Ethics & Malpractise

Ethical Guideline for Journal Publication

The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed MJFAS is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is, therefore, important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the authors, the journal editors, the peer reviewers, the publisher and the society.

Penerbit UTM Press as the publisher of MJFAS takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously, and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, the MJFAS and Editorial Board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary.

Ethics and Responsibilities

Editor in Chief
  • Ensure that the journal's editors and the editorial board are identified in the journal masthead.
  • Provide guidelines to the authors for submission of the manuscript.
  • Establishing a system for effective and rapid peer review.
  • Treating all authors with fairness, courtesy, objectivity, honesty, and transparency.
  • Protecting the confidentiality of every author’s work.
  • Making editorial decisions with reasonable speed and communicating them in a clear and constructive manner.
Editors
  • Conducting peer review of submitted manuscripts.
  • Assigning papers for review appropriate to each reviewer’s area of interest and expertise.
  • Allowing reviewers appropriate time to complete their reviews.
  • Maintaining the journal’s internal integrity.
  • Making recommendations about improved evaluation and dissemination of scientific material.
Authors
  • Manuscript submissions must be made through the journal’s online manuscript system at https://mjfas.utm.my
  • Authors MUST follow the “Author Guidelines” stated on the MJFAS website.
  • The manuscript has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The manuscript must be in Microsoft Word and not in PDF format.
  • if the author(s) is interested, the author(s) need to register as a member of I'M Research Consortium through the following website: http://imresearchconsortium.ning.com/main/authorization/signUp  
Reviewers
  • Avoiding personal comments or criticism
  • Notifying the editor immediately if unable to review in a timely manner and providing the names of potential other reviewers.
  • Providing a thoughtful, fair, constructive, and informative critique of the submitted work, which may include supplementary material provided to the journal by the author.
  • Material under review should not be shared or discussed with anyone outside the review process unless necessary and approved by the editor.
  • Complete the review process within the schedule.

Plagiarism

Authors should submit their original work that is not plagiarized and has not been published or been considered elsewhere. Plagiarism checker software by Turnitin® may be used by the editorial office to check the similarities of submitted manuscripts with existing literature. Work and/or words from other publications must be appropriately cited or quoted.