Single Cell Biology

Publication ethics & malpractice statement

Ethical standards for publication are existent to assurance high-quality scientific publications, unrestricted reliance in scientific findings, and that people receive recognition for their work and concepts.

Single Cell Biology Journal are a member of the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE) and objectives to adhere to its guidelines and core practices.

Assessment of articles

All manuscripts are subjected to peer review and are anticipated to meet standards of academic superiority. If approved by the editor, submissions will be deliberated by peer reviewers, whose identities will remain anonymous to the authors.

Our Research Integrity team will occasionally seek advice outside standard peer review, for example, on submissions with serious ethical, security, biosecurity, or societal implications. We may consult experts and the academic editor before deciding on appropriate actions, including but not limited to recruiting reviewers with specific expertise, assessment by additional editors, and diminishing to further consider a submission.

Plagiarism

Authors should not utilize words, figures, or thoughts of others without affirmation. All sources should be referred to at the point they are utilized, and reuse of phrasing should be restricted and be credited or cited in the text. Compositions that are found to have been counterfeited from an original copy by different creators, regardless of whether distributed or unpublished will be dismissed and the creators might bring about sanctions. Maybe any distributed articles ought to be amended or withdrawn.
Duplicate submission and redundant publication

Single Cell Biology Journal think about just unique substance, for example articles that have not been recently distributed, remembering for a phonetic other than English. Articles dependent on content earlier made public just on a preprint worker, institutional archive, or in a postulation will be thought of.  

Original copies submitted to Single Cell Biology journal should not be submitted somewhere else while under thought and should be removed prior to being submitted somewhere else. Writers whose articles are found to have been at the same time surrendered somewhere else may bring about sanctions. 

On the off chance that writers have utilized their own earlier distributed work, or work that is presently under survey, as the beginning for a submitted composition, they should refer to the past articles and determine how their submitted original copy veers from their past work. Reuse of the creators' own words outside the techniques ought to be ascribed or cited in the text. Reuse of the creators' own figures or generous measures of phrasing might require consent from the copyright holder and the creators are answerable for acquiring this.

Single Cell Biology Journal journals will consider extended versions of articles published at conferences provided this is declared in the cover letter, the previous version is clearly cited and discussed, there is significant new content, and any necessary permission are obtained.

Redundant publication, the inappropriate division of study outcomes into more than one article may result in rejection or a request to merge submitted manuscripts, and the correction of published articles. Duplicate publication of the same, or a very similar, article may result in the retraction of the later article and the authors may incur sanctions.

Citation manipulation
Authors whose submitted manuscripts are found to incorporate references whose basic role is to expand the quantity of references to a given writer's work, or to articles distributed in a specific journal, may bring about sanctions. 

Editors and commentators should not request that creators incorporate references just to expand references to their own or a partner's work, to the journal, or to another journal they are related with.

Fabrication and falsification

The authors of submitted manuscripts or published articles that are found to have fabricated or falsified the results, including the manipulation of images, may incur sanctions, and published articles may be retracted.

Authorship and acknowledgements

All listed authors must have made a significant scientific contribution to the research in the manuscript, approved its claims, and agreed to be an author. It is important to list everyone who made a significant scientific contribution. We refer to the ICMJE guidelines. Author contributions may be described at the end of the submission, optionally using roles defined by CRediT. Submitting authors must provide an ORCID and we encourage all authors to provide one. Changes in authorship must be declared to the journal and agreed to by all authors. An author may change their name on a published article.

Anyone who contributed to the research or manuscript preparation, but is not an author, should be acknowledged with their permission. Submissions by anyone other than one of the authors will not be considered.

Conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest occur when issues outside research could be reasonably perceived to affect the neutrality or objectivity of the work or its assessment. This can happen at any stage in the research cycle, including during the experimentation phase, while a manuscript is being written, or during the process of turning a manuscript into a published article. 

If unsure, declare a potential interest or discuss with the editorial office. Undeclared interests may incur sanctions. Submissions with undeclared conflicts that are later revealed may be rejected. Published articles may need to be re-assessed, have a corrigendum published, or in serious cases be retracted. For more information on COIs, see the guidance from the ICMJE and WAME.

Conflicts of interest do not always stop work from being published or prevent someone from being involved in the review process. However, they must be declared. A clear declaration of all possible conflicts – whether they actually had an influence or not – allows others to make informed decisions about the work and its review process.
If conflicts of interest are found after publication, this may be embarrassing for the authors, the Editor and the journal. It may be necessary to publish a corrigendum or reassess the review process.

Conflicts include the following:

•    Financial — funding and other payments, goods and services received or expected by the authors relating to the subject of the work or from an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work
•    Affiliations — being employed by, on the advisory board for, or a member of an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work
•    Intellectual property — patents or trademarks owned by someone or their organization
•    Personal — friends, family, relationships, and other close personal connections
•    Ideology — beliefs or activism, for example, political or religious, relevant to the work
•    Academic — competitors or someone whose work is critiqued

Authors
Authors must declare all potential interests in a ‘Conflicts of interest’ section, which should explain why the interest may be a conflict. If there are none, the authors should state “The author(s) declare(s) that there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this paper.” Submitting authors are responsible for co-authors declaring their interests.
Authors must declare current or recent funding (including article processing charges) and other payments, goods or services that might influence the work. All funding, whether a conflict or not, must be declared in the ‘Funding Statement’.

The involvement of anyone other than the authors who 
1) has an interest in the outcome of the work;
2) Is affiliated to an organization with such an interest; or 
3) Was employed or paid by a funder, in the commissioning, conception, planning, design, conduct, or analysis of the work, the preparation or editing of the manuscript, or the decision to publish must be declared.
Declared conflicts of interest will be considered by the editor and reviewers and included in the published article.

Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers should decline to be involved with a submission when they
•    Have a recent publication or current submission with any author
•    Share or recently shared an affiliation with any author
•    Cooperate with any author
•    Have a close personal association with any author
•    Have a financial interest in the subject of the work
•    Feel unable to be objective

Reviewers must declare any remaining interests in the ‘Confidential’ section of the review form, which will be considered by the editor. Editors and reviewers must declare if they have previously discussed the manuscript with the authors.
Sanctions

If Single Cell Biology Journal becomes aware of breaches of our publication ethics policies, whether or not the breach occurred in a journal published by Single Cell Biology Journal, the following sanctions may be applied across the Single Cell Biology Journal journals:
•    Rejection of the manuscript and any other manuscripts submitted by the author(s).
•    Not allowing submission for 1–3 years.
•    Prohibition from acting as an editor or reviewer.
Investigations
Suspected breaches of our publication ethics policies, either before or after publication, as well as concerns about research ethics, should be reported to our Research Integrity team.

Claimants will be kept anonymous. Single Cell Biology Journal may ask the authors to provide the underlying data and images, consult editors, and contact institutions or employers to ask for an investigation or to raise concerns.

Corrections and retractions

When errors are identified in published articles, the publisher will consider what action is required and may consult the editors and the authors’ institution(s). Errors by the authors may be corrected by a corrigendum and errors by the publisher by an erratum. If there are errors that significantly affect the conclusions or there is evidence of misconduct, this may require retraction or an expression of concern following the ICMJE Retraction Guidelines. All authors will be asked to agree to the content of the notice.