Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The University of Western Australia is committed to ensuring that all works published in our journals are of the highest quality and scrutinised under the highest ethical standards. We expect editors, reviewers, and authors working on, and contributing to, our journals to be committed to upholding these high ethical standards as well. The University hereby adheres to the current copyright laws and practices set out by the Official Copyright Board of Australia.

Note that every issue is archived with the National Library of Australia as a long-term preservation service.

Editors must:

Have editorial boards or other governing bodies whose members are recognised experts in the field(s) discussed in the publication
Disclose full names and affiliations of the editorial board members on the journal’s website
Have guidelines for retracting or correcting articles when needed; always be willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed
Subject all of the journal’s scholarly content to peer review and ensure confidentiality during the peer review process, and ensure that it is impartial, unbiased, and timely
Editors with the help of the peer reviewers will run text matching checks on submissions to identify and report any instances of plagiarism to authors.

Authors must:

Certify in writing (See ‘Copyright Declaration’ in the Submission menu) that neither the article submitted nor a version of it (in any language) has been published, nor is publicly available online, nor is being considered for publication elsewhere, nor will be submitted elsewhere for consideration for publication while the manuscript is under review by the journal
Cites sources accurately and in accordance with the journal’s submission guidelines
Ensure that all permissions have been obtained for all images, graphics, and supplementary materials prior to publication

Peer Reviewers must:

Disclose any potential or immediate conflict of interest in the review of a submission
Ensure confidentiality during the peer review process
Recuse themselves if they are certain of the identity of the author(s) in order to maintain the integrity of the blind review process (when applicable)
Review manuscripts in an objective, impartial, unbiased, and timely manner
Identify and report documented cases of plagiarism

Procedures for addressing unethical behaviours:

Unethical practices may include, but are not limited to, violations of any of the ethical expectations (e.g. plagiarism, falsification or fabrication, authorship falsification, redundant publication, undeclared conflict of interest, etc.).
The person reporting the ethical breach must provide sufficient evidence in order for an investigation to be undertaken and to avoid claims of defamation.
All allegations are treated equally and taken seriously until a conclusion has been reached.

Consequences depending on seriousness of breach:

Inform the author or reviewer of the breach in misconduct in cases where there seems to be a misunderstanding of ethical standards.
For other breaches, send a formal letter to the author or reviewer’s employer or funding agency.
Publish an erratum notice outlining the breach or undertake a formal retraction or withdrawal of the work in question from the journal, coupled with informing readership of the misconduct.
Reporting the misconduct to a regulatory association for review and action.