Scientia Naturalis Letters maintains strict ethical standards to uphold the integrity of the scientific record, foster public trust in research, and ensure proper recognition of scholarly contributions. Authors must adhere to responsible research and publication practices. The following are considered unethical and unacceptable:

 

1. Data Fabrication and Falsification

• Fabrication involves inventing research data or results that were never obtained through actual experimentation.
• Falsification refers to the manipulation or alteration of research materials, processes, or data, resulting in misrepresentation of the findings.

These practices undermine the credibility of research and are strictly prohibited.

 

2. Plagiarism

Plagiarism involves using another person’s ideas, methods, data, or words without proper attribution. This includes:

• Copying text from previously published work (including one’s own) without citation.
• Failing to credit original sources for figures, datasets, or concepts.

 

All submitted work must be original. Any reuse of content must be clearly cited and appropriately quoted or paraphrased.

 

3. Multiple Submissions

Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously is unethical and inefficient. This practice wastes editorial and peer review resources and may result in the manuscript being rejected by all involved journals.

 

4. Redundant or Fragmented Publications (“Salami Slicing”)

Authors must avoid dividing a single body of research into multiple publications with minimal new information in each. Instead, results should be presented as a comprehensive and cohesive study. Fragmentation weakens scientific impact and may lead to rejection.

 

5. Improper Authorship Attribution

All individuals listed as authors must:

• Contribute meaningfully to the conception, design, data collection, or analysis of the study.
• Participate in drafting or revising the manuscript for important content.
• Approve the final manuscript before submission.
• Accept responsibility for the content.

 

The inclusion of authors who did not contribute significantly (“honorary” or “gift” authorship), or exclusion of those who did, is considered a violation of publication ethics. Contributions from all collaborators—including students, research assistants, or technical staff—must be accurately credited, either through authorship or in the Acknowledgments section.

 

6. Enforcement and Editorial Action

Scientia Naturalis Letters uses established screening tools to detect ethical breaches, including plagiarism detection software and peer review checks. Misconduct may result in:

• Rejection without review.
• Retraction of published articles.
• Notification to affiliated institutions or funding bodies.
• Prohibition from future submission.

Authors are expected to uphold the highest standards of scientific integrity throughout the research and publication process.