Publication ethics

As one of the official research and scientific publications of the Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands of Iran, The Iranian Journal of Botany (Iran. J. Bot.) commits to abide by professional ethic and scientific values. To this aim, the following points are compulsory as ethical principles for the members of the editorial board, authors and reviewers. All submitted papers are checked for text similarity by iThenticate. For general guidance, please refer to the journal information section: “Aims & Scope”, and also “Guide for Authors”.

1- Journal editors and their responsibilities

1. Objectivity in evaluating the submitted manuscripts, journal editors should give unbiased consideration to each manuscript submitted for publication and should judge each on its merits (i.e. the paper's importance, originality, clarity and relevance to publication's scope), regardless to the race, religion, nationality, gender, seniority, or institutional affiliation of the author(s).
2. Commitment of the editor in chief and the editorial board to the shortest possible time span for evaluation and decision of all submitted manuscripts.
3. Communications between the editor in chief and the editorial board for definition of appropriate and scientifically relevant reviewers for each incoming manuscript.
4. Commitment of the editorial board to maintain the objectivity by not disclosing the information within the manuscripts prior to their publication.
5. Making any changes, including those applied to the text and/or to the order of author names, subject to the written confirmations from all co-authors.
6. Issuing the certificate of acceptance and publishing the accepted papers following the full completion of all peer-reviewing steps and by considering the date of final acceptance.
7. The editor in chief shall use the journal’s standard electronic submission system for all journal communications and avoid personal contacts.

2- Ethical principles of the reviewers

1. Avoiding to peer-review a manuscript in case of technical irrelevance to the field of reviewer.  
2. Completion of peer-review and communication of the results to the chief editor within the shortest possible time span. Abiding by the deadline defined by the chief editor and submission of the clear and scientifically-sound comments.
3. Any manuscript received for review must be treated as confidential document.
   Reviewers must keep the peer review process confidential; any pieces of manuscript content should not be shared with anyone outside of the peer review process.
   Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author.
   Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage.
4. Compliance with the general ethical principles in commenting and evaluating the manuscripts by e.g. the use of adequate terms and expressions.
5. Reviewers should inform the journal editors about any significant similarity between the manuscript under consideration and any published paper or submitted manuscripts of which they are aware. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation.
6. Reviewers should ensure that the research material and methods comply with acceptable ethical guidelines.
7. Reviewers must avoid making statements in their report which might be construed as impugning any person's reputation.

3- Ethical principles of the authors

1. All authors must warrant that their article is their own original work, which does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any other person or entity and cannot be construed as plagiarizing any other published work, including their own previously published work. The Iranian Journal of Botany (Iran. J. Bot.) thoroughly follows all terms and condition being proposed by COPE on plagiarism.
2. Avoiding a simultaneous submission of the manuscript to multiple journals.
3. Certifying the written agreement (as the form indicated at the end of this page) of all co-authors by initial manuscript submission.
4. Correct citations to all the included literature in the manuscript.
5. If applicable, including acknowledgments to all relevant individuals and organizations, including the funding resources of the research.
6. Keeping the order of the author names based on their level of involvement in the completion of the research and writing.
7. Compliance with the general ethical principles in responding to the reviewer(s) and editor comments by e.g. the use of adequate terms and expressions.
8. An institution must be quoted as the author's affiliation if the institution has made a necessary and material contribution to or provided a basis for the author's contribution to the manuscript. Employment, current educational activity and supervisory responsibility can be considered justification for crediting an institution as the author's affiliation.
9. All authors contributed must be aware of the final version of the manuscript before submission. Page proofs for accepted manuscripts are sent via electronic submission system to the corresponding author. It is the corresponding author's responsibility to consult with co-authors regarding the proofs. 
10. A valid herbarium voucher number, GenBank code number etc. must be obtained for the materials worked out in the manuscript. The authors may be asked to provide the specimens of the new taxa described for checking the correctness of identification by an expert. Authors must also certify that any plant or animal species/part(s) being used in their study is/are not hazardous or do not endanger human and animal environmentally and is/are accordance with regional and international conservation rules and regulations.
11. Original photographs is recommended. Retouching to either enhancing or improving a photo is acceptable but not allowed if used in other sources unless permission obtained from its original owner. The permission note should be stated in an appropriate place inside the paper.
12. Chemicals, trademark, software, camera, instrument etc. used for the research must be clearly mentioned along with factory name, model along with the manufacturing country.

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Corresponding Authors are requested to prepare a Recognizance Letter (sample given below), and send it along with their paper.

Recognizance Letter:

I, as corresponding author, solemnly state that, the paper entitled: "........" written by: "........................" is originally derived from pure research work of the above-mentioned author(s)/researcher(s) and is not simultaneously being submitted to any other journal for its publication until the last process which would be taken by The Iranian Journal of Botany.

Name:

Signature:

Date: