Publication Ethics

The Nsukka Journal of Religion and Cultural Studies (NJRCS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and preventing any form of malpractice. The publisher, Editor-in-Chief, members of editorial team, authors, peer reviewers, and the journal itself are expected to adhere to the following ethical guidelines.

Compliance with Ethical Guidelines

The Publisher, Editor-In-Chief, members of editorial team and reviewers of the Nsukka Journal of Religion and Cultural Studies (NJRCS) are expected to conduct themselves ethically in accordance with the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), as well as the principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing.

Authorship and Data Integrity 

• Authors submitting manuscripts to NJRCS are expected to have made significant contributions to the research output as stipulated in the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT).
• Since NJRCS do not accept any form of plagiarism, authors should make sure that their research output is original and cited properly.
• Authors should avoid submitting the same manuscript under consideration in NJRCS to multiple journals simultaneously.
• Authors should make sure that the data provided is accurate and describe their research methods accurately.
• Authors should note that NJRCS considers fabrication or manipulation of data a serious ethical violation.

Journal Integrity

The Publisher, Editor-In-Chief, and members of the Editorial Team play an important role in maintaining the integrity of the journal. This responsibility is upheld by following the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in their Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. Should any member of the editorial team come across an allegation of research misconduct related to a published paper, it is crucial that they follow the recommended procedures to address such issues effectively. After a thorough investigation to validate any ethical concerns raised, appropriate actions like issuing corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, or other relevant notices may be posted on the NJRCS’s website.

Peer Review 

The Nsukka Journal of Religion and Cultural Studies (NJRCS) considers peer review process as a very important aspect that ensures the quality and integrity of published research. Hence, reviewers should ensure that they provide constructive and objective feedback without any bias or conflict of interest. NJRCS’s Editors are entrusted with the responsibilities of selecting competent reviewers and making fair decisions based on their recommendations. Visit our Peer Review Process page for more details. 

Conflicts of Interes

It is compulsory for authors, reviewers, and editors to disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence their objectivity. Conflicts of interest may include personal or financial relationships, and/or academic competition. Failure to intentionally disclose this on the journal’s disclosure form is regarded as misconduct.

Measures to Prevent Misconduct

In the Nsukka Journal of Religion and Cultural Studies, (NJRCS) the publisher, Editor-In-Chief, and Editorial Board members should ensure that they take adequate measures to prevent the publication of articles involving misconduct. This includes activities such as plagiarism, Ai generated content, citation manipulation, and data fabrication.

Copyright Retention by Authors

Authors of articles published in NJRCS retain their copyright for their work, except for third-party images and other materials added by the publisher that may be subject to copyright from their respective owners. Authors are responsible for obtaining appropriate copyright release permissions for any copyrighted materials used in their manuscripts before submitting them to NJRCS. More so, authors are required to grant full permission to NJRCS to publish their contents, which includes storing, displaying, copying, and reusing it.

Correction Process for Minor Errors

Minor errors that do not significantly affect the integrity of the research data or hinder a reader’s understanding of the published work, and do not contain scientific inaccuracies or omissions, will be corrected. In this case, the original work will be taken down, and will be replaced with a corrected version. The date when the correction is implemented will be clearly indicated on the corrected article.

Erratum

An Erratum serves as a concise statement provided by the authors of an original paper, detailing any corrections made due to errors or omissions identified in the initial publication. It is essential to ascertain whether these changes have impacted the conclusions drawn in the paper.

Notably, articles featuring corrections are not removed from the online journal issue; instead, an erratum notice is issued to acknowledge and rectify any inaccuracies.

Retraction of Scientific Articles

Upon publication of the Erratum, the corrected article is linked to the Erratum, which is freely available to all readers. Having a paper retracted means that the paper has been removed from the scientific literature and should not be considered a part of it.

The retraction of a study is issued if there is clear evidence to suggest that the findings are unreliable, this can be as a result of misconduct or honest errors; if the findings have been published elsewhere without proper referencing, permission, or justification; if the study has been plagiarized; or if the study reports unethical research.

This is done in order to protect the integrity of the record. As such, the retracted article is not removed from the online issue of the journal, but a notice of retraction is given to all readers, and the retracted article is linked to the notice of retraction.

The author(s) of a paper can publish a retraction when they discover that there has been a substantial mistake in the study; in other cases, Editor-In-Chief or publisher may decide that a retraction is necessary.

When a scientific publication needs to be retracted, the retraction notice will provide detailed information about the reason for the action and the individuals responsible for making the decision. In instances where authors do not unanimously agree to a retraction, this fact will also be disclosed in the notice.

A publisher may choose to redact or remove an article if it is discovered to be in violation of the law. To preserve the accuracy of the scientific record, bibliographic information about the article will remain intact. Publisher’s Notes are utilized by publishers to inform readers of corrections made after an article’s initial publication.

These notes are issued by the Publisher and are used when errors introduced during production or typographical errors impact the article’s metadata (such as title, author list, or by line) or significantly affect readers’ comprehension of the article.

Timeline for Corrections

Replacement of an article with its corrected version is only applies to articles published within one year of its initial publication date. If corrections are required for articles published more than a year, a Note of Correction will be embedded in such articles rather than by replacing the original content.