Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics

King Mongkut’s Agricultural Journal (KMAJ) is committed to following ethical principles and good publication practices. The journal places great importance on accuracy, transparency, fairness, and reliability throughout the peer review and publication processes to maintain the quality and credibility of published research.

The journal follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to promote and maintain high standards of publication ethics. These guidelines also serve as a basis for preventing, identifying, and addressing cases of academic misconduct, such as plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, and failure to disclose conflicts of interest. If any ethical misconduct is identified, the journal will take appropriate action in accordance with relevant guidelines and procedures, while ensuring accuracy and fairness to all parties involved.

All parties involved in the publication process, including the publisher, Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board, reviewers, and authors, are responsible for understanding and complying with publication ethics. All parties are expected to strictly follow these ethical principles to ensure that the journal operates with transparency, accountability, and academic integrity.

King Mongkut’s Agricultural Journal has established the following publication ethics policies and guidelines for all parties involved:

  1. 1. Publisher
  2. 2. Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board
  3. 3. Reviewers
  4. 4. Authors
  5. 5. Publication Misconduct and Procedures
  6. 6. Human and Animal Research Ethics

Anyone who identifies or has concerns about possible violations of publication ethics or the journal’s editorial and publication processes may contact the Editor directly or send an email to kmaj@kmitl.ac.th.

 

Publisher

The publisher or journal owner is responsible for supporting the journal’s operations to ensure independence, transparency, and adherence to academic ethics. The publisher has the following roles and responsibilities:

  1. 1. Respect Academic Independence: Respect the academic independence of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board in reviewing and making decisions on submitted manuscripts.
  2. 2. Avoid Undue Interference: Do not improperly interfere with the journal’s operations, manipulate or influence its processes, or exert pressure to ensure that editorial activities or decisions on manuscripts serve the interests of any individual or organization.
  3. 3. Ensure Business or Financial Interests Do Not Influence Publication Decisions: Financial interests, advertising, or other commercial revenues must not influence the journal’s academic review and editorial decision-making processes.

Source: Adapted from the Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI).

 

Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board

The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for overseeing the submission, review, and publication processes of King Mongkut’s Agricultural Journal to ensure that all published articles meet academic standards, are accurate, fair, and comply with publication ethics. Their roles and responsibilities are as follows:

  1. 1. Make Independent and Fair Editorial Decisions: Take responsibility for decisions regarding submitted manuscripts based on the journal’s policies, publication ethics, and applicable laws. Decisions must be free from discrimination and must not be influenced by factors unrelated to academic quality.
  2. 2. Clearly Communicate Journal Policies: Ensure that information about the journal’s policies and procedures is complete, accessible, and up to date on the journal’s website. Any policy changes must be announced in advance before they take effect.
  3. 3. Oversee the Manuscript Review Process: Ensure that the manuscript review process complies with research standards, research ethics, relevant requirements, and journal policies, and is completed within the specified timeframe.
  4. 4. Disclose and Manage Conflicts of Interest: Disclose and appropriately manage any conflicts of interest that may affect the review or editorial decision-making process to ensure impartiality.
  5. 5. Select Appropriate Reviewers: Select reviewers based on their knowledge, expertise relevant to the manuscript, credibility, and absence of conflicts of interest that could compromise the evaluation.
  6. 6. Maintain Confidentiality: Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts, supporting documents, information obtained during the review process, personal data, and the identities of authors, reviewers, and other individuals involved, except where disclosure is required by the journal’s review model or is necessary under applicable laws and regulations.
  7. 7. Exercise Academic Judgment in Editorial Decisions: Consider reviewers’ comments and recommendations when making editorial decisions. However, the final decision rests with the editor in accordance with the journal’s procedures.
  8. 8. Handle Complaints and Allegations of Misconduct: Address complaints and allegations of misconduct, such as plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, and violations of research ethics. All relevant facts and evidence must be examined appropriately, promptly, fairly, impartially, and independently. Related appeals must also be considered.
  9. 9. Properly Correct Published Articles: When corrections to published articles are necessary, take appropriate action in accordance with established procedures, such as publishing a correction notice (Correction/Erratum). The reasons and details of the correction must be clearly stated, and the notice must be linked to the original article.
  10. 10. Prevent Improper Withdrawal of Published Articles: Do not allow published articles to be withdrawn without following appropriate procedures. Any withdrawal must comply with the journal’s policies and publication ethics.
  11. 11. Clearly Indicate the Status of Retracted Articles: Clearly identify the status of retracted articles and do not remove retracted articles from the journal’s website, so that readers can verify their status and publication history.
  12. 12. Issue Acceptance Letters Only After Completion of the Review Process: Issue an acceptance letter only after a manuscript has successfully passed the review process, met the required quality standards, and received final acceptance for publication.

Source: Adapted from the Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI).

 

Reviewers

Reviewers are responsible for objectively evaluating the quality and accuracy of academic manuscripts. They should provide constructive feedback to help improve manuscripts and support King Mongkut’s Agricultural Journal in publishing high-quality and reliable research. Their roles and responsibilities are as follows:

  1. 1. Accept Manuscripts Within Their Areas of Expertise: Accept manuscripts for review only when they have relevant academic knowledge, expertise, or experience in the subject area of the manuscript.
  2. 2. Complete Reviews and Submit Evaluation Reports Within the Specified Timeframe: Conduct reviews and submit evaluation reports within the specified timeframe to ensure an efficient manuscript review process.
  3. 3. Disclose Conflicts of Interest to the Editor: Inform the editor of any relationships or circumstances that may affect their impartiality in evaluating a manuscript.
  4. 4. Maintain the Confidentiality of Manuscripts and Related Information: Maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts and all related information during and after the review process. Such information must not be disclosed without authorization.
  5. 5. Do Not Use Unpublished Information or Work for Personal or Other Benefits: Do not use unpublished information or work from a manuscript, such as research ideas, methods, findings, or content, for personal benefit or for the benefit of others.
  6. 6. Evaluate Manuscripts Objectively and Fairly: Evaluate manuscripts objectively and fairly in accordance with the journal’s criteria and policies. Assessments must be based on academic quality and supporting evidence, without personal opinions or bias influencing the evaluation.
  7. 7. Provide Constructive Comments and Recommendations: Provide clear and constructive comments and recommendations, with explanations supported by academic evidence, to help authors improve the quality of their manuscripts.
  8. 8. Inform the Editor of Concerns Regarding Research Integrity or Publication Ethics: Notify the editor of any concerns regarding research integrity or publication ethics, such as plagiarism, duplicate submission or publication, data fabrication, data falsification or manipulation, and failure to comply with ethical requirements for research involving humans or animals.
  9. 9. Check the References Cited in the Manuscript: Check the accuracy, relevance, currency, and appropriateness of the references to ensure that they adequately support the academic claims made in the manuscript.

Source: Adapted from the Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI).

 

Authors

Authors are responsible for the accuracy, reliability, and academic integrity of the work submitted for publication in King Mongkut’s Agricultural Journal. They must also comply with the journal’s requirements and publication ethics. Their roles and responsibilities are as follows:

  1. 1. Follow the Journal’s Instructions and Requirements: Comply with the journal’s instructions and requirements regarding manuscript format, supporting documents, and the manuscript submission process.
  2. 2. Submit Original Work That Has Not Been Previously Published: Ensure that the submitted manuscript is original, accurate, and has not been previously published in any other journal.
  3. 3. Do Not Submit the Same or Substantially Overlapping Manuscript to Multiple Journals Simultaneously: Do not submit the same manuscript or work containing substantially overlapping content to more than one journal at the same time. A manuscript under consideration by one journal must not be submitted to another journal, regardless of whether it is written in the same or a different language.
  4. 4. Accurately Identify Authors and Their Order: Ensure that the author list and order are correct. Designate the First Author and Corresponding Author in accordance with the journal’s requirements, which allow only one person for each position. Clearly specify each author's roles and contributions in accordance with the journal’s authorship criteria, the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT), and their actual academic contributions.
  5. 5. The Corresponding Author Must Serve as the Main Contact with the Journal: The Corresponding Author is responsible for coordinating with the journal throughout the manuscript review and publication processes, including after publication. Valid contact information, such as an email address, must be provided.
  6. 6. Obtain Agreement from All Authors: All authors must acknowledge and agree on the author list, order of authors, roles, and contributions. They must also participate in reviewing and approving the manuscript submission and acknowledge and approve the final version before publication.
  7. 7. Provide Accurate Affiliations and Contact Information: Ensure that all affiliations and contact information are accurate, verifiable, and relevant to the actual research or academic work. Affiliations that are unrelated to the work must not be listed.
  8. 8. Ensure the Accuracy and Transparency of the Work: Take responsibility for the accuracy and transparency of the research by reporting research methods, data, and findings accurately, completely, and in a verifiable manner.
  9. 9. Properly Acknowledge and Cite All Sources: Properly acknowledge and cite all sources of text, ideas, data, methods, research findings, images, tables, and other content used in the manuscript, in accordance with the journal’s referencing style.
  10. 10. Comply with Research Ethics and Publication Ethics: Follow the principles of research ethics and publication ethics. Authors must not engage in academic misconduct and must maintain honesty and integrity in presenting their own work and acknowledging the work of others.
  11. 11. Disclose Conflicts of Interest: Disclose any conflicts of interest that may affect the conduct of the research, interpretation of research findings, or preparation of the manuscript.
  12. 12. Disclose Funding Sources and Support: Clearly disclose all funding sources and support related to the research and manuscript preparation, including financial support, materials, equipment, and other relevant resources.
  13. 13. Provide Research-Related Information Upon Request: Provide relevant research information when requested by the journal, such as raw data or data used for analysis, to support the verification of the accuracy and reliability of the work.
  14. 14. Cooperate in Investigations of Allegations or Concerns: Cooperate with the journal in investigating any allegations or concerns regarding the accuracy, reliability, or ethical conduct of the research and publication.

Source: Adapted from the Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI).

 

Ethical Misconduct and Procedures

The journal is firmly committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and strictly follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The journal has a zero-tolerance policy toward publication misconduct. Manuscripts found to involve publication ethics violations will be rejected, while published articles found to involve publication ethics violations or academic misconduct will be retracted. Such cases include the following:

  1. 1. Plagiarism: Plagiarism in any form is considered a violation of publication ethics. Authors must properly and appropriately acknowledge and cite all sources of information. The journal uses Turnitin software to check manuscripts for similarity and sets a maximum similarity index of 30%, excluding the reference list.
  • Manuscripts with a similarity index exceeding the specified limit will be rejected. If a published article is subsequently found to have a similarity index exceeding this limit, the journal will retract the article.
  1. 2. Fabrication and Falsification: Authors must report research results based on actual, verifiable data and facts without manipulating or misrepresenting the evidence. Fabrication of non-existent data or facts, manipulation or falsification of data to obtain desired results, and citation of non-existent academic references are considered violations of publication ethics. This includes cases where false references are deliberately created or generated using artificial intelligence (AI) tools without verifying their accuracy. The journal will reject such manuscripts or retract articles that have already been published.
  2. 3. Duplicate Publication and Simultaneous Submission: Authors must not publish the same article or articles containing substantially overlapping content in more than one academic journal. Authors must also not submit the same manuscript for consideration to multiple journals or academic conferences simultaneously. Such practices are considered violations of publication ethics. The journal will reject the manuscript or retract the published article.
  3. 4. Redundant Publication and Salami Slicing: Authors must not republish data, research findings, or content from their previously published work without properly citing the original publication in accordance with academic standards. Authors must also not deliberately divide data or research findings from the same research project into multiple smaller articles without valid academic justification for the purpose of increasing the number of publications. Such practices are considered violations of publication ethics. The journal will reject the manuscript or retract the published article.
  4. 5. Misrepresentation of Authorship Roles: Authors must accurately identify all authors and their respective contributions to the research. Individuals who have not made an appropriate contribution to the research must not be listed as authors (Gift/Guest Authorship), and individuals who have made substantial contributions to the research or manuscript preparation must not be omitted from the author list (Ghost Authorship). Authors must not conceal or misrepresent the roles and responsibilities of any author. Such practices are considered violations of publication ethics. The journal will reject the manuscript or retract the published article.
  5. 6. Peer Review Manipulation: The journal does not permit any actions intended to interfere with or manipulate the manuscript review process. Examples include recommending reviewers with undisclosed conflicts of interest or exerting influence to manipulate review outcomes. Such actions are considered serious violations of publication ethics. The journal will immediately reject the manuscript without sending it for peer review.

Source: Adapted from the Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI).

 

Human and Animal Research Ethics

Research involving human participants or animals must receive approval from an appropriate research ethics committee before the research is conducted. Authors must clearly state the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval number and the name of the institution or committee that granted the approval in their manuscripts.

If the required ethical approval information is not provided, the journal reserves the right to reject the manuscript for publication.

Source: Adapted from the Thai-Journal Citation Index Centre (TCI).