Editorial Policies
Authorship
An author is a person who has made a substantial contribution to the creation of a manuscript. The following four factors are used to determine authorship:
- providing significant contributions to the work's conception or design; or the work's acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; AND
- drafting or editing the work critically for substantial intellectual content; AND
- giving final approval of the published version; AND
- accepting responsibility for all aspects of the work, including ensuring that any questions about the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are thoroughly investigated and resolved.
Acknowledgement
Individuals who contributed to the production of an article but did not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged. Organisations that provided financial or other types of support should also be acknowledged accordingly.
Changes in Authorship
The adjustments will be made following COPE specifications whenever revisions to the authorship of a manuscript or a published article are required. Only the corresponding author has the authority to request a change in authorship, and they must contact the editor directly.
Submission of Manuscript
Before submitting a manuscript, authors should read the Author Guidelines on the journal website. The manuscript should be formatted following the journal's style and standards.
The authors named on the manuscript should meet the authorship standards outlined above. Each author's contribution should be specified as clearly as possible.
Before submission, all authors should approve the final version of the work. When a paper is submitted, it is presumed that all authors have already reviewed the article and have given their approval for its submission.
All authors must provide their full names and institutional affiliations. The designated corresponding author must additionally provide a primary email address.
A conflict of interest declaration should be included in the manuscript.
The manuscript should be submitted via the journal website.
Conflict of Interest
All financial/relevant interests that may have influenced the writing of the article should be disclosed by the authors.
Reviewers should state any potential conflicts of interest and, if required, decline to examine any manuscript with which they believe they have a conflict. Editors must also recuse themselves from handling any manuscript that has a potential conflict of interest. Manuscripts that fall into this category will be reassigned to other editors.
Confidentiality
A manuscript that has been submitted is considered confidential. UNIMAS Journals will not reveal the submitted manuscript to anyone except those involved in processing and preparing the manuscript for publication (if accepted), such as editorial staff, corresponding authors, reviewers and editors. In suspected situations of misconduct, however, a manuscript may be disclosed to members of the UNIMAS Journals Ethics Committee and institutions/organisations that may require it for the resolution of the misconduct.
Misconduct
Misconduct is defined as a violation of this editorial policy, journal policies, publishing ethics, or any applicable ethical guidelines/policies. Any such behaviours that endanger or damage the research/publication process are considered potential misconduct. COPE guidelines shall be followed in the investigation of suspected occurrences of misconduct.
Correction and Retraction of Articles
Corrections to a published article may be made with the permission of the journal's editor. The editors will determine the magnitude of the revisions. Minor changes are made directly to the original article. However, for significant corrections, the revised version will be published alongside the original article. Both the original and modified versions will be linked. The rationale for any significant changes will also be announced in a published statement. When necessary, articles will be retracted following COPE guidelines.
Post-Publication Discussions
JCEST welcomes post-publication discussions. Readers may submit formal letters to the Editor or commentary regarding published articles. If a published critique highlights significant errors or ethical breaches, the editorial board will investigate the matter and may publish a formal correction, clarification, or retraction in accordance with COPE guidelines.
