Publication Ethics

Publication ethics:

Zagazig Veterinary Journal follows the rules and flowcharts of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for addressing publishing ethics allegations pre and post the publication process. Below is a description of the journal's processes.

Authorship:

  • Zagazig Veterinary Journal adheres to the definition of authorship set up by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). According to the ICMJE, authorship criteria should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design of, or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data, 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content and 3) final approval of the version to be published.
  • Participation solely in the acquisition of funding, data collection, technical editing and proofreading, general supervision of a research team and administrative support are not justifying authorship and should be mentioned under Acknowledgements.
  • All authors in the manuscript are responsible for the technical information communicated. For this reason, it is necessary that all authors must read and approve the final version of the manuscript before signing the consent and declaration form.

Change in authorship:

  • Order of authors and their affiliations including the corresponding author should be correct at submission.
  • Change in authorship during the manuscript revision may be allowed in certain cases. However, detailed justifications for authorship changes accompanied by a signed letter from each author confirming their approval of the change must be included.
  • Addition, deletion or change in the sequence of an author’s name after provisional acceptance of a manuscript is not permitted.

Ethics of experimentation:

  • The Journal will only accept manuscripts in which there is evidence of the ethical use of animals or harmful substances. The care and use of experimental animals must comply with all relevant local animal welfare laws, guidelines and policies, and a statement of such compliance should be provided upon submission. Editors reserve the right to reject papers if there is doubt as to whether appropriate procedures have been used.
  • For research conducted in Zagazig University, the Materials and Methods section should include a statement that the study obtained ethics approval from Zagazig University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee “ZU-IACUC” (or a statement that it was not required), including the name of the ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s), the number/ID of the approval(s), and a statement that participants gave informed consent before taking part. The application forms of ZU-IACUC can be downloaded from this LINK (http://iacuc.zu.edu.eg). For research conducted in other institutions, ethical approval should be included with regard to the relevant committee.
  • Research work involving human participants, materials, or data should be performed per the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed consent from human participants must be provided. Moreover, these members should antedate benefits from the research knowledge, practices, or interventions. See COPE guidelines.

Disclosure:

  • Authors must identify funding sources, declare any potential financial or non-financial conflicts of interest, and acknowledge their sources. Studies involving chemicals, processes, equipment that poses risks, or the use of human or animal subjects must include compliance declarations.

Conflict of Interest

  • Journal submissions are assigned to editors in an effort to minimize potential conflicts of interest. Conflicts of interest occurs when an author, reviewer, or editor who participate in the peer review and publication process has connections to activities that might impair their judgement. The following relationships between editors and authors are considered conflicts and are avoided: Current colleagues, recent colleagues, recent co-authors, and doctoral students for which editor served as committee chair. After papers are assigned, individual editors are required to inform the managing editor of any conflicts not included in the list above. In the event that none of the editors satisfy all of the conflict screens, co-editors who are least conflicted will be assigned to the manuscript. In addition, co-editors who are least conflicted are assigned for all paper submissions by sitting editors. Journal submissions are also assigned to referees to minimize conflicts of interest. After papers are assigned, referees are asked to inform the editor of any conflicts that may exist.
  • In case of submission of manuscripts by a member of the editorial board, the Editor In Chief is the only one responsible for the distribution of the manuscript to relevant peer-reviewers (Double-blind peer reviewing process).

Thus, the following points must be disclosed:

  • All authors, reviewers, and editors must declare any personal or financial relations that might affect their judgement.
  • Authors should acknowledge all financial support within their manuscript such as grants for education, honoraria, financing sources, employment, memberships, consultants, speakers' bureaus, and competitive relationships with any author in the manuscript or patent-licensing agreements.
  • Non-financial relations should also be disclosed, including personal or professional contacts, affiliations, knowledge, or beliefs related to the subject matter or materials discussed within the manuscript.
  • All sources of funding support must be disclosed, including grant numbers or other identifiers for references. Any conflicts of interest should be disclosed by authors in a cover letter at the submission stage.

Complaints process

  • This procedure applies to complaints about the policies, procedures, or actions of ZVJ editorial staff. We welcome complaints as they provide an opportunity for improvement, and we aim to respond quickly, courteously, and constructively.
  • The complainant is not simply disagreeing with a decision we have made or something we have published but must be about something that is within the responsibility of the editorial department - content or process.
  • Complaints can be made by sending an email to zvj@vet.zu.edu.eg, All complaints will be acknowledged within three working days, and a full detailed response will be made within two weeks.

Confidentiality 

  • Information about submitted manuscripts is kept secure by the Journal's Editorial Board and all editorial and publication staff, who only share it with those involved in the peer review and publication processes.

Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publications:

  • Manuscripts must not be submitted to more than one journal simultaneously.
  • A manuscript that is currently being considered or that has previously been published in a journal must not be submitted to another journal.
  • Prior publication as a preprint or as a conference abstract is permitted.

Data Access and Retention:

  • For editorial review, authors can be asked to submit the raw data associated with their work.

Article withdrawal and retraction:

Zagazig Veterinary Journal follows COPE retraction guidelines.

  • Authors have the right to withdraw their manuscripts after submission and during the peer reviewing stage after providing a reason for their request and the Editor-in-Chief will review and determine whether to accept or reject the withdrawal.
  • Research misconduct is characterised by "fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results." Issues of honest error and disagreements are not included.
  • If there are valid concerns regarding misconduct, the journal will contact the corresponding author(s) using the email address, providing them with a chance to remedy the matter.

Depending on the situation, the journal may take various actions, including but not limited to:

  • The manuscript may be rejected and sent back to the author if it is still being under consideration.
  • If the article has already been published online, possible actions include:
  • Providing a correction or erratum alongside the article.
  • Including a statement of concern to the article.
  • In extreme circumstances, retracting the article and the Editor-in-Chief will escalate the expression of concern or a retraction letter to the relative employers, or institutions.