Frontiers in Biotechnology and Genetics (FBG) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. The journal follows the ethical principles and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing.
This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and all individuals involved in the publication process. FBG promotes responsible research practices, transparency, accountability, and the preservation of academic integrity.
Authors must ensure that submitted manuscripts represent original work and have not been published previously or submitted simultaneously to another journal.
All sources, ideas, data, methodologies, and text obtained from other publications must be properly acknowledged and cited. Plagiarism, including direct copying, self-plagiarism, inappropriate reuse of published material, and misrepresentation of others' work, is considered unethical publishing behavior.
FBG may use plagiarism detection tools to evaluate submitted manuscripts.
Authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy, reliability, and integrity of their research data.
Authors must not engage in:
Authors may be requested to provide supporting information, datasets, research materials, or ethical approval documentation during editorial review.
Authors must not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously.
Duplicate, redundant, or substantially similar publications are not acceptable unless full disclosure and appropriate justification are provided.
Authors must inform the journal about any related publications, preprints, conference papers, or overlapping research outputs.
FBG follows internationally accepted authorship principles. Authorship should only be assigned to individuals who have made significant intellectual contributions to the research and manuscript.
Authors should fulfill the following criteria:
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:
FBG does not allow:
Any changes to authorship after submission require written approval from all authors and justification to the editorial office.
FBG encourages authors to provide a Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) statement describing individual contributions to research and manuscript preparation.
Authors may specify contributions using the following roles:
The corresponding author must ensure that contributor information accurately represents the actual contributions of each author.
FBG requires authors, reviewers, and editors to disclose any financial, personal, professional, institutional, or other relationships that may influence the research process, peer review, or editorial decisions.
Authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest during manuscript submission, including:
If no conflict exists, authors should provide a clear statement confirming the absence of competing interests.
Reviewers must declare any conflicts that may affect their impartial evaluation of a manuscript.
Reviewers should decline review invitations when:
Editors must manage conflicts of interest appropriately.
An editor should not handle manuscripts where:
Such manuscripts should be assigned to another qualified editor.
All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents.
Reviewers must not:
Reviews must be conducted objectively, professionally, and respectfully.
Reviewer comments should focus on:
Personal criticism of authors is unacceptable.
Reviewers should notify editors if they identify:
Editors evaluate manuscripts based on:
Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:
Acceptance or rejection decisions are based solely on scholarly merit and peer-review outcomes.
Publication fees, sponsorship, or commercial considerations must never influence editorial decisions.
Editors and editorial staff must maintain confidentiality regarding:
FBG maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward research and publication misconduct.
Research misconduct includes:
Creating false data, experiments, results, or research information.
Manipulating research materials, procedures, images, or data to produce misleading results.
Using another person's work, ideas, text, or data without proper acknowledgment.
Publishing identical or substantially similar research without appropriate disclosure.
Artificially increasing citations through irrelevant references, excessive self-citation, or citation agreements.
Improper modification or alteration of scientific images, figures, or research evidence.
Including individuals who have not contributed or excluding legitimate contributors.
When concerns regarding misconduct are raised, FBG follows a fair and confidential investigation process.
The journal may:
Possible outcomes include:
All investigations are handled confidentially and objectively.
FBG maintains the accuracy and reliability of the scholarly record.
When significant errors, ethical concerns, or misconduct are identified after publication, the journal may issue
All actions are conducted according to COPE guidelines.
Authors, reviewers, and readers may submit complaints regarding:
Authors may appeal editorial decisions by providing clear academic justification.
Complaints and appeals are reviewed fairly, independently, and confidentially by appropriate editorial authorities.
The Editor-in-Chief has final responsibility for publication decisions.
Decisions are based on:
All decisions are made independently without inappropriate commercial influence.
Frontiers in Biotechnology and Genetics (FBG) follows the ethical guidance and Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) concerning:
FBG is committed to maintaining transparency, accountability, and responsible scholarly communication.
