Editorial Policies

 

1        Overview and Purpose

The Branna Journal of Engineering and Technology (BJET), established in September 2017 at the Ethiopian Institute of Technology-Mekelle (EiT-M), Mekelle University, is a multidisciplinary, double-blind peer-reviewed open-access journal publishing biannually. The journal accepts original research and innovation outcomes across a broad spectrum of engineering and technology disciplines.

 

This document establishes the official Editorial Guidelines, Retraction Policy, and Correction Policy for BJET, benchmarked against leading national and international engineering and technology journals—including IEEE Transactions series, Elsevier Engineering journals, Springer Nature, and Frontiers in Engineering—as well as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) standards.

These guidelines govern all aspects of submission handling, peer review, editorial decision-making, and publication conduct at BJET. They are applicable to authors, reviewers, associate editors, and the Editor-in-Chief.

a) Scope and Manuscript Types

BJET accepts the following manuscript types:

•          Original Research Articles: Full-length papers presenting novel research with complete methodology, results, and discussion.

•          Review Articles: Comprehensive, authoritative synthesis of current knowledge in a specific engineering/technology sub-field (by invitation or pre-approval by the Editor-in-Chief).

•          Technical Communications / Short Papers: Brief communications of significant novel findings, preliminary results, or technical innovations (up to 6 pages).

•          Case Studies: Well-documented case analyses with engineering significance and broader applicability.

 

All manuscripts must fall within BJET's multidisciplinary scope encompassing Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Computer, Environmental, Biomedical, Agricultural, and related engineering and technology fields.

b) Authorship and Contributorship

BJET follows the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) criteria for authorship, adapted for engineering disciplines. All listed authors must satisfy the following conditions:

•          Substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the research.

•          Drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content.

•          Approval of the final version to be submitted.

•          Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

 

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section. Ghost authorship (unlisted contributors who qualify as authors) and gift authorship (listed authors who do not qualify) are both violations of BJET policy.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have seen and approved the final manuscript and agreed to its submission.

 Changes in authorship

• Whenever there is a need to make changes in the authorship of a manuscript or a published article, the changes will be implemented according to COPE Only corresponding authors can make a request for a change in authorship. Request should be made to the editor using the contact us.

c) Submission Requirements

Authors should read the “Authors Guidelines” on the journal’s page before making a submission. The manuscript should be prepared according to the style and specifications of the journal’s policy.

Language and Format

•          Manuscripts must be written in clear, grammatically correct English.

•          Submissions should be in Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) or LaTeX format.

•          Manuscript length: Original research articles should not exceed 8,000 words (excluding references); review articles up to 12,000 words.

•          Figures must be submitted at minimum 300 DPI resolution in TIFF, EPS, or high-resolution JPEG format.

•          All figures, tables, and equations must be numbered sequentially and referenced in the text

Manuscript Structure

1.       Title Page: Full title, author names, affiliations, ORCID iDs, corresponding author contact, and a running title.

2.       Abstract: Structured abstract of 200–250 words with sections: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.

3.       Keywords: 5–7 keywords not appearing in the title.

4.       Introduction: Context, literature review, and clear statement of objectives.

5.       Methodology: Sufficient detail for replication; references to established methods are acceptable.

6.       Results: Objective presentation of findings with appropriate statistical analysis.

7.       Discussion: Interpretation, limitations, comparison with prior work, and broader significance.

8.       Conclusion: Summary of key findings and implications.

9.       Author Contributions Statement (recommended, following CRediT taxonomy).

10.   Conflicts of Interest Declaration.

11.   Funding Statement.

12.   Data Availability Statement (if applicable).

13.   Acknowledgements.

14.   References: Follow IEEE referencing style consistently.

Confidentiality

The submitted manuscript is confidential material. Our Journals will not disclose the submitted manuscript to anyone except individuals who partake in the processing and preparation of the manuscript for publication (if accepted). These individuals include editorial staff, corresponding authors, potential reviewers, actual reviewers, and editors.  However, in suspected cases of misconduct, a manuscript may be revealed to members of Academic Journals’ ethics committee and institutions/organizations that may require it for the resolution of the misconduct.  

Ethical Requirements

Research involving human participants, human material, or human data, must have been performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee. A statement detailing this, including the name of the ethics committee and the reference number where appropriate, must appear in all manuscripts reporting such research.

Consent to participate

For all research involving human participants, informed consent to participate in the study should be obtained from participants (or their parent or legal guardian in the case of children under 16) and a statement to this effect should appear in the manuscript. For manuscripts reporting studies involving vulnerable groups (for example, unconscious patients) where there is the potential for coercion (for example prisoners) or where consent may not have been fully informed, manuscripts will be considered at the editor’s discretion and may be referred to an internal editorial oversight group for further scrutiny. Consent must be obtained for all forms of personally identifiable data including biomedical, clinical, and biometric data.

Research involving animals

Experimental research on vertebrates or any regulated invertebrates must comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines, and where available should have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee. The International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) has published ethical guidelines.

A statement detailing compliance with relevant guidelines (e.g. the revised Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986in the UK and Directive 2010/63/EU in Europe) and/or ethical approval (including the name of the ethics committee and the reference number where appropriate) must be included in the manuscript.

d) Plagiarism and Originality Policy

BJET uses automated similarity detection software (CrossRef Similarity Check / iThenticate) for all submissions. The following thresholds apply:

 

Acceptable Similarity

Up to 15% overall similarity index (excluding references and common phrases).

 

Under Review

16–30% similarity — manuscript returned for author revision before peer review proceeds.

 

Rejection

Above 30% similarity, or any single source match above 10%, or evidence of contract cheating or fabrication — immediate rejection.

 

Self-plagiarism (reuse of the author's own previously published text without attribution) is treated the same as plagiarism and will result in rejection or retraction depending on when it is discovered.

e) Conflicts of Interest

• BJET requires authors to declare all competing interests in relation to their research work. All submitted manuscripts must include a ‘competing interests’ section at the end of the manuscript listing all competing interests (financial and non-financial). Where authors have no competing interests, the statement should read “The author(s) declare(s) that they have no competing interests”.
• Editors and reviewers are also required to declare any competing interests and may be excluded from the peer review process if a competing interest exists.

Financial conflict of interest

• Financial competing interests include (but are not limited to):
• Receiving reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of the manuscript, either now or in the future.
• Holding stocks or shares in an organization that may in any way gain or lose financially from the publication of the manuscript, either now or in the future.
• Holding, or currently applying for, patents relating to the content of the manuscript.
• Receiving reimbursements, fees, funding, or salary from an organization that holds or has applied for patents relating to the content of the manuscript.

Non-financial competing interests

·         Non-financial competing interests include (but are not limited to) political, personal, religious, ideological, academic, and intellectual competing interests.

f) Appeals Process

Authors who believe their manuscript was rejected due to a procedural error, factual mistake in the review, or inappropriate reviewer conduct may submit a written appeal to the Editor-in-Chief within 30 days of the rejection decision. The appeal must:

•          Clearly state the grounds for appeal (procedural error, bias, factual error — not simply disagreement with the scientific judgment).

•          Provide specific, point-by-point responses to the concerns raised.

•          Not include new data or substantially revised content (a new submission is required for that).

The EIC will review the appeal and provide a decision within 30 days. The EIC's decision on appeal is final.

g) Publication Ethics and Research Integrity

BJET is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The following constitute serious violations that may result in manuscript rejection, retraction of published work, or prohibition from future submissions:

•          Data fabrication or falsification

•          Plagiarism or self-plagiarism

•          Duplicate submission or redundant publication

•          Manipulation of authorship (ghost or gift authorship)

•          Undisclosed conflicts of interest

•          Failure to obtain required ethics approvals

•          Manipulation of the peer review process (e.g., providing false reviewer contacts)

•          Image manipulation that misrepresents research results

BJET reserves the right to contact authors' home institutions if serious misconduct is confirmed.

h) Copyright and Licensing

Upon acceptance, all published articles are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under this license, readers are free to share and adapt the work for any purpose, provided appropriate credit is given to the authors and BJET. Authors retain copyright of their work. A Copyright and License Agreement form must be signed by all authors prior to publication.

i)                   Editorial Annual Audit

In accordance with best practice, BJET will conduct an annual editorial audit reported in the first issue of each calendar year, covering the following metrics:

•          Total number of manuscripts received

•          Number of desk rejections and percentage of submissions reviewed

•          Average time from submission to first decision

•          Average time from submission to acceptance

•          Overall acceptance rate

•          Geographic distribution of authors and reviewers

•          Number of corrections and retractions issued