FUTA JOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN SCIENCE

INSTRUCTION TO AUTHORS


EDITORIAL POLICY

Overview

This policy describes guidelines in the publication process of our journal. Specifically, Futa Journal of Research in Sciences adopts and strives to adhere to International standards. Submission of a manuscript to FJRS implies that all authors have read and agreed to its content and that the manuscript conforms to the journal’s policies.

Authorship

An author is any person listed and who has significantly contributed to the development of a manuscript. 

Substantial contributions may include conception or design of the work; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work. The corresponding author takes responsibility for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately resolved and gives final approval of the version to be published.

Changes in authorship

Whenever there is a need to make changes in the authorship of a manuscript request should be made to the editor using the Changes in Authorship Form. Only the corresponding author can make such a request for a change in authorship.

 

Submission of Manuscript

Authors should read the “Instruction for Authors” on the journal’s page before making a submission. Manuscript should be prepared according to the style and specifications of the journal’s policy.

 

Authors listed on the manuscript should have met the requirements for Authorship specified above. Where possible, specify the contribution of each of the authors.

All authors should approve the final version of the manuscript prior to submission. Once a manuscript is submitted, it is therefore assumed that all authors have read and given their approval for the submission of the manuscript.

Contact information of all authors should be stated on the manuscript. Surname/Other names, affiliation, emails, and phone/fax numbers.

Declaration of Conflicts of Interest should be stated in the manuscript.

Submission should be made online www.fjrs.futa.edu.ng

 

Conflict of interest

“Conflict of interest exists when there is a divergence between an individual’s private interests and his or her responsibilities to scientific and publishing activities.

Authors should disclose all financial/relevant interest that may have influenced the development of the manuscript.

Reviewers should disclose any conflict of interest and if necessary, decline the review of any manuscript they perceive to have a conflict of interest.

Editors should also decline from considering any manuscript that may have conflict of interest. Such manuscripts will be re-assigned to other editors.

 

Acknowledgement

Individuals who participated in the development of a manuscript but do not qualify as an author should be acknowledged. Organizations that provided support in terms of funding and/or other resources should also be acknowledged.

 

Confidentiality

A submitted manuscript is a confidential material. FJRS will not disclose submitted manuscript to anyone except individuals who partake in the processing and preparation of the manuscript for publication (if accepted). These individuals include editorial staff, corresponding authors, potential reviewers, actual reviewers, and editors.  However, in suspected cases of misconduct, a manuscript may be revealed to members of FJRS ethics committee and institutions/organizations that may require it for the resolution of the misconduct.

 

Clinical Trial Registration

FJRS requires investigators register their trial in an acceptable clinical trials registry before the onset of patient enrollment. Research involving human subjects, human material, or human data, must have been performed in accordance with and must have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee. A statement detailing this, including the name of the ethics committee and the reference number where appropriate, must appear in all manuscripts reporting such research. If a study has been granted an exemption from requiring ethics approval, this should also be detailed in the manuscript (including the name of the ethics committee that granted the exemption). Further information and documentation to support this should be made available to the Editor on request. Manuscripts may be rejected if the Editor considers that the research has not been carried out within an appropriate ethical framework. In rare cases, the Editor may contact the ethics committee for further information. Manuscripts describing primary results of non-registered trials will be turned away prior to peer review.

Research involving animals

Experimental research on vertebrates or any regulated invertebrates must comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines, and where available should have been approved by an appropriate ethics committee.

Statistical methods

Authors should include full information on the statistical methods and measures used in their research, including justification of the appropriateness of the statistical test used. Reviewers will be asked to check the statistical methods, and the manuscript may be sent for specialist statistical review if considered necessary.

Third Party Submissions

All manuscripts must be submitted by an author and may not be submitted by a third party.

Peer review

The review process is an important aspect of the publication process of an article. It helps an editor in making decision on an article and also enables the author to improve the manuscript. Academic Journals operates a double blind review process.

Author(s) identity is removed from the manuscript and shielded from the reviewers during the review process. Information removed includes the author(s) name, address/affiliation, country, phone/fax and email. Any information in the Acknowledgement and Declaration of Conflict of Interest that may lead to the uncovering of the identity of the author is also removed from the manuscript prior to sending it to reviewers.

Manuscripts are assigned numbers and sent to members of the editorial board of the journal or other qualified reviewers. Reviewers make one of the following recommendations:

  • acceptance without change

  • acceptance with minor changes

  • acceptance with major changes

  • acceptance as short communication

  • resubmission after major revision

  • rejection ( with reasons)

An appreciation letter is given to reviewers after the review of the manuscript.

The review reports are sent to the authors. However, reviewers’ identity is removed from the review reports. A minimum of two review reports are required per manuscript.

On receipt of the author(s) revised manuscript, the original manuscript, the revised manuscript and the review reports are sent to the editor. The editor makes one of the following decisions:

  •   Accept

  •   The Manuscript Requires Improvement

  •   Reject

Only an editor has the authority to “Accept” or “Reject” a manuscript. If a manuscript is “Accepted”, an Acceptance Certificate is issued to the author(s) and the manuscripts are processed for publication.

If a manuscript is rejected, the authors are informed of the decision and no further processing is done on the manuscript.

If a manuscript requires improvement, it is sent to the author(s) with the editor’s recommendation for further revision. The editor makes a final decision on the revised manuscript to “Accept” or “Reject”.

Misconduct

Misconduct constitutes violation of this editorial policy, journal policies, publication ethics, or any applicable guidelines/policies. Any other activities that threaten/compromise the integrity of the research/publication process are potential misconducts. Suspected cases of misconduct will be investigated accordingly.

 

Correction and retraction of articles

Corrections may be made to a published article with the authorization of the editor of the journal. Editors will decide the magnitude of the corrections. Minor corrections are made directly to the original article. However, in cases of major corrections, the original article will remain unchanged, while the corrected version will also be published. Both the original and corrected version will be linked to each other. A statement indicating the reason for the major change to the article will also be published.

Copyrights/Permissions

Material published in FUTA Journal of Research in Sciences (ISSN 2315-8239; e-ISSN: 2489-0413) is covered by copyright. All rights are reserved under International copyright and other laws and conventions.