Publication Ethics

The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed journal reflects the work quality of its author(s) with his/her or their pertaining institution(s). Therefore, it is important for a peer-reviewed journal to have an ethical standard for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author(s), the journal editors, the peer reviewers, and the publisher. Bulletin of Civil Engineering (BCE)  is committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint, and/or other commercial revenues have no impact nor influence editorial decisions. In addition, the BCE will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers should this be necessary to the editors.

Duties of the editors

The BCE's editors are responsible for deciding as to which of the articles submitted should be reviewed and published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such a decision. The editor-in-chief must seriously prevent libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. An editor should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual contents without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the author(s).
Editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information on a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author(s), reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisors, and the publisher, as appropriate. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without a written consent of the author(s). Privileged information or ideas obtained through a peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantages.
 
Editors should recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest. Editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. An editor should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with the publisher (or society). Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior must be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication.
 
Duties of the reviewers

A peer review assists the editor-in-chief in making an editorial decision and editorial communications with the author(s). Any selected referee who feels unqualified to review research reported in a manuscript, or knows that its prompt review will be impossible, should notify the editor-in-chief and excuse himself/herself from the review process. Any manuscript received for review must be treated as a confidential document.
 
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author(s) is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by relevant citations. A reviewer should also call to the editor-in-chief's attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published paper of which he/she has personal knowledge. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without an expressed written consent of the author(s). Privileged information or ideas obtained through a peer review must be kept confidential and not utilized for personal advantages. Reviewers should not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest.
 
Duties of the authors

Authors of a report of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as objective discussion on its significance. Data and citations should be represented accurately in the paper. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable. Plagiarism takes many forms, from using another’s paper as the author’s own paper to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), or claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is intolerable.
An author should not in general publish a manuscript 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. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source(s). Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study, and seen and approved the final version of the paper and agreed to its submission for publication.
 
All authors should disclose in their manuscripts any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest. 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 BCE’s editor-in-chief and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
 
For more detailed information, visit http://publicationethics.org/