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, including on the National Electronic Deposit (NED).

i) Journal policies on Editorship, Authorship and Reviewers

Policies on Editorship

• The editorial board is made up of members who are recognised experts in the field(s) discussed in our publication
• Full names and affiliations of the editorial board members are disclosed on the journal’s website
• The editors follow guidelines for retracting or correcting articles when needed, and are always willing to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies when needed
• The editors 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
• The editors institute a process for identification of and dealing with allegations of research misconduct: we take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, including plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others. In no case shall we encourage such misconduct, or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.
• The editors run text matching checks on submissions to identify and report any instances of plagiarism to authors.

Policies on Authorship :

• Author(s) and co-author(s) must certify in writing (See ‘Copyright and Competing Interests 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.
• Authors and co-authors must cite their sources accurately and in accordance with the journal’s submission guidelines.
• Austhors and co-authors must acknowledge, with their authorisation, whoever assisted in, and/or contributed to, the research or writing of their paper.
• Authors and co-authors must ensure that all permissions have been obtained for all images, graphics, and supplementary materials prior to publication.
• Authors and co-authors agree to handle the revisions, corrections and resubmission of their manuscript.
• Authors and co-authors commit to respond to post-publication queries relating to publishing ethics, re-use of contents or availability of data.

Policies on Peer Reviewers

• 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
• Review manuscripts in an objective, impartial, unbiased, and timely manner
• Identify and report documented cases of plagiarism
• Abide by COPE’s Guidelines on Peer Reviews

ii) Complaints and appeals

• Appeals on editorial decisions and complaints on any matter relating to the journal should be sent to the Managing Editor.
• The Managing Editor will examine the appeal and complaints in a fair and timely fascion, referring to the Board for advice if need be.
• No abusive behaviours will be tolerated.

iii) Policies on conflicts of interest/competing interests

• Authors and reviewers are required to declare any potential conficts of interest and/or undue influence that could interfere with the integrity of the journal. These could be financial, non-financial, professional or personal in nature.
• A signed Copyright and Competing Interests declaration, including a funding declaration as the case maybe, must be provided when submitting the final revised manuscript.
• The journal is solely funded by sales of hard copies and draws no resources from advertising. Any direct marketing activities, including solicitation of manuscripts conducted on behalf of the journal, are appropriate, well targeted, and unobtrusive.

iv) Policy on Data Sharing and Reproducibility

• Third parties may request approval from the Managing Editor to reproduce, re-use or adapt the content in different contexts and languages.
• The Editors and authors retain the right to withhold approval for publication if they have concern about the integrity and accuracy of the new edition.

v) Policy on Ethical Oversight

• 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.

vi) Intellectual Property

• Authors retain their copyrights under the conditions described in the Open Access link.
• Authors are not charged for article processing fees (APC), be it at the time of submission, revisions or publication.

vii) Post-publication Discussions and Corrections.

• In the event that Editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct relating to a published article in our journal, we shall follow COPE’s guidelines in dealing with allegations.
• The Editors will inform the author or reviewer of the breach in misconduct in cases where there seems to be a misunderstanding of ethical standards.
• An erratum notice outlining the breach will be published on line and in the subsequent journal issue.
• The Editors may undertake a formal retraction or withdrawal of the work in question from the journal, coupled with informing readership of the misconduct.
• For cases not associated with misconduct, an erratum notice outlining the correction(s) will be published online and in the subsequent issue, if deemed necessary by the Editorial Board.