Ethical Guidelines

JBIOEDRA: Journal of Biology Education follows the ethical standards as outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authors submitting to JBIOEDRA are expected to adhere to ethical principles concerning authorship, plagiarism, duplicate publication, data fabrication, citation manipulation, ethics approval, intellectual property rights, and conflict of interest.

Authorship

An author is an individual who has made significant intellectual contributions to the research and is able to take public responsibility for its content. Authorship should be based on the following contributions:
(i) the conception and design of the study, data collection, and data analysis;
(ii) drafting or revising the manuscript critically for important intellectual content; and
(iii) final approval of the version to be submitted.
By submitting a manuscript to JBIOEDRA, it is implied that all listed authors have read and approved the final manuscript and agree to its submission. All authors are accountable for the integrity, accuracy, and ethical aspects of the research.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of presenting others’ work, ideas, or words as one's own without appropriate attribution. Submitted manuscripts must be the original work of the author(s). JBIOEDRA uses plagiarism detection software to screen submitted manuscripts, and any indication of plagiarism will result in immediate rejection or retraction.

Duplicate (Redundant) Publication

Duplicate publication refers to publishing the same content in more than one journal without proper acknowledgment. Manuscripts submitted to JBIOEDRA must not have been previously published or be under consideration elsewhere. Submissions with overlapping data, hypotheses, methods, or results with published work—even in another language—are considered redundant and unethical. Fragmenting data from a single study into multiple publications (salami slicing) without substantial differences is strongly discouraged.

Fabrication and Falsification of Data

The fabrication or falsification of data is a serious ethical violation. All data presented must be accurate, genuine, and free from manipulation. Any detected misconduct will result in the manuscript being rejected and reported to relevant authorities.

Citation Manipulation

Citations must be relevant and contribute to the quality of the manuscript. Inappropriate citations—including excessive self-citation or adding irrelevant references to boost citation metrics—are considered unethical and are not allowed.

Ethics Approval

Research involving human participants or animals must obtain prior approval from relevant ethics committees or institutional review boards. A statement of ethics approval must be included in the "Materials and Methods" section. Research involving human subjects must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki, and informed consent must be obtained. Personal or identifiable information should only be included if necessary and with explicit written consent from the participant or guardian.

Intellectual Property Rights

Authors must respect the intellectual property rights of others and ensure that all sources of data, images, or materials are legally and ethically obtained. Any use of copyrighted materials must be accompanied by proper permission or licensing.

Conflict of Interest and Source of Funding

All authors are required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest and to state all sources of financial or institutional support for the research within the manuscript. Transparency in funding and affiliations helps ensure the credibility of the research.