The Al-Balqa for Research and Studies adheres to the highest standard of ethics of publication of scholarly research work. The journal’s “Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement’ is guided by COPE’s Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. It is necessary that all parties involved in publishing process: the authors, the editor-in-chief, editorial board, the peer reviewers, and the publisher agree to abide by the highest standards of ethical behavior of research publication.

Publication decisions

The editor-in-chief is responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The decision is based on the recommendation of the journal's editorial board members and reviewers. The journal abides by legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editor confers with the editorial team and reviewers in making this decision.

Non-Discrimination

The editors and reviewers evaluate manuscripts for intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors

Confidentiality

The editor, reviewers, and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, editorial team, and the publisher, as appropriate.

Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by any of the editorial board members and reviewers in their own research.

DUTIES OF REVIEWERS

Contribution to Editorial Decisions

The journal uses double-blind review process. The reviewers advise the editor-in-chief in making the editorial decision. The editor-in-chief communicates with authors, as required, and helps them in improving quality of their research paper.

Promptness

The journal editors are committed to provide timely review to the authors. If a reviewer does not submit his/her report in a timely manner, the paper is immediately sent to another qualified reviewer.

Confidentiality

Manuscript content is treated with at most confidentiality. The journal uses double blind process. Except for the editor-in-chief, the editors and reviewers cannot discuss paper with any other person, including the authors.

Standards of Objectivity

The editors and reviewers are required to evaluate papers based on the content. The review comment must be respectful of authors. The reviewers are required to justify their decision and recommendation.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the relevant citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which they have personal knowledge.

Disclosure and Conflict of Interest

Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers.

DUTIES OF AUTHORS

Publication and Submission fee

No fees or charges are required from authors for manuscript processing. Authors pay neither submission nor publication fee beyond eventual conference registration fee. Full information about fees must be clearly stated on the journal´s website before authors begin preparing thein manuscript for submission.

Reporting standards

Authors should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work wherever possible. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review. They should be prepared to provide such data within reasonable time.

Originality and Plagiarism

The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted. We use special software to check plagiarism. Papers found with such problems are automatically rejected and authors are so advised.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication

An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable

Acknowledgement of Sources

Proper acknowledgment of the work of others is required. Authors must cite publications that have led to the authors’ current research.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the research reported in the manuscript. The corresponding author has a responsibility to keep co-authors posted with the review process. If accepted, all authors are required to give a signed statement that the research work is their original research work.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects

If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed.

Fundamental errors in published works

When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.