Publication Ethics

The Diyala Journal for Veterinary Sciences (DJVS) is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, reliability, and ethical conduct in academic publishing. This policy outlines the responsibilities of authors, editors, reviewers, and the journal’s editorial office, ensuring transparency, fairness, and trust in all stages of the publication process.

  1. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting to DJVS must:

  • Ensure their work is original and free from plagiarism.
  • Properly acknowledge the contributions and ideas of others through accurate citations.
  • Avoid duplicate publication or simultaneous submission to other journals.
  • Disclose any conflicts of interest that might influence the interpretation of results.
  • Report data accurately, without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation.
  • Provide raw data if requested for editorial review or post-publication verification.
  • Ensure all listed authors have significantly contributed to the research and approved the final manuscript.
  1. Responsibilities of Editors

The Editor-in-Chief and editorial board members are responsible for:

  • Making fair, unbiased decisions based solely on the academic quality, originality, clarity, and relevance of submissions.
  • Maintaining confidentiality of manuscripts and reviewer identities during the peer review process.
  • Avoiding conflicts of interest and ensuring editorial decisions are free from personal, financial, or institutional influence.
  • Taking prompt and appropriate action if ethical concerns or allegations of misconduct arise, in line with COPE guidelines.
  • Ensuring the peer review process is rigorous, objective, and timely.
  1. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play a crucial role in upholding DJVS’s publication quality and must:

  • Provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluations of submitted manuscripts.
  • Maintain confidentiality and refrain from using unpublished content for personal advantage.
  • Disclose any potential conflicts of interest or decline a review if impartiality cannot be maintained.
  • Report any suspected ethical violations or research misconduct to the Editor-in-Chief.
  1. Plagiarism and Misconduct

DJVS has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism, falsification, and other unethical research practices.

  • All submissions are screened with reliable plagiarism detection software.
  • Manuscripts with a similarity score above 20% will be automatically rejected.
  • Confirmed cases of misconduct—such as data fabrication, duplicate publication, or authorship manipulation—will result in rejection or retraction, and notification of the authors’ institution when necessary.
  1. Ethical Oversight for Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with institutional, national, and international ethical standards. Authors must:

  • Clearly state in the manuscript that ethical approval was obtained from a recognized ethics committee.
  • Provide details of the ethical procedures and guidelines followed during the research.