PEMS

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement (PEMS)

At the JOURNAL of COACHING ETHICS (JoCE), the integrity of our academic content is of great importance. This document highlights the practices we put in place. They are of use to not only authors, but our reviewers and editors too. The JoCE subscribes to the guidelines put forward by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), an organization that sets ethical standards for publishing worldwide. We adopt their main principles and invite you to become familiar with them here.

  1. Research Integrity

We uphold the standard of research integrity adopted by universities the world over and expect authors and/or researchers submitting their scholarly work to do the same. The principles of research integrity include; (1) honesty in all research undertakings and throughout the research process, including reporting and submitting one’s work along with the appropriate references for it; (2) conscientiousness in one’s research practice, i.e. deliberately avoiding mistakes and/or forms of misrepresentation, intentionally or otherwise in all aspects of one’s research and throughout the process until publication; (3) transparency, openness and a willingness to provide explanation and additional information and; (4) respect and care for all research subjects and participants.

Should anyone feel these have not been upheld by the JoCE, they can raise their concern with the Editor by emailing the editor  editor@journalofcoachingethics.com

  1. Editorial Process

The JoCE is committed to giving all authors a fair review; however, due to the quality of certain manuscripts, editors may issue a desk rejection and not move the manuscript forward to peer review. If this is the case, authors will receive an email outlining the reasons for which this decision was taken. In the event of a clear documentable breach of ethics (i.e., evidenced plagiarism), authors will not be allowed to resubmit that manuscript.

Otherwise, after an initial review ensuring the manuscript meets the aims of the journal and author guidelines for publishing, the peer review process is started.

  1. Peer Review

We ensure our reviewers are familiar with our ethical guidelines, those put forward by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and the journal’s peer review process and objective categories against which all manuscripts are judged. To further ensure fairness, the review process is double-blind, with reviewers not aware of the submitting author’s names/affiliations and the authors also unaware of the reviewer’s names/affiliations. All feedback is recorded on the journal submission platform providing for a clear and transparent process for authors, reviewers and the supervising editor. All reviewers and editors have been made aware of their responsibility to recognize and flag suspicions of plagiarism, suspected data manipulation, instances of mistaken or purposeful incorrect citation/referencing, and/or author misrepresentation. They report this to the supervising editor. Reviewers not taking their duty of care responsibly may be removed from the journal.

  1. Authorship

While different disciplines may have varied norms around who and in what order authors are listed, we follow the following guidelines and anticipate authors make their judgements accordingly, whereby authorship is granted to those who have:

●   Substantially contributed to the conceptualization, design, analysis, or interpretation of the work;

●   Drafted, or revised the work in a critical manner and/or for its intellectual content;

●   Finally approved of the version to be published;

●   Agreed to be accountable for the totality of the work, including post-publication concerns.

We consider the corresponding author to be the accountable authority who can act on behalf of all co-authors. The corresponding author is confirmed at the manuscript submission stage.

  1. Plagiarism

The JoCE takes the issue of plagiarism seriously and considers the following to fall under its definition;

●   directly quoting the work of others without proper acknowledgement of it;

●  paraphrasing the work of others by changing selected words or their order, without acknowledgement of the source of such work;

●   using the intellectual ideas from others without reference and/or acknowledgment to the originator;

●  copying and pasting any material from the Internet; and,

●  submitting the work of others as one’s own without identifying, crediting as an author, or acknowledging those contributions in the manuscript.

Sources of plagiarism can include work from other persons (i.e., text, illustrations, formulas, codes, etc.), websites, conferences, social media, lectures, course outlines, and other forms of published and unpublished intellectual property.

All manuscripts are checked via plagiarism checking tools. When a clear instance of plagiarism has been detected, the submission is rejected. Our editors and reviewers are expected to identify and flag suspicions of plagiarism and bring their concerns to the Editor at editor@journalofcoachingethics.com. We welcome readers to do the same.

  1. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Normally, work that is already published elsewhere, or under consideration elsewhere, is not permissible as this (may) infringe on the original publication’s copyright. However, shortened, adapted and modified versions of unpublished dissertations that are relevant to the JoCE’s aims may be accepted as long as this is identified accordingly and permission sought by the author from the original publication/institution.

In some cases, authors self-plagiarize when they use their own work in part, or in its totality. In this case, they must acknowledge and reference their own work as they would any other source and make substantial changes to it where necessary so as not to engage in duplicate or redundant publication. This applies to any work in alternative languages as well.

  1. Research with Humans or Animals

Ethics approval should be sought by a relevant and official ethics committee for all research involving human or animal subjects, and which upholds all national, international ethical and legal standards. This ethics approval, which should be mentioned in the submission process and manuscript itself, should attend to participants’ right to privacy, informed consent and right of withdrawal. It is the author’s responsibility to secure any necessary ethics clearance prior to submission.

  1. Conflicts of Interest and Funding

A conflict of interest may be professional, financial, non-financial, personal or contractual in nature. In this case, authors should disclose any conflict of interest regarding their submission. This information will be published in the manuscript for the benefit of transparency. If authors are unsure whether their work or affiliation with it constitutes a conflict, they may contact the JoCE’s Editor for further guidance; editor@journalofcoachingethics.com 

  1. Retractions, Corrections and Expressions of Concern

The JoCE will only consider a retraction, correction or expression of concern in line with COPE’s Retraction Guidelines. Editors will work with authors to ensure they are satisfied with the editorial process, which includes attention to spelling, grammar, etc., to avoid post-publication changes. Authors give their consent for the final proof and subsequent publication, which includes their agreement to the veracity and accuracy of figures, tables, references, and author affiliations. In the event an author has made an error serious enough to warrant a change, the journal will issue a corrigendum. If the journal has made an error, we will issue an erratum. Retractions are reserved for articles where it has come to light that findings and/or conclusions cannot be relied upon, or ethical breaches occurred. 

  1. Fraudulent Research and Research Misconduct

If we should become aware of fraudulent research misconduct by a JoCE author, we will work with the identified editor, COPE, and other relevant institutions to investigate. Such publications will be retracted, or a correction or expression of concern will be issued. See the Retractions, Corrections and Expressions of Concern (section 9 above) for more information.

  1. Data and Supporting Evidence

In line with our efforts to maintain transparency, data, code, and/or other material associated with published research in the JoCE can be requested at any time by editors and reviewers during the review phase and by readers post publication by contacting the authors directly. Hence, authors should maintain records of any supporting evidence needed for understanding, verification and replication.

  1. Fair Access

Our free of charge, open access journal is available to any reader or author. Authors can, at no cost, submit manuscripts and if accepted for publication, publish their work also at no cost, and retain copyright over it. Readers can also access and download all accepted manuscripts at no cost.

Disclaimer 
Any views expressed in this publication are the views of the authors and are not the views of the Journal of Coaching Ethics.

For additional questions, please contact the Editor at editor@journalofcoachingethics.com