Journal Ethics

All authors, editors and reviewers should read and familiarize themselves with Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement .

Bulgarian  Journal of Soil Science (ISSN-online 2367-9212, ISSN-print 2534-8787) is an international open access web based scientific journal dedicated to the publication and discussion of high-quality research in the field of soil  sciences. The scope of the journal includes all topics that fall within the study of soil science as a discipline. Articles submitted for publication are peer-reviewed. Reviewers are aware of the identity of the authors, but authors are unaware of the identity of reviewers. It is necessary to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing (authors, editors, peer reviewers, publisher). Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science ethic statements are based on the guidelines published by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The authors are responsible for the opinions expressed by them and for the plausibility of their data.

The authors must fill the "Copyright Release Form" - Download

Decision about submitted manuscript to Bulgarian  Journal of Soil Science is based only on its importance, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope and content. Studies with negative results despite adequate power, or those challenging previously published work receive equal consideration. Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science  - Editorial Board has the responsibility to edit the accepted manuscripts before publishing to prevent potential falsifications and consistency of structural principles.

      Publication Ethics

Ethical standards for publication exist to ensure the quality of the scientific publications. Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science published by Bulgarian Soil Science Society is committed to publishing only original manuscripts and work that has neither been published elsewhere (nor is under review elsewhere). So, it is critical to avoid some specific ethical violations (like plagiarism, simultaneous submission, data fabrication, duplicate publication, improper author contribution, citation manipulation).

Plagiarism: Plagiarism is deliberately using someone else’s  ideas, or other original material without acknowledging its source and without refer to him/her. Copying even small part ( for example one sentence) from someone else’s manuscript, or even one of your own that has previously been published, without proper citation is considered plagiarism.

Simultaneous Submission: Simultaneous submission occurs when a manuscript  is submitted to a journal when it is already under consideration by another journal.

Data Fabrication and Falsification: Data fabrication and falsification means the researcher did not actually do the study, but made up the results and had recorded or reported the fabricated information. Data falsification means the researcher did the experiment, but manipulated, changed, or omitted data or results from the research findings. This would lead to public distrust and less willing to provide funding support.

Duplicate Publication: Duplicate publication occurs when two or more papers, without full cross referencing, share the same hypotheses, data  and conclusions.

Improper Author Contribution: All listed authors must have made a significant contribution to the research in the paper.

Citation Manipulation: Citation Manipulation is including excessive citations, in the submitted manuscript, that do not contribute to the content of the article and have been included solely for the purpose of increasing citations to a given author’s work, or to articles published in a particular journal.

Process for identification of and dealing with allegations of research misconduct: Editors of Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science are reasonable to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others. In doing so, Bulgarian Journal of Soil Science follows COPE’s guidelines in dealing with allegations.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.

Publication Ethics for Journal Authors

Authors should declare that all work in their submitted piece is original, and cite content from other sources appropriately to avoid plagiarism.

Authors must ensure their contribution does not contain any libelous matter or infringe any copyright or other intellectual property rights or any other rights of any third party.

The listing of authors should accurately reflect who carried out the research and wrote the article, and the order of authorship should be jointly determined by all of the co-authors.

All authors should be aware of the submission of their paper to the journal and agree to the main author signing an IPR form on their behalf.

Authors should ensure that their manuscript as submitted is not under consideration (or accepted for publication) elsewhere. Where sections of the manuscript overlap with published or submitted content, this should be acknowledged and cited.

Authors should obtain permission to reproduce any content from third-party sources (text and images). Unfortunately, the Press is unable to publish third-party content for which permission has not been obtained (excluding content covered by fair dealing).

The source of funding for a research project should be listed on all funded research papers. Other sources of support (including funding for Open Access article processing charges) should also be clearly identified in the manuscript, typically in an acknowledgement.

Authors should declare any potential conflicts of interest relating to a specific article.

Authors should inform the editor or publisher if there is a significant error in their published piece, and work with the editor to publish an erratum, addendum or retraction where necessary.

Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions.

     Publication Ethics for Editors

The editor's-in-chief is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published.

The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

An editor at any time evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.

The editor and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Publication Ethics for Journal Article Reviewers

Reviewers should assist in improving the quality of a submitted article by reviewing the manuscript with care, consideration and objectivity, in a timely manner.

Reviewers should inform the journal editor of any published or submitted content that is similar to the material under review, or any suspected plagiarism.

Reviewers should declare any potential conflicts of interest relating to a specific article or author.

Reviewers should respect the confidentiality of any information or material supplied during the review process.

 

Journal Ethics