Ethics guidelines are important in order to ensure top quality scientific publications, earn trust of the general public in the scientific discoveries and attribute credit to the authors for their work. Hence, the following should be steered clear off in publications:

Fabrication and falsification of data

Fabrication of data implies presentation of fake data for research that was not actually carried out and falsification of data involves presentation of manipulated data for research that was actually conducted. Authors of manuscripts or published papers discovered to have been involved in falsification and fabrication of data could be punished as well as the publication of their work could be removed.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism involves making use of the work and ideas of other scientists without proper credit to them. This may be a word from a manuscript or previously published article. Manuscripts with high level of similarity index are rejected while already published ones may need to be corrected or retracted.

Multiple submission of manuscript:

It isn't acceptable to submit the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time. It is a waste of time for peer reviewers and editors and could damage the credibility of authors as well as journals. If discovered, sanctions may be imposed on authors whose articles have been submitted simultaneously elsewhere.

Submissions of same manuscript to more than one journal at a time are non-ethical. It is a waste of time to the editor and the peer review process and can negatively affect the credibility of the authors and also the journals. Hence, authors whose articles are submitted to more than one journal at a time may be sanctioned.

Redundant publications:

Publication of many related articles that are based on similar research idea may be sanctioned in AJERD. Hence, authors are advised to harmonize similar research idea into a complete research manuscript.

Incorrect attributions of authors:

Submissions to AJERD are to be made only by the corresponding author of the manuscript. Also, only authors with significant contributions to the research are allowed to be listed as authors. Any manuscript that is found guilty of incorrect attributions of authors may be rejected.

Modification of the citation:

Authors whose work contains references that are designed to improve the quantity and quality of citations for authors' works or articles that are published in a particular journal may be sanctioned. Also, it is highly unethical for editors and reviewers to request authors' references be added to increase the number of citations for their work, or their associate, or the journal they are affiliated.

Editors and Reviewers:

Editors and reviewers should decline any form of involvement in submissions in which they share relationship of any kind with any of the author or declare a conflict of interest where it is not reasonable to decline such work.

Sanctions:

Some of the sanctions that may be imposed by AJERD include; manuscript rejection, prohibition to serve as an editor or reviewer for AJERD, author(s) may not be allowed to submit manuscript to AJERD for a period of time that will be determined by the editorial board based on the severity of the offence, and other additional sanctions for more serious ethical violations.

Corrections and retractions policy:

For any errors in published articles, the issue will be examined by the publisher and consultations will be made with the editors and the institution of the author. Errors discovered to be made by the publishers can be corrected by an Erratum, while authors can amend their manuscripts to correct their mistakes. If there is evidence that misconduct took place, it may be necessary to retract the article in accordance with the COPE Retraction Guidelines