The Company of Biologists’ principles

The Company of Biologists’ journals adhere to the principles outlined below, which have been devised to ensure the accurate, timely, fair and ethical publication of scientific papers. The Company of Biologists regularly reviews its editorial policies. It has adopted clear and rigorous guidelines for best working practices in scientific publishing, working in conjunction with our academic partners. Such policies will benefit our authors, editors and readers as we strive for a trustworthy, transparent and efficient publishing process.

JEB policies

JEB is committed to maintaining the integrity of the published record and to publishing the most objective and unbiased scientific information possible. The Company of Biologists is a member of COPE, the Committee on Publication Ethics, and follows COPE’s Code of Conduct. The policies below detail what we expect of the key participants in the publishing process: authors, reviewers and editors.

The Office of Research Integrity defines research misconduct as: ‘fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.’ Should a suspicion or allegation of scientific misconduct or fraudulent research be raised for the journal’s attention concerning a manuscript submitted for review, JEB reserves the right to raise these concerns with a sponsoring or funding institution or other appropriate authority for investigation. In the handling and resolution of such cases, we follow COPE’s guidance and recommendations.

Financial or competing interests disclosure

A competing or conflict of interest is anything that might inappropriately influence (bias), or might be perceived to interfere with, the full and objective presentation, review or publication of research findings or review-type material. Competing interests can be financial, professional or personal and can be held by authors, their employers, sponsors of the work, reviewers, Editors and editorial staff. Having a competing interest does not imply wrongdoing.

JEB is committed to publishing the most objective and unbiased scientific information possible. As such, we ask that all participants in the publication process disclose all relationships that could be viewed as potential competing interests. Questions regarding financial or competing interests should be sent to the michaela{at}biologists.com.

Author competing interests

If any author included on a manuscript has financial, personal or professional associations that could be perceived as interfering with the objectivity of their scientific judgement, this must be clearly stated in a disclosure statement with the original submission of their work. Authors should provide detailed information about current relationships extending beyond those listed on the title (address) page of their manuscript, as well as any anticipated for the foreseeable future. Competing interests held by an author’s employer (e.g. academic institution, company, etc.) or the financial sponsor of the work presented should also be declared.

JEB requires complete disclosure of relevant relationships and requests that authors err on the side of disclosure in the event of uncertainty. Such associations include (but are not limited to) patents, consultancy, paid employment/affiliation, stock ownership, board membership, gifts received, research grants, relationships with Editors, membership in a lobbying organization, role as an expert witness, membership of a government advisory board, and relationships with organizations or funding groups. Authors must include information regarding the provider of financial and material support of their research in the Acknowledgements. This statement should include authors’ grant support, funding sources, and the provision of equipment and supplies.

The disclosure statement should be included in the cover letter submitted with the manuscript. Authors without financial or competing interests should explicitly assert this. Editors may choose to use competing interest statements as a basis for editorial decisions, but we do not reject papers simply because a conflict has been disclosed. However, failure to provide financial or competing interests disclosures in the original submission may delay its evaluation and review.

Reviewer competing interests

Unbiased independent critical assessment has a key place in scholarly publication. Reviewers should declare any association with authors of a paper. They should also disclose any financial or professional associations that could be perceived as interfering with the objectivity of their scientific assessment of a paper. If a reviewer feels they cannot referee a paper because of such a competing interest, they should inform the Editor of the paper or the Editorial Office so that the Editor can decide whether a potential conflict should exclude them.

Authors can request to exclude reviewers with perceived competing interests from refereeing their paper, but are asked to provide additional information to support such a request. The Editors will respect these requests provided that they do not interfere with the objective and thorough assessment of an article.

Editor and editorial staff competing interests

Editors who make final editorial decisions on articles must have no financial, personal or professional involvement with the manuscript under consideration. If a potential bias exists, they should withdraw from handling the paper. Editors will base decisions on the importance of the work and not on its effect on the journal’s commercial success.

Editors are asked to disclose their potential competing interests, and editorial staff members are not permitted to use information gained through working with manuscripts for private gain.

Confidentiality

Editors and reviewers are expected to treat articles they handle confidentially. Editors and reviewers must not disclose information about manuscripts (including their receipt, content, status in the publishing process, reviewer feedback and final decision) to anyone, other than the authors. They should not use knowledge of the work before its publication to further their own interests. Reviewers also have the right to confidentiality; they will remain anonymous and their comments will not be published.

In situations where a reviewer wishes to co-review an article with a junior member of their laboratory, they must first seek the permission of the Editor, and their colleague must abide by the same rules of confidentiality and be named as a co-reviewer on submission of the review to the journal. Sharing manuscript details with lab members as a whole or with colleagues outside of the lab for reviewing purposes is not permitted.

Objectivity and fair play

An Editor will evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship or political philosophy of the authors.

Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Integrity of the scientific record

The Company of Biologists will take all necessary steps to maintain the accuracy and quality of the papers appearing in JEB. To this end, JEB will publish correspondence about papers and publish Errata and Corrigenda when appropriate. In cases of serious error or scientific misconduct, it may be necessary to ask authors to retract their papers or to impose retraction upon them. See editorial policies for further details of Errata, Corrigenda and Retractions.

Publisher policies

Version control

All versions of scholarly articles will remain available once published. When multiple versions of the same article are available, The Company of Biologists will ensure that these articles are clearly labelled with the date of publication and version number/type.

Permanence of the published record

Preservation of electronic versions of articles in a permanent archive is an essential component of today’s publishing. The Company of Biologists has a third-party agreement with Highwire Press, who administer our archive, and are members of the LOCKSS program.

The Company has adopted the DOI (digital object identifier) system to enable accurate citation and stable online availability of our published articles.