JOURNAL OF BIOTECHNOLOGY

 Overview

This journal is published by Lujosh Ventures Limited herein referred to as “Lujosh”. The publisher is a member of some organizations that support ethical publication worldwide, and therefore adopts, endorses and strive to uphold publication ethical standards such as: the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) suggestion for conducting, editing, reporting, and publication of scholarly work in Medical Journals, World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) Policy Statement on Geopolitical Intrusion on Editorial Decisions, Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical (STM) Publishers ethics and publication standards.

This editorial policy describes the guidelines for our journal on the publication process.

Submitting a manuscript to our journal here implies that as an author you have read and agreed to the content of our policy and that the manuscript you are submitting conforms to our journal’s policies. We remain neutral to any jurisdictional claims on published maps and institutional affiliations.

Authorship

The word author is attributed to an individual who has in one way or the other contributed significantly to the emergent of a manuscript. According to ICMJE authorship should be based on the following criteria:

1. Relevant contributions to the design and concept of the work across the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data for the work.
2. Composing or revising the work in critical manner for very important cognitive content
3. Approval of final version meant for publication. Click here to view authors consent/permission form
4. Taking responsibility for all aspects of the work so that questions related to the integrity or accuracy of every section of the work are properly investigated and cleared.

Acknowledgement

It is ethical to eulogize those who do not qualify as an author but contribute in the development of the manuscript under the acknowledgement section of the manuscript. Also it is paramount to recognize organization that render support either in funding and/or provision of other resource in making the work a success.

Change of authorship

Changing of author with respect to a manuscript submitted or published article will be done chiefly by implementing the  COPE specification. Only corresponding authors can make request for a change in authorship. Request should be made to the editor using the Changes in Authorship Form.

Submission of Manuscript

We admonish all authors to read the “Author’s Guide” on our journal’s page prior to the preparation of your manuscript for submission. It is mandatory that all manuscript be prepared according to the specification and style stipulated by our journal. All authors listed on the manuscript must meet the requirements for authorship as specified above. Also be prepared to indicate the contribution made by each of the authors.
It is mandatory that all authors approved the final submission of the manuscript prior to submission. When a manuscript is submitted, it is assumed that all authors have read and given their consent for the manuscript submission.
Contact information (Surname/Other names, emails, affiliation and phone numbers) of the corresponding author should be stated while for the co-authors their Surname/Other names and affiliation should also be stated on the manuscript.

We expect you to make a declaration of Conflicts of Interest on the manuscript.

Submission of all manuscript will be done strictly online on our journal portal

Sex and gender in research (SAGER)

Our authors are persuaded to adopt and follow the Sex and Gender Equity in Research – SAGER – guidelines and to put consideration where it is necessary to include sex and gender. The terms sex and gender which imply biological attribute and an attribute shaped by cultural and social situations respectively, should be used by authors carefully in order not to mix up both terms. Where applicable, we expect article titles and/or abstracts to show without ambiguity which sex(es) the research applies to. Also, authors are expected to disclose in the background, if sex and/or gender differences should be expected; in their report state how sex and/or gender were considered in the design of the research; furnish the reader with break down data by sex and/or gender, where appropriate; and respective results been discuss. Peradventure a sex and/or gender analysis was not done and the explanation should be made known in the Discussion. We will suggest that our authors consult the full guidelines before submission. The guidelines apply to research involving cell lines, vertebrate animal and humans

Studies involving animals

An ethics committee needs to approve an experimental study on any regulated invertebrates and/or vertebrates wherever it is applicable. This approval must be based on institutional, national, or international guidelines. When conducting a study on animals, the Basel Declaration and International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) had fundamental principles and ethical guidelines that are outlines and published to guide the activities.

If the experimental research involves client owned animals, the authors is mandated to document a formal or informal permission from the owner or client with a compliance to a high standard and best practices of veterinary care.

Non-experimental and field research on animals should comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines, and this must be approved by ethics committee where applicable. The manuscript must be accompanied by proper permissions and/or licenses statement eluding the compliance with appropriate guidelines. In the cases Involving species at risk of extinction and endangered species of wild fauna and flora, authors are admonished to comply with the IUCN Policy and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora respectively.

Animal welfare matters will be handled by the Editorial team ad they own the right to reject the manuscript, provided that the study involves protocols that appear not to be consistent with animal research accepted norms. Our editorial team may contact the ethics committee for any further information for clarity if the need arise.

Study involving plants

Collection of plant related materials, experimental and field research on wild or cultivated plants is mandatory to comply with important institutional, national, and international guidelines and legislation.

The manuscript must be accompanied by proper permissions and/or licenses statement eluding the compliance with appropriate guidelines. In the cases Involving species at risk of extinction and endangered species of wild fauna and flora, authors are admonished to comply with the IUCN Policy and the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora respectively

Details on specimen voucher for all wild plants with the identifier must be included in the manuscript and this voucher must have been deposited in herbarium or public collection institute that gives access to deposited material.

Standards for study in complementary and alternative medicine

Our journals at Lujosh are fully committed to evidence-based study. There are standards facts threshold that medicine research, it is of our view here that Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) study should be subjected to the same

Any manuscript under the above mentioned study that meet up with the below stated standards and facts threshold can be submitted to us:

• Clinical study manuscripts that conform to the international and national standards for that kind of research (like the Declaration of Helsinki or important Governmental regulation, for example; UK’s The Medicines for Human Use (Clinical Trials) Regulations).
• Research which are properly controlled (with comparison to a placebo or conventional medicine), blinded (where applicable), randomized and enough statistical power to confidentially and rightly interpret the impact reported.
• Research reporting a CAM treatment/technique compared only to other CAM treatment/technique is not enough to evaluate the efficacy of the CAM treatment in question.
• Research in which a conventional treatment is added with a CAM technique is only pertinent if compared to the same conventional treatment added with a placebo.

For Complementary and Alternative Medicine treatments/techniques examined on animal models and/or human patients:

• It is unethical for such study, on humans or animals, to have taken place without enough prior facts that the treatment/technique shows some ability of being therapeutic.
• Manuscripts are expected to include facts that takes the nature of objective, measurable data from past peer reviewed publication which sticks to scientific principles (for example in vitro or cellular study). Other forms of evidence are not pertinent. Manuscripts projecting study lacking this evidence will not be look into on ethical grounds.

Biosafety and biosecurity

We expect all our authors to follow important institutional biosafety and biosecurity protocols and any national or international endorsement that are applicable to the research field in context. Take for instance, for life sciences study, the WHO information DURC for life sciences research. Dual use matter that could be related to a research should not be strange to a researcher, and they needs to take action reduce misuse of their research. Our editorial team could ask an author how dual use risk was mitigate, comply with the requirement of their funder and institution.  So, we could ask authors to revise submitted manuscript prior to our normal journal peer review process.

It has been a general view and of which we also recognize that science openness do assist in societal alertness towards potential threats and the means to defend against them. We project therefore that under no circumstances should the benefit of paper been publish override the risk perceived. As soon as we make a decision with the risk associated, authors will be notified if the decision made was influenced by biosecurity advice  

Study involving geological and paleontological material

It is mandatory that full information (for example the provenance details) of geological and paleontological materials that shows full transparency of the study.

For older museum collections, we understand that getting the exact provenance details may be quiet challenging. In situation where giving exact provenance details may hamper or breach the security of paleontological or geological location it is proper to exclude the locality details.

The ethical standard applicable to local and national laws for collection and export of the materials should be followed by authors. Specific document in support of this could be requested from the authors.

All Journal publish by Lujosh requires that content submitted to our journal keeps to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) standard instruments for safe guiding cultural heritage, and Resolutions, Motions, guidance and other declarations of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Conflict of interest

We expect all authors to make known all interest either financial or non-financial that could have influenced the emergent of the manuscript.

Conflict of interest (COI) is deemed to exist when there is disagreement between an individual competing interest and their duties to scientific and publishing task in way that a rational observer might imagine if the individual’s action or judgment was backed by considerations of their competing interests.

Also we expect reviewers to make known any conflict of interest and if there be need, could step down reviewing such manuscript with conflict of interest;
our editors too are mandated not to consider any manuscript that may have conflict of interest. Such manuscripts will be reassigned to another editor with no conflict of interest.

Confidentiality

Manuscripts submitted to us are strictly confidential material. We will not make known any manuscript submitted to us to anyone apart from the personalities who partake in the manuscript publication processing and preparation (provided it is accepted). These personalities include corresponding authors, editorial staff, potential reviewers, real reviewers and editors. Although in a situation where misconduct is suspected, manuscript can be shown to members of our Journals’ ethics committee and institutions/organizations that may require it for the sole purpose of resolving the misconduct.

Consent for publication

Written permission that must be for publication of their details under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (such that they will be freely available on the internet) must be obtained from any person (or their parent or legal guardian in the scenario of children under 18) whose images, details or video relating to them were included in manuscript. Peradventure the person is late; permission for the publication should be obtained from their next of kin. The manuscript must include a declaration that written informed permission for publication was obtained.

Authors can use the consent form to obtain consent for publication, or a consent form from their own institution or region if appropriate. The consent form must state that the details/images/videos will be freely available on the internet and may be seen by the general public. The consent form must be made available to the Editor if requested, and will be treated confidentially.

In cases where images are entirely unidentifiable and there are no details on individuals reported within the manuscript, permission for publication of images may not be required. The final decision on whether permission to publish is required lies with the Editorial team.

Misconduct

Violating our editorial policy, publication ethics, journal policies and any other applicable policies or guidelines specified by COPE, WAME, ICMJE, and STM. Any acts that compromise, annihilate or threaten the wholesome of the study/publication process are tagged potential misconducts. We will investigate suspected cases of misconduct using the COPE guidelines

Correction and retraction of articles

Every correction needed to be made to an already published article is subjected to the journal editorial team approval and authorization. Editors will make decision on the magnitude of the corrections. Corrections that are minor in nature are made directly to the original article. However, in situation of major corrections, we will retain the original article unchanged while we will also publish the corrected version (with a cost). We will link both the original and corrected version to each other. In addition a declaration showing the reason for the major change to the article will be published.

If there be need for retraction of articles, this will be done in line to COPE retraction guidelines