Allegations of Misconduct

EBGC is committed to protecting the integrity of the scholarly record. This policy explains how the journal handles allegations of research and publication misconduct, following the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices.

Types of Misconduct

  • Fabrication: making up data or results.
  • Falsification: manipulating, changing, or omitting data so that the research is misrepresented.
  • Plagiarism: using another person’s ideas, results, or words without credit, including self-plagiarism and redundant publication.
  • Authorship problems: gift, ghost, or guest authorship, or excluding people who meet authorship criteria.
  • Citation manipulation: practices that inflate citation counts.
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest.
  • Breach of research ethics, including research involving people without proper consent or approval.
  • Peer review manipulation, such as suggesting fake reviewers.

Principles

  • All allegations are taken seriously and investigated fairly and impartially.
  • Confidentiality is maintained, and the identity of whistleblowers is protected.
  • People accused are presumed innocent until misconduct is proven and are given the opportunity to respond.
  • Investigations are carried out promptly.

Procedure

  1. Reporting: allegations are sent in writing to the Editor-in-Chief through the Contact page, with as much detail and evidence as possible.
  2. Initial assessment: the Editor-in-Chief checks whether the allegation is credible and within the scope of this policy.
  3. Investigation: the Editor-in-Chief, with editorial board members or external experts if needed, reviews the evidence and asks the authors for an explanation. The authors’ institution may be contacted.
  4. Outcome: if no misconduct is found, the case is closed. For minor misconduct, the authors may receive a warning and be asked to publish a correction. For serious misconduct, the manuscript is rejected or the article is retracted, an expression of concern may be issued, the institution may be informed, and the authors may be barred from submitting for a period of time.
  5. Appeal: authors may appeal in writing to the Editor-in-Chief, giving reasons and any new evidence.

Prevention

EBGC prevents misconduct through clear guidelines for authors and reviewers, double-blind peer review, and plagiarism screening (see Plagiarism Screening).