuscript, preceding the reference section. If there are no competing interests for any authors, the default statement on the published article will be "The authors declare no competing interests".

Disclaimer

All articles, communications, and editorials published in RUJBAS reflect the personal opinions of their respective authors. The journal and its editor disclaim all responsibility and liability for any application or reliance upon the information provided herein.