Publication Ethics of the Journal of Huazhong Agricultural University

1. Responsibility of the JHZAU

JHZAU aims to boost the development of Agricultural science and life science, takes serving Agricultural science research and discipline development as its own responsibility, and is committed to reflecting the latest development of Agricultural science research in China. The JHZAU pursues the truth, promotes academic exchange, and reports original experimental technology achievements. The JHZAU avoids publishing dishonest papers and ensures timely publication of journals.

2. Responsibility of Editors

Editors are responsible for the quality of journals and continuously improve their quality to meet the needs of readers and authors. The editor reserves the right to accept or reject the manuscript on the basis that there is no conflict of interest with the accepted or rejected manuscript. The editor should immediately provide feedback to the submitter on the reviewer's comments and text revisions based on the style sheet. Editors should value the opinions of reviewers, protect the enthusiasm of authors, and maintain neutrality between readers and authors in communication, treating authors and authors equally. Editors should create a free and positive atmosphere of criticism and debate.

3. Responsibility of Reviewers

The review process is blind. Reviewers should objectively and fairly consider the manuscript on the basis of no conflict of interest with the research in the manuscript, promptly report misunderstandings, erroneous views, logical fallacies, unfounded conclusions, suspected plagiarism, and suspected data fraud to the editorial department, and make clear judgments on the acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.

4. Responsibility of Authors

The authors must contribute their own original research without any suspicion of plagiarism. The data contained must be authentic, valid, reliable, and free from misleading or fraudulent information. If mistakes are spotted or realized after sending the manuscript, the author should immediately retract the manuscript or call for correction. All sources of direct or indirect citation of other’s academic concepts, ideas, or views from others should be clearly defined. The manuscript must be submitted solely to JHZAU. Multiple submissions are prohibited. All the authors or co-authors mentioned in the paper must be real contributors to the research.

5. Responsibility of Readers

Readers can complain about any possible dereliction of duty, lowered admission standards, or other academic misconduct to the JHZAU Editorial Board (or JHZAU Editorial Board, JHZAU Sponsors, JHZAU Supervisory Bodies). If misconduct is proven, the editor will be penalized or enjoined to make a public apology.

6. Settlement of Academic Misconduct Complaints or Charges

Academic misconduct includes academic dishonesty or immorality behavior such as multiple submissions, duplicate publications, multiple publications, " wrongful appropriation" and " stealing and publication" of research results from others as one's own original work, as well as data falsification or tampering. If the above-mentioned academic ethics violations or copyright infringement are verified, the retraction statement of the relevant paper will be published on JHZAU or its website. Also, its citations or records in the relevant database will be deleted to terminate its circulation, and its negative impact will be offset in accordance with the Code of Conduct for Series Publications Editors established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).