Misconduct
The policy treats misconduct across three linked places: what counts as misconduct, how the journal screens for it, and what happens once it's established.
What counts as misconduct
- Fabrication of data
- Falsification of data
- Plagiarism and substantial self-plagiarism
- Duplicate or redundant publication
- Inappropriate image manipulation that misrepresents findings
- Citation manipulation
- Authorship manipulation (including ghost, gift, and honorary authorship)
- Undisclosed conflicts of interest
- Failure to obtain required ethical approval
- Manipulation of the peer-review process, including fabricated reviewer identities or contact details
- Any other practice that materially undermines research integrity
How concerns are handled
When an allegation is raised, BJET assesses it proportionately and follows recognized publication-ethics procedures (COPE). The journal may ask authors for clarification or supporting documentation, and may contact the authors' institution or another appropriate body where a serious concern requires a formal investigation. Manuscript confidentiality can be set aside to the extent disclosure is necessary for such an investigation.
Reviewers are obliged to report suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabrication, or falsification to the editor promptly. At screening stage, similarity software (Turnitin Similarity Check) is used as an investigative aid only — a high score does not by itself establish plagiarism, and a low score does not prove originality. Editors weigh the source, location, and nature of the overlap, whether it is properly attributed, and whether it reflects legitimate technical or methodological language. A desk rejection is not a finding of misconduct unless an integrity concern has actually been established.
Outcomes
Before publication, established concerns can result in rejection. After publication, the graduated responses are:
- Correction — where the error doesn't invalidate the findings but the record needs formal amendment.
- Expression of Concern — where credible evidence of a serious problem exists but the investigation is pending, unresolved, or dragging on. It stays linked to the article and is updated when the matter concludes.
- Retraction — where findings are seriously unreliable or serious misconduct is confirmed: fabricated or falsified data, invalidating methodological errors, plagiarism, duplicate publication, serious ethical violations, fraudulent authorship, manipulated peer review, or serious undisclosed conflicts.
A retraction can be initiated by the Editor-in-Chief, the Editorial Board, the authors, the publisher/institution, or any party raising a substantiated concern. Authors and relevant institutions are normally consulted first. The retraction notice must identify the article, explain the reason, say who initiated it where appropriate, link to the original, and stay permanently in the record. Crucially, the retracted article is not removed from the archive — it remains, clearly marked as retracted alongside the notice.
Anyone can raise a post-publication concern through bjet.journal@mu.edu.et; it is assessed on the credibility and significance of the evidence provided. The annual editorial audit tracks correction and retraction counts as quality indicators.
