Policies and Research Ethics

Open Access Policy

This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge. All articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). The journal ensures long-term presevation through CLOCKSS digital archiving.

Journal Policy

The journal is committed to maintaining transparent, rigorous, fair, and internationally recognized editorial standards throughout the submision, peer-review, decision-making, and publication processes. These policies provide authors, reviewers, editors, and readers with clear information regarding , authorship,  withdrawal procedures, corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions, plagiarism, research ethics and consent, human and animal rights, research miss conduct, conflicts of interest, and peer review process.

1.  Authorship

Authorship on an article is a significant acknowledgment, intended to credit individuals who have substantially contributed to the work. It is imperative to maintain transparency and accountability for the integrity of the content.

All authors listed on the article must agree to any modifications in the authorships, both before and after publication. This includes adding or removing authors. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining confirmation from all co-authors and providing a rationale for the changes.

In cases where authorship changes are made after the article's publication, a formal notification will be issued to announce the amendment. It is crucial that any such changes adhere to the journal's authorship criteria.

2. Withdrawal Procedures

a.       Withdrawal Request

Withdrawal refers to the removal of a manuscript from the editorial or publication process before formal publication. Authors who wish to withdraw a manuscript must submit a written request to the editorial office explaining the reason for withdrawal.

Withdrawal requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors agree to the withdrawal request. Authors are encouraged to submit any request as early as possible to avoid unnecessary use of editorial, reviewer, and production resources.

b.       Post-Publication

Once an article has been formally published, withdrawal is no longer the appropriate mechanism. Concerns arising after publication will be addressed through the journal's post-publication procedures, which may include corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions where appropriate.

For further information regarding post-publication corrections, expressions of concern, retractions, and other ethical procedures, please refer directly to the Publication Ethics policy.

3.  Corrections, Expressions of concern, and Retractions

Occasionally, changes may be necessary to an article after its publication. The editor makes these changes after a careful review process to ensure compliance with guidelines issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Any correction will be accompanied by a post-publication notification to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

4.  Plagiarism

The author should submit an original manuscript and an unpublished article for Bioma : Journal of Biology Makassar. The manuscript must include a proper citation without plagiarism or duplication of the authors' previous work. Bioma journal biology Makassar board will reject the manuscript if plagiarism is detected at any stage of the publication process. In addition, we will not accept manuscripts that are submitted elsewhere. All submitted manuscripts are screened for potential plagiarism via iThenticate software.

5.  Research Misconduct

BIOMA : Journal Biology Makassar takes all forms of misconduct seriously and will take all necessary actions, in accordance with COPE guidelines, to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
Misconduct Examples: 
1. Affiliation Misrepresentation: Misleading representation of an author's affiliation.
2. Copyright Breaches: Use of third-party material without appropriate permission.
3. Citation Manipulation: Manipulating citations to inflate metrics.
4. Duplicate Submission/Publication: Submitting or publishing the same work in multiple venues.
5. Ethics Dumbing: Conducting unethical research in regions with less stringent ethical standards.
6. Image or Data Manipulation/Fabrication: Altering or fabricating images or data.
7. Plagiarism: Using someone else's work without proper attribution.
8. Text-Recycling/Self-Plagiarism: Reusing one's own previous work without proper citation.
9. Unethical Research: Conducting research that does not adhere to ethical standards.

6.  Conflicts of Interest

Researchers should reveal financial support, or any other kind of support provided for them. Also, they should reveal any financial conflicts or other issues that affect the results or interpretations of the research.

7. Peer Review Process

After preliminarily editors’ evaluation, the articles which are considered suitable for possible publication will be transferred to the review stage. In this stage at least two referees will be invited to review the article submission. When their reports have been completed, the author will be informed of the editor’s decision considering the papers’ final acceptability for publication in the BIOMA: Journal of Biology Makassar.

Reviewers evaluate manuscripts using several criteria including: originality of the works, scholarly relevance, professional relevance, completeness of the works, acknowledgement of the works of others by references, organization of the manuscripts, and clarity in writing, tables, graphs and illustrations. Decisions regarding publication of submitted manuscripts are based on the recommendations of members of the editorial review board. Reviewers’ comments are made available to authors. Manuscripts submitted for possible publication will be judged primarily on their substantive content, but writing style, structure, and length are also considered see (Authors guidelines).

 

Research Ethics

Research Ethics and Consent 

Any study on human or animal subjects must observe and follow ethical guidelines. For any experiments on humans, all work must be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1964), The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association. If manuscripts include any experimental work that describes and carries a risk of harm to human subjects, the manuscript must contain a statement that the experiment was conducted with the human subjects’ understanding and consent, as well as a statement that the responsible Ethical Committee has approved the experiments. The authors will be required to submit an Ethics Approval and Consent form.

In the case of any animal experiments, the authors must provide a full description of any anesthetic or surgical procedure used, as well as evidence that all possible steps were taken to avoid animal suffering at each stage of the experiment alongside an Animal Welfare Statement.

The sex of animals must be indicated, and where appropriate, the influence (or association) of sex on the results of the study should be addressed. Additionally, adherence to relevant international standards, such as the International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) guidelines and the World Health Organization guidelines for ethical conduct in research involving animals, should be explicitly stated.

Human and Animal Rights

If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with the clearance of the institutional human ethics committee, and the permission order should be submitted along with the manuscript. In the case of experiments involving animals referred to in the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, or similar legislations prevailing in other countries, the details regarding permission/sanction order from the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC) established under The Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiments on Animals (CPCSEA) or similar bodies in other countries may be referred.