Publication ethics

In General 

Only original articles can be published in the reviewed part of JOSRA journal. This means that the article authors submitted has not previously been published elsewhere or sent simultaneously to another publisher. Exceptions are parts of lectures, review articles or doctoral/student theses.

Review process

All articles published in the peer-reviewed section of this journal have been firstly reviewed by an editor and then go through anonymized review process by two anonymous experts/reviewers. Each article in the reviewed part of JOSRA is reviewed by 2 independent reviewers and based on their reviews the article is accepted/not accepted for publication.

The reviewers are selected and contacted either by editorial staff or in consultation with the editorial board members. The reviewers are chosen based on expertise in the topic of the submitted article. To avoid bias, they must belong to a different organization than the authors of the article. The reviews are dispatched to authors anonymously, i.e. the names of the reviewers are not disclosed to the authors.

All contributions in the issue are labelled according to whether they have been reviewed (peer-reviewed article) or are informative and review articles (non peer-reviewed article).

Editors´ responsibilities

Decision to publish article

The editor of the journal decides which of the articles submitted to the journal will be published. The editor is governed by the policy of the Editorial Board of the JOSRA and is also acting in accordance with the applicable law with regard to libel, copyright, and plagiarism. The editor can consult his/her decision with other editors, reviewers, or editorial board members.

Fair play

The editor evaluates the manuscript according to its intellectual content regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, citizenship, or political thoughts of the author.

Secrecy

The editor or any other member of the editorial board may communicate any information about the submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers and publishers.

Publishing, conflict of interest, and other issues

When deciding to withdraw an article, publish a warning about a possible misconception in the article, and publish a correction of an article published in the journal, the editor follows the rules of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The editor may not use the unpublished materials contained in the submitted manuscript for the purpose of his/her own research, without written permission of the author (s). Protected information or ideas obtained through the review process must be considered confidential and not be used for personal benefit. The editor is responsible for the fact that editorial decisions will not be affected by advertising, reprint, and other commercial activities.

The editor is obliged to ensure a fair and adequate review process. The editor is required to refuse to participate in the assessment of manuscripts (i.e. he/she is required to ask another editor or other editorial board member to provide review and assessment) if there is a conflict of interest in the case due to competitive relationships, cooperative relationships or other relationships with authors, companies or (possibly) institutions associated with the article. The editor is obligated to require all contributors to disclose relevant conflicts of interest and to publish corrections if the conflict of interest after the article has been already published. If necessary, additional steps can be taken, such as publishing a withdraw notification of the article or warning about a possible misconception in the article.

Reviewers´ responsibilities

Participation in editorial decision making

The review process helps the editor in editorial decision making and communication with the author can also help improve the manuscript.

Eligibility/qualification

Reviewer who does not feel qualified enough to assess the manuscript, or who knows he/she will not be able to make a review report within the required deadline, is obligated to inform the editor without delay so that other reviewers can be contacted.

Secrecy

Each manuscript to be reviewed must be treated as a confidential document. It must not be shown or discussed with other persons without the permission of the editor.

Objectivity

Reviews must be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author (s) is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly and put forward appropriate arguments.

Resources

Reviewers are obligated to provide relevant published works that have not been cited by the author (s). The claim that specific observations, derivations, or arguments have previously been published must be accompanied by an appropriate citation. Reviewers are also obligated to remind the editor of any relevant resemblance or overlap between the reviewed manuscript and any other published work they are personally aware of.

Publishing and conflict of interest

Protected information or ideas obtained through the review process must be considered confidential and not be used for personal benefit. Reviewers are required to refrain from assessing manuscripts if there is a conflict of interest in the case in question for reasons of competitive relationships, relationships based on co-operation or other relationships or links with authors, companies or institutions linked to the work submitted.

Authors´ responsibilities

Publication standards

The authors of the article presenting the original research are required to provide accurate data on the research conducted and an objective evaluation of its significance. The underlying data should also be specified in the article. The article should contain sufficient data and references to replicate its content. Deceptive or knowingly inaccurate claims are unethical and unacceptable.

Originality and plagiarism

The authors are responsible for the fact that their work is entirely original and, if they use the work and / or the words of other authors, are responsible for their proper references.

Multiple, duplicate, or concurrent publishing

Generally, the author may not publish a manuscript describing essentially the same research in more than one journal. Simultaneous submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal presents unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.

Resources

The authors must appropriate cite other works and resources in case of using previously published materials. Authors are obligated to provide publications that have significantly influenced the nature of the work submitted.

Authorship of the manuscript

Authorship should only be attributed to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the present study. All who have contributed significantly should be listed as co-authors. In the event that other persons are involved in some important aspects of the research project, they should be mentioned in the contributors section. The correspondent author states that all relevant co-authors are listed in the list of authors of the manuscript (as defined above). He/she will also ensure that all co-authors have the final version of the manuscript available and approved and have agreed to submit this final version to the publication. All co-authors must be clearly identified at the moment of handwriting. Requests to add co-authors after the manuscript has been accepted are subject to editorial decision.

Publishing and conflict of interest

All authors are obligated to indicate any financial or other significant conflicts of interest in the manuscript that could affect the results or their interpretation. All sources of financial support must be made public.

Major errors in published works

If the author discovers a significant mistake or inaccuracy in his published work, it is his/her duty to notify immediately the editors or publishers of the journal and work with them to withdraw the article or publish the article correction notice.

Publisher´s responsibilities

Editorial autonomy

The Journal of Safety Research and Applications ensures that role of publisher and editors are clearly defined with co-operation with editors so as to ensure the autonomy of editorial decisions without affecting advertisers or other commercial partners.

Intellectual property and copyright

Publisher protects the intellectual property and copyright of the journal, its brand, authors and publishing partners by presenting and keeping the final published version of each article. The journal guarantees the integrity and transparency of the articles published with regard to: conflicts of interest, publication and research funding, publication and research ethics, publication and research mistakes, confidentiality of information, authorship, corrections, clarification and withdrawing of articles and the timely content publishing.

Scientific misconduct

In the case of suspected or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher, in close cooperation with the editors, shall take all necessary steps to clarify the situation and correction of the article. As a part of this procedure, correction notices are published without delay, possibly in the most serious cases, the withdrawal of the concerned work.