AJAD adheres to ethical practices in publication and aspires that each paper in every volume and issue it publishes is of high quality and integrity. The AJAD publication ethics has evolved from its firsthand experiences since its first publication in 2004, guided by the Editorial Board, which is composed of known international experts and leaders in their own fields, who are also prolific published authors themselves.
AJAD readily responds to issues brought to fore by authors, reviewers, and editors, including malpractices in the publication process. The response to each concern primarily follows the established guidelines and ethical standards of AJAD, covering the gamut of the publication process of submission, evaluation, peer review, production editing, and final evaluation. For extraordinary cases that are not explicitly and exhaustively presented in AJAD protocols, these will be dealt with mainly through the guidance of the Editorial Board; the community practices and recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) may also be referred to.
Contents
Originality
Authors seeking to publish in AJAD must submit their papers online at ajad.searca.org; submissions received through email will be asked to be resubmitted through the submission portal.
As AJAD places paramount importance to originality of articles that it publishes, articles that are found to be previously published in whole or in part, shall be scrutinized based on originality. The following matrix defines permissible and non-permissible submissions based on originality:
| Previous Publication | Policy |
|---|---|
| Identical article published in a peer-reviewed journal | Not permissible |
| Article (in whole or in part) included in a published conference proceedings (but not peer-reviewed) |
|
| Published in other formats (e.g., poster presentation, case study, in-house institutional review) | Permissible |
| Article (in whole) as a chapter in a published university thesis/dissertation or other book |
|
| Pre-print servers limited to the author's personal and/or institutional repository/websites |
|
Double-Blind Review
Papers that pass the initial screening and evaluation are assigned for review by the Editor to Associate Editors and/or members of the Advisory Board, whose expertise correspond to the scope of the paper. The Editor may also request Advisory Board members to refer AJAD to other renowned experts within their network, whom they deem capable and available to review.
In cases where authors suggest reviewers, AJAD undertakes to identify the qualifications of the suggested experts, including their track record in scholarly publication, and if the discourse to review is within their areas of expertise. All invitations to review shall emanate from the address of the Editor.
During the peer review process, AJAD ensures that the identity of authors and reviewers are in complete anonymity from each other to ascertain impartiality. Manuscripts are reviewed for their clarity of purpose and relevance, timeliness, and overall opinion of its worthiness for publication. To facilitate prompt peer review without prejudice to quality, AJAD serves as a conduit of communicating reviewer comments and author revisions as they come, and most notably when either or both parties fail to submit working papers within set deadlines.
A paper that responds to review comments satisfactorily, and is accordingly revised, is normally endorsed for publication by its reviews. AJAD immediately informs the authors about the endorsement after review. If the endorsed paper becomes part of a lineup for an upcoming volume and issue, the authors are informed about it and the paper undergoes language and style editing, following the Chicago Manual of Style 16th Edition and the AJAD style and format.
Prominent authors. In cases when AJAD stands to gain by publishing a paper of high quality authored by a person of equally high stature, the Editor and Associate Editors may evaluate the merits of the paper and unanimously waive subjecting the paper to the usual review process. Correspondingly, it will be distinguished in the volume as a guest contribution article.
AJAD adheres to the COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, specifically on those pertaining to double-blind review for journal manuscripts.
Non-Endorsement of Paper
For papers that do not pass the initial evaluation/screening and are not recommended for peer review, AJAD will notify their respective authors with the reason/s for rejection through email. The basic criteria in the screening and initial evaluation of papers are—geographical scope, type of research, originality, and quality of discourse. Nonetheless, rejection of the submission does not preclude authors from submitting another paper to AJAD.
Undergoing the peer review process does not guarantee the eventual acceptance of a paper for publication in AJAD. If reviewers do not endorse the paper at any time during the peer review process, the Editor will evaluate the revised manuscript and decide if the paper is worth another round of review with a new set of experts. If the initial non-endorsement stands, AJAD informs authors on the result, citing the reasons for the final decision not to publish.
Papers that have been endorsed after peer review but are later found to be previously published in another journal in print or online, previously archived or disseminated, or plagiarized, will be under moratorium for publication. The author will be informed about it and will be asked to provide an explanation about the matter, from which AJAD will resolve case-by-case.
Withdrawal of Paper
Auto withdrawal will apply when authors who are informed of their deadlines for two consecutive notifications do not reply to review comments and/or submit a revised manuscript. A third and last notification will inform the author that the paper is automatically withdrawn from the AJAD review process.
On the other hand, authors who wish to withdraw their paper from AJAD should email their intent right away. AJAD will then remove the paper from its pending list.
Copyright
Articles published in the journal may be quoted without permission in other scholarly writing and in popular writing, as long as credit is given to the source. Cited content of the journal may be credited as a source (e.g., for tables and figures), in-text citation when applicable, and complete bibliographic citation, where it is appropriately located in the material. However, no article may be published in its entirety without written permission from the publisher, the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
Handling of Complaints and Appeals
The issues brought forward by authors, as well as reviewers, and other individuals or entities directly related to publishing in AJAD are dealt with seriously, and individually responded to. In cases where the AJAD Secretariat deem the case to be beyond the coverage of its existing guidelines, it may be elevated to the Editorial Board for consensus of response.
