Publishing Ethics

On this page

Publishing Ethics

Journal of Food Bioactives (the Journal) upholds a rigorous peer-review, and we are dedicated to investigating and taking actions to maintain the integrity of the papers based on principles and guidelines of COPE for the potential ethical issues.

The Journal will conduct an investigation in accordance with the principles and flowcharts provided by COPE if there is suspicion of misconduct or alleged fraud. If valid concerns arise, the author(s) will be contacted to discuss the matter. The Journal and/or the Publisher-Tsinghua University Press (TUP) would take the following measures:

If the manuscript is still under review, it might be rejected.
If the paper has been published online, the response will vary based on the nature and severity of the violation:

A correction may be published,
An expression of concern may be issued alongside the paper,
Or, in extreme cases, a retraction of the paper may be warranted.

Research Ethics

To ensure the research that we published is conducted in an ethical manner, especially the research that involving human subject or animal participants, we require that all submissions should conform to the highest ethical standards. We reserve the rights to reject any manuscript which could not meet these requirements of ethical standards, even if authors have obtained ethical approval or if ethical approval is not required.

1) Research involving human subjects

Ethical Approval

For published research based on human subjects (human participants, human tissue, human material or human data), authors must obtain the approval from institutional ethics committee(s) prior to the commencement of the research. The research also needs to conform to international ethical and legal standards for research, Declaration of Helsinki.

Authors should provide evidence that they obtained ethical and/or legal approval prior to conducting the research at submission. Manuscripts should include the name of the local ethics committee that approved the research (or confirmation that such approval is not needed) and the approval number. Authors also need to state how the study conforms to recognized standards (e.g. declaration of Helsinki or the Ethical Review Methods for Biomedical Research involving Humans) in the manuscript.

Example of the statement: “The research was conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, and the protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of XXX (the approval number).”

2) Participant/patient privacy and informed consent

Published research involving human subjects should ensure that patients’ privacy has not been infringed without prior consent:

Consent to participate

For all published research involving human participants, authors should obtain written consent from the participants prior to the commencement of the research. If the research participants are not adults, or unable to provide informed consent, the written consent must be given from their parents/guardians.

Where consent for participation was not obtained or only verbal informed consent obtained, the journal/editor might ask for the evidence of consent or consent procedures, or even the need for consent was waived by an ethics committee.

Consent to publish

For submissions that include any information which might identify an individual, authors should obtain written informed consent to publish from individual participants (or their parents/guardians if the participant is not an adult or unable to give informed consent). Identifying information includes (but is not limited to) photographs, videos, individual clinical data, written description and any other details that might identify the participant. A statement to confirm that consent to publish has been obtained must be included within the manuscript.

3) Research involving animals, specimens and heritage sites

Research involving animals

For published research involving animal research, authors must obtain the approval from the relevant institutional ethics committee prior to the commencement of the research. The research procedures must comply with relevant local and international animal welfare guidelines.

Authors should provide evidence that they obtained ethical and/or legal approval prior to conducting the research at submission. Manuscripts should include the name of the ethics committee and the approval number.

Research involving specimens

For published research involving the collection of biological specimens (cultivated or wild), samples or fossils, authors should carry out that it follow the authors’ institution(s) guideline and national/international regulations. Authors should also comply with the local laws. All such samples must be collected in an ethical and equitable way, and in accordance with relevant applicable laws comply with local legislation, and the manuscript should include a statement of appropriate permissions granted and/or licenses.

The manuscript should include the Ethical Statement of appropriate permissions granted. Voucher specimens must be deposited in an accessible herbarium or other public collection providing access to deposited material. Information on the voucher specimen and who identified it must be included in the manuscript. Editors reserve the rights to reject a manuscript which could not meet these requirements.

4) Clinical trials registration

All clinical trials should make prospective registration in publicly accessible databases (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov) before participants are enrolled. The clinical trials also need to follow the CONSORT (CONsolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) guideline. Manuscripts should include clinical registration name, registration identification number, the name of the register, and the URL for the registry in accordance with journal instructions.

Corrections

The Journal acknowledges its responsibility to correct any scientifically relevant errors in published papers that may impact their scientific interpretation. Once approved by the Editorial Office and Editors-in-Chief (EiC), there will be a mark indicating that the paper has a correction. A correction is a distinct publication that is linked to the original paper. It serves to inform all readers that a significant change has been made, and the updated version is available on the website. Notification will be sent to all relevant indexing databases to ensure that they update their records as well.

Corrections can be submitted if:

There are scientifically relevant errors, e.g., missing sections/tables/figures, raw data errors, images, tables, and figure errors OR,
There are any added/deleted/replaced references.

Correction must be submitted separately by the corresponding author with the approval of all co-authors. The original article title, author list, and details of the correction should be included in the new manuscript.

Retractions

The findings and conclusions will be unreliable if a published paper is found with scientific or ethical issues. To correct the scientific record, the published paper should be retracted. Retractions could be requested by the author(s), readers, or the editors and they will be finally decided by the EiC. The Journal adheres to COPE’s Retraction guidelines and procedures for handling retractions.

The original publication will be retained on the platform with a “Retracted” watermark, and the explanation for the retraction is provided in a note linked to the watermarked paper. A paper will only be fully removed from journal website and indexing databases under rare and exceptional circumstances, such as when retaining the article online will be unlawful or pose a risk of substantial harm.

Expression of Concern

When an investigation is ongoing or the evidence is inconclusive, an Expression of Concern may be issued. Editors believe that it is essential to inform readers about potential issues within the paper to uphold journal’s transparency:

There is a suspicion of academic misconduct within the paper, yet the evidence is insufficient to determine it OR,
The results of the study are suspected to be unreliable, but the author(s)’ institution is unwilling to initiate an investigation OR,
Conflicting interpretations exist among the authors OR,
An investigation is in progress, and final conclusions may require an extended period.

Appeals

Appeals only apply to the manuscripts that have been peer-reviewed. Authors who want to appeal concerning the peer-review process and editorial decisions should present substantial evidence or new information/data as well as point-by-point responses to the reviewers’ comments and the editors’ decisions.

Authors must not submit their manuscript elsewhere until they receive a final decision or decide to withdraw their manuscript from consideration and have informed the Journal accordingly. Each appeal is assessed on its individual merits. Editors will consider only one appeal per manuscript, and the EiC’s decision on the appeal is final.

Comments and Complaints

Readers who have concerns/complaints about published papers may contact the Editorial Office while simultaneously present the details of the concerns/complaints and the evidence. Lack of evidence or complaints with personal attacks would be regarded as vexatious and will be ignored.

The Editorial Office will investigate together with the EiC in accordance with the guidelines published by COPE.

Authorship

Author(s) are encouraged to value the opportunity for publication and uphold the esteemed reputation of Journal of Food Bioactives. Before submitting the findings, author(s) should carefully read and adhere to the following responsibilities:

Author(s) should be the persons who have made substantial contributions to the work, e.g., the conception/experimental design of the research, theoretical development, prototype development, data acquisition/analysis/interpretation and who have contributed to drafting the paper or reviewing and/or revising it critically. The others who have participated in certain aspects could be listed as contributors and acknowledged in the “Acknowledgment” section. AI tool should not be listed as an author.
For papers with multiple authors, one author should be indicated as the corresponding author. The corresponding author should ensure obtaining the consent of all co-authors prior to submitting a manuscript and ensure all co-authors’ approval of the final version before publication. Besides, the corresponding author has responsibility for communication with the Editorial Office, overseeing the publication process, and ensuring the integrity of the final document.
Any change to the author list during editorial process should be applied ahead of final decision. An application form manually signed by all authors should be sent for the Editorial Office’s approval. Post-acceptance applications will not be considered.

Duplication, Plagiarism and Originality

The Journal only publishes original content and author(s) should ensure the originality of their works. Author(s) should not submit the same manuscript to multiple journals at the same time, and should wait for the final decision on the manuscript before submitting the research to another journal. Once the unethical publishing behavior is found, an investigation or action would be taken based on the COPE code of conducts.

Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. All submissions will be checked for plagiarism via iThenticate. The paper will be rejected once the paper is found too similar to the previous documents. If plagiarism is detected after publication, an investigation or action would be taken based on the COPE principles on plagiarism.

Reuse of text work should be appropriately cited or quoted. Authors should obtain the appropriate permission prior to publication where the research involves any third-party figures, tables, and images.

The fabrication/falsification of data or images is not allowed and will be regarded as misconduct which will lead to a retraction of the publication affected.

Conflict of Interest

All contributors involved, author(s), editors and reviewers should disclose any potential conflict of interest that might inappropriately influence (bias) the results of the manuscript.

Potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include but are not limited to financial interests (employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, grants or funding sources) and non-financial interests (personal or professional relationships, affiliations, and personal beliefs).

Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest stage possible. For author(s), conflicts of interest should be disclosed when the paper is submitted to the Journal, stating fully the personal, institutional, and financial interests and support which might influence the research. Reviewers/Editors assigned to a manuscript should disclose any personal, financial, or intellectual interests that would affect the fair evaluation.

A statement of conflict of interest should be published in the final version and if there is no conflict of interests to be declared, it can be stated as “The author(s) declare no conflict of interests”.

Peer-Review Policy

Each paper is assigned to at least three reviewers. At least two favorable reviews out of three are required for a paper to be considered for publication. Final decisions are made by the EiC or Associate Editors on the basis of the review reports and their own assessment.

All manuscripts would be evaluated by relevance, quality and originality of the work, potential interest to the Journal’s readership, and clarity (including clear tables and graphics, the standard of technical written English).

Peer Review Process for Special Issues

The general peer review process for special issues is almost the same with the regular submissions. The only difference is that for special issues, the guest editors will send the submissions out to the reviewers and may recommend a decision to the EIC or Editorial Board Members. The EiC or Editorial Board Members oversee the aim and scope of the special issue, the background of the guest editors, and the peer review process of all special issues to ensure the highest standards of publishing ethics as well as are responsible for the final decisions of the submissions in special issues.

Artificial Intelligence Tools

Journal of Food Bioactives follows the COPE position statement when it comes to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. TUP is a member of STM, the Journal also follows the Ethical and Practical Guidelines released by STM Generative AI in Scholarly Communications.

AI tools can be used to help authors in formatting, language editing, correcting. AI tools should not be listed or cited as an author or co-author. AI tools cannot be used to create, alter, or manipulate original research data and images.

Author(s) should disclose the use of AI tools with sufficient details at submission in the cover letter and disclose details of how the AI tools were used within Method, Acknowledgment or other related sections.

Reviewers and editors should not upload the manuscript or any part of it to a public generative AI platform to keep the manuscript confidential before final publication.

Journal of Food Bioactives will monitor this development and will adjust or refine this policy when appropriate.

Data Availability Statement

To maintain the transparency and integrity of research, Journal of Food Bioactives encourage authors to share their research data, by publishing the supportive information as supplementary information in the paper or by depositing datasets into publicly available data repositories. The details regarding where data supporting reported results can be found, including links to publicly archived datasets analyzed or generated during the study could be stated in the paper. Where no new data were created, or where data is unavailable due to privacy or ethical restrictions, a statement is better provided. Below are the recommended Data Availability Statements:

Data availability status	Recommended Data Availability Statement
Data sharing is not applicable (if no new data is generated or the article describes entirely theoretical research).	Data sharing is not applicable to this article.
Data derived from public domain resources.	The data presented in this study are available in [repository name] at [URL/DOI], reference number [reference number]. These data were derived from the following resources available in the public domain: [list resources and URLs].
Data is contained within the article or supplementary material.	The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or its supplementary materials].
Data available on request due to restrictions.	The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, [author initials], upon reasonable request.
Data available in a publicly accessible repository.	The original data presented in the study are openly available in [repository name, e.g., FigShare] at [DOI/URL] or [reference/accession number].
Dataset available on request from the authors.	The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors on request.
3rd Party Data	Restrictions apply to the availability of these data. Data were obtained from [third party] and are available [from the authors/at URL] with the permission of [third party].
Embargo on data due to commercial restrictions.	The data that support the findings will be available in [repository name] at [URL / DOI link] following an embargo from the date of publication to allow for commercialization of research findings.
Restrictions apply to the datasets.	The datasets presented in this article are not readily available because [include reason, e.g., the data are part of an ongoing study or due to technical/ time limitations]. Requests to access the datasets should be directed to [text input].

Post-Publication

Author(s) will have a chance to double check the full content, especially the symbols, formulas, and figure legends before final publication, for these may accidentally be changed during editing. After final publication, substantial changes could only be updated by corrections.

Archiving

Journal of Food Bioactives is committed to the permanent availability and preservation of the published content in the Journal.

Article Processing Charge

The Journal is a subsidized Open Access journal where ISNFF & Associate Publishing Company pay for the publishing costs incurred by the Journal before 31 December 2026. Authors do not have to pay any APC for Open Access publication until then.

Unless otherwise specified, manuscripts submitted on or after January 1, 2027, will incur an Article Processing Charge (APC) of $950.00 to be paid by the author(s) or funder(s) upon acceptance for publication. This decision has been made to support the increasing costs of maintaining high-quality publication standards and to further invest in the technological infrastructure of the journal.

Waiver Policy: We are committed to ensuring that financial constraints do not impede the dissemination of valuable research. A waiver policy will be in place for authors who are unable to afford the publication fees in developing countries. We will evaluate individual waiver requests from authors who are unable to pay the APC for publishing due to insufficient research funding on a case-by-case basis. We understand that this is a significant change and we are dedicated to making this transition as smooth as possible. Our team is available to answer any questions or concerns you may have regarding this update.

Copyright and Permission

To get information of Copyright and Permission, please visit Copyright & Permission.

Advertising Policy

The Journal has no advertisement business, and will not post any advertisement