PLANTA TROPIKA is an open access, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to the publication of novel research in all aspects of applied agricultural sciences. Planta Tropika committed to publishing new and innovative research in all areas of applied agricultural sciences, with a particular emphasis on the investigation and advancement of tropical plant variety.

The journal aims exclusively to the publication of original papers. Original research articles are written in English and it features well-designed studies with clearly analysed writings and logically interpreted results are accepted, with a strong preference given to research that has the potential to make significant contributions to both the field of Agrotechnology and society in general. The journal focuses related to various topics in the field:

1. Agro-Biotechnology

Scope:

• Genetic Engineering and Genomics: Research on gene editing (CRISPR, TALENs), genome sequencing, and functional genomics to enhance crop traits such as yield, stress tolerance, and pest resistance.
• Molecular Plant Breeding: Application of molecular markers in breeding programs to develop improved crop varieties with desirable traits.
• Plant-Microbe Interactions: Studies on beneficial plant-microbe relationships, including mycorrhizae, nitrogen-fixing bacteria, and biocontrol agents.
• Bioproducts and Bioenergy: Development of biofuels, bioplastics, and other bio-based products from plant biomass.
• Omics Technologies: Integration of genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and transcriptomics to understand plant biology and improve crop performance.

2. Plant Protection

Scope:

• Integrated Pest Management (IPM): Strategies combining biological, chemical, cultural, and mechanical control methods to manage pests sustainably.
• Plant Pathology: Research on plant diseases caused by fungi, bacteria, viruses, and nematodes, including disease diagnostics and resistance breeding.
• Entomology: Studies on insect pests, their biology, ecology, and control methods.
• Weed Science: Research on weed biology, ecology, and management strategies, including herbicide resistance.
• Biocontrol Agents: Development and application of natural predators, parasitoids, and microbial agents to control plant pests and diseases.

3. Soil Science

Scope:

• Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management: Studies on soil nutrient dynamics, fertilization practices, and their impact on plant growth and crop yields.
• Soil Physics and Hydrology: Research on soil structure, water retention, infiltration, and drainage, and their effects on plant growth and soil health.
• Soil Chemistry and Pollution: Analysis of soil chemical properties, contaminant behavior, and remediation techniques.
• Soil Biology and Ecology: Exploration of soil microbial communities, their functions, and interactions with plants and soil fauna.
• Sustainable Soil Management: Practices to maintain and enhance soil health, prevent erosion, and promote sustainable land use.

4. Post Harvest Science and Technology

Scope:

• Storage and Preservation: Development of advanced storage technologies and treatments to extend the shelf life and maintain the quality of agricultural products.
• Quality Assessment and Control: Methods for evaluating and ensuring the quality, safety, and nutritional value of post-harvest products.
• Processing and Value Addition: Innovations in processing techniques to enhance the value, safety, and convenience of food products.
• Packaging Innovations: Research on sustainable and functional packaging solutions to protect and extend the shelf life of products.
• Supply Chain Optimization: Strategies to improve the efficiency and sustainability of the supply chain, reducing post-harvest losses and ensuring product quality.

5. Plant Production

Scope:

• Crop Physiology and Development: Studies on the physiological processes governing plant growth, development, and productivity.
• Agronomic Practices: Research on best practices for planting, irrigation, fertilization, and crop management to optimize yields and sustainability.
• Plant Breeding and Genetics: Development of new crop varieties with improved traits through traditional and modern breeding techniques.
• Sustainable Agriculture: Practices and technologies to promote sustainable crop production, including organic farming, conservation agriculture, and agroecology.
• Climate Resilience: Strategies to enhance the resilience of crop production systems to climate variability and change, including breeding for climate-resilient varieties and adaptive management practices.

Description

All authors who send the manuscript should follow the journal’s submissions requirements. Submissions should be prepared in accordance with the Author's Guidelines, or the manuscript will be returned to the author if they are not in the correct format or cannot be downloaded reliably. Before sending to reviewers, the editor will remove the author's identity from the manuscript. Authors are invited to suggest at least the names of two experts on the manuscript topic as the additional option for reviewer. This does not imply that the paper will be reviewed by the suggested referees. The process of the article that will be published in PLANTA TROPIKA will undergo the double-blind peer review by the editors and reviewers by considering the substantial and technical aspects. Editors and reviewers provide constructive feedback on the evaluation results to the author. The Editorial board then either accepts or declines the manuscript and informs the corresponding author of the final decision. On the acceptance of the manuscript, the author(s) will usually be requested to perform some revision of the contents and wording after the review, and final acceptance may depend on the extent of revision. The acceptance of the manuscript will be cancelled when the manuscript is not returned within a month for any revision. When the manuscript is not returned for two months, the manuscript will be considered withdrawn. Publication is subject to successful completion of any follow-up requested by our English Editor.

We ensure that the reviewed manuscript is treated confidentially prior to being published, as explained in publication ethics.

Plagiarism screening of articles in this journal is carried out before review process by editor using Turnitin software.

Types of Decision

Declined submission
Following peer review, the paper is judged not to be acceptable for publication in PLANTA TROPIKA, and resubmission is not possible.

Decline criteria: out of scope PLANTA TROPIKA, similarity Index above 40%, and not fit template PLANTA TROPIKA.

Declined manuscripts, including original illustrations and photographs, will be returned to authors.

Resubmit for Review
The submitted version of the paper is unacceptable and requires major revision, but there is clear potential in the work, and PLANTA TROPIKA is prepared to consider a new version. Authors are offered the opportunity to resubmit their paper as a new submission. Concerns will remain regarding the suitability of the paper for publication until the authors convince the editors that their paper fits the scope and standards of PLANTA TROPIKA. The resubmitted manuscript will be returned to the original associate editor if at all possible.

Revision
The paper requires changes before a final decision can be made. Authors are asked to modify their manuscript in light of comments received from referees and editors and to submit a new version for consideration within 2 weeks of receiving the decision letter. A point-by-point explanation of how comments have been addressed must be supplied with the revised version of the paper. Revisions may undergo further peer review and papers may undergo more than one round of revision. If the authors do not revise their papers to the satisfaction of the editors, the paper can still be declined from publication in PLANTA TROPIKA.

Accepted submission
The paper is accepted for publication, subject to conditions that need to be addressed in producing a final version of the manuscript. These may include sub-editing changes and minor amendments to ensure the paper fully matches our criteria. The corresponding author will be asked to review a copyedited page proof. The corresponding author is responsible for all statements appearing in the galley proofs. The corresponding author will be informed of the estimated date of publication.

Galley Proof

Page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for final checking. Corrections to the proofs must be restricted to printer’s errors; any other changes to the text, in equations or grammar, may be charged to the author. Proofs should be returned to the editors within three days of receipt to minimize the risk of the author’s contribution having to be held over to a later issue. The editors do not accept responsibility for the correctness of published content. It is the author’s responsibility to check the content at the proof stage.

Publication Process

Generally, PLANTA TROPIKA implements the procedure according to Open Journal System publishing process.

PLANTA TROPIKA publishes articles two times in a year (six-monthly) every February and August. Since 2016, the journal only published the electronic version of the articles that openly accessible on the website

Printed version of the journal only given to the contributors whose work was published in PLANTA TROPIKA.

OPEN ACCESS POLICY PLANTA TROPIKA

This Journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.

This journal is open access journal which means that all content is freely available without charge to users or / institution. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to full text articles in this journal without asking prior permission from the publisher or author. This is in accordance with Budapest Open Access Initiative

Budapest Open Access Initiative

An old tradition and a new technology have converged to make possible an unprecedented public good. The old tradition is the willingness of scientists and scholars to publish the fruits of their research in scholarly journals without payment, for the sake of inquiry and knowledge. The new technology is the internet. The public good they make possible is the world-wide electronic distribution of the peer-reviewed journal literature and completely free and unrestricted access to it by all scientists, scholars, teachers, students, and other curious minds. Removing access barriers to this literature will accelerate research, enrich education, share the learning of the rich with the poor and the poor with the rich, make this literature as useful as it can be, and lay the foundation for uniting humanity in a common intellectual conversation and quest for knowledge. 

For various reasons, this kind of free and unrestricted online availability, which we will call open access, has so far been limited to small portions of the journal literature. But even in these limited collections, many different initiatives have shown that open access is economically feasible, that it gives readers extraordinary power to find and make use of relevant literature, and that it gives authors and their works vast and measurable new visibility, readership, and impact. To secure these benefits for all, we call on all interested institutions and individuals to help open up access to the rest of this literature and remove the barriers, especially the price barriers, that stand in the way. The more who join the effort to advance this cause, the sooner we will all enjoy the benefits of open access. 

The literature that should be freely accessible online is that which scholars give to the world without expectation of payment. Primarily, this category encompasses their peer-reviewed journal articles, but it also includes any unreviewed preprints that they might wish to put online for comment or to alert colleagues to important research findings. There are many degrees and kinds of wider and easier access to this literature. By “open access” to this literature, we mean its free availability on the public internet, permitting any users to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of these articles, crawl them for indexing, pass them as data to software, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without financial, legal, or technical barriers other than those inseparable from gaining access to the internet itself. The only constraint on reproduction and distribution, and the only role for copyright in this domain, should be to give authors control over the integrity of their work and the right to be properly acknowledged and cited. 

While the peer-reviewed journal literature should be accessible online without cost to readers, it is not costless to produce. However, experiments show that the overall costs of providing open access to this literature are far lower than the costs of traditional forms of dissemination. With such an opportunity to save money and expand the scope of dissemination at the same time, there is today a strong incentive for professional associations, universities, libraries, foundations, and others to embrace open access as a means of advancing their missions. Achieving open access will require new cost recovery models and financing mechanisms, but the significantly lower overall cost of dissemination is a reason to be confident that the goal is attainable and not merely preferable or utopian. 

To achieve open access to scholarly journal literature, we recommend two complementary strategies. 

I. Self-Archiving: First, scholars need the tools and assistance to deposit their refereed journal articles in open electronic archives, a practice commonly called, self-archiving. When these archives conform to standards created by the Open Archives Initiative,  then search engines and other tools can treat the separate archives as one. Users then need not know which archives exist or where they are located in order to find and make use of their contents.

II. Open-access Journals: Second, scholars need the means to launch a new generation of journals committed to open access, and to help existing journals that elect to make the transition to open access. Because journal articles should be disseminated as widely as possible, these new journals will no longer invoke copyright to restrict access to and use of the material they publish. Instead they will use copyright and other tools to ensure permanent open access to all the articles they publish. Because price is a barrier to access, these new journals will not charge subscription or access fees, and will turn to other methods for covering their expenses. There are many alternative sources of funds for this purpose, including the foundations and governments that fund research, the universities and laboratories that employ researchers, endowments set up by discipline or institution, friends of the cause of open access, profits from the sale of add-ons to the basic texts, funds freed up by the demise or cancellation of journals charging traditional subscription or access fees, or even contributions from the researchers themselves. There is no need to favor one of these solutions over the others for all disciplines or nations, and no need to stop looking for other, creative alternatives.

Open access to peer-reviewed journal literature is the goal. Self-archiving (I.) and a new generation of open-access journals (II.) are the ways to attain this goal. They are not only direct and effective means to this end, they are within the reach of scholars themselves, immediately, and need not wait on changes brought about by markets or legislation. While we endorse the two strategies just outlined, we also encourage experimentation with further ways to make the transition from the present methods of dissemination to open access. Flexibility, experimentation, and adaptation to local circumstances are the best ways to assure that progress in diverse settings will be rapid, secure, and long-lived. 

The Open Society Institute, the foundation network founded by philanthropist George Soros, is committed to providing initial help and funding to realize this goal. It will use its resources and influence to extend and promote institutional self-archiving, to launch new open-access journals, and to help an open-access journal system become economically self-sustaining. While the Open Society Institute’s commitment and resources are substantial, this initiative is very much in need of other organizations to lend their effort and resources. 

We invite governments, universities, libraries, journal editors, publishers, foundations, learned societies, professional associations, and individual scholars who share our vision to join us in the task of removing the barriers to open access and building a future in which research and education in every part of the world are that much more free to flourish.

February 14, 2002

Budapest, Hungary

Leslie Chan: Bioline International

Darius Cuplinskas: Director, Information Program, Open Society Institute

Michael Eisen: Public Library of Science

Fred Friend: Director Scholarly Communication, University College London

Yana Genova: Next Page Foundation

Jean-Claude Guédon: University of Montreal

Melissa Hagemann: Program Officer, Information Program, Open Society Institute

Stevan Harnad: Professor of Cognitive Science, University of Southampton, Universite du Quebec a Montreal

Rick Johnson: Director, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)

Rima Kupryte: Open Society Institute

Manfredi La Manna: Electronic Society for Social Scientists

István Rév: Open Society Institute, Open Society Archives

Monika Segbert: eIFL Project consultant

Sidnei de Souza: Informatics Director at CRIA, Bioline International

Peter Suber: Professor of Philosophy, Earlham College & The Free Online Scholarship Newsletter

Jan Velterop: Publisher, BioMed Central

PLANTA TROPIKA acknowledges that the author(s) have worked precisely in preparing the manuscript and peer-review procedures will be carried out by the Editors. However, for research purposes, there is also the possibility for published papers to be removed or even withdrawal

It is not likely to do and can only be done under exceptional circumstances.

Consequently, corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies, if necessary, will also be carried out with strict criteria to preserve confidence in the authority of its electronic archives. Our dedication and strategy are to preserve the quality and completeness of relevant scientific documents in the collections of researchers and librarians.

PLANTA TROPIKA recognizes the importance to scholars and librarians of the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record and attaches the utmost importance to preserving confidence in the authority of its electronic archive. Clicking on the CrossMark icon will remind the reader of the current status of the document and will also provide additional publication record information on the document. Applying the CrossMark icon is a promise made by the journal to keep content published and warn readers to change as and when occurred.

The articles published in Planta Tropika will be considered to retract in the publication if:

1. They have clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of major error (eg, miscalculation or experimental error), or as a result of fabrication (eg, of data) or falsification (eg, image manipulation)
2. It constitutes plagiarism
3. The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper attribution to previous sources or disclosure to the editor, permission to republish, or justification (ie, cases of redundant publication)
4. It contains material or data without authorisation for use
5. Copyright has been infringed or there is some other serious legal issue (eg, libel, privacy)
6. It reports unethical research
7. It has been published solely on the basis of a compromised or manipulated peer review process
8. The author(s) failed to disclose a major competing interest (a.k.a. conflict of interest) that, in the view of the editor, would have unduly affected interpretations of the work or recommendations by editors and peer reviewers.

The mechanism of retraction follow the Retraction Guidelines of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) avaiable on https://publicationethics.org/node/19896

1. If the author demands the removal of his/her manuscript while the manuscript is still under peer-review, the author will be fined by paying 500,000 IDR or equivalent per manuscript.
2. If the withdrawal of the manuscript is approved for print, the author will be fined by paying 1,000,000 IDR or equivalent per manuscript.
3. If the manuscript has been published as "Article in Press" (articles that have been accepted for publication but which has not been formally published and will not have the complete volume/issue/page information) that include errors, or are discovered to be accidental duplicates of other published article(s), or are determined to violate our journal publishing ethics guidelines in the view of the editors (such as multiple submissions, bogus claims of authorship, plagiarism, fraudulent use of data or the like), maybe "Withdrawn" From the PLANTA TROPIKA website. Withdrawing means that the article content (HTML and PDF) is deleted and replaced with an HTML page and PDF simply states that the article has been withdrawn. In this case, the author will be punished by paying 1,000,000 IDR or equivalent per manuscript.
4. If the author does not consent to pay the penalty, the author and his/her affiliation will be blacklisted for five (5) years to publish in this journal.
5. If the author requests removal of the manuscript, an official letter signed by the corresponding author and Head of Department of the affiliated institution should be submitted to the Principal Editor.

Article Correction

1. A small part of otherwise reliable publication reports incorrect data or proves to be inaccurate, particularly if this is the product of an honest mistake.
2. The list of author(s)or contributors is wrong (e.g. a deserving Author has been omitted or someone who does not meet authorship criteria has been included).

Corrections to peer-reviewed material fall into one of three categories:

1. Publisher correction (erratum): inform readers of a significant error made by the publisher/journal staff (usually a production error) which has a negative effect on the publication record or the scientific credibility of the article or on the reputation of the authors or journals.
2. Author correction (corrigendum): to inform readers of a significant error made by the authors which have a negative effect on the publication record or the scientific reputation of the paper, or on the reputation of the Authors or the journal.
3. Addendum: an addition to the article by its authors to clarify contradictions, extend existing work, or otherwise explain or update the details in the main work.

The decision whether a correction should be made is made by the editor(s) of a journal, often with recommendations from the members of the Reviewers or the Editorial Board. Handling Editors will approach the Writers of the paper concerned with a request for clarification, but with a final determination as to whether a correction is needed and, if so, which form of correction rests with the Editors.

Statement

Planta Tropika is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and takes all possible measures against any publication malpractices. The Editorial Board is responsible for, among others, preventing publication malpractice. Unethical behavior is unacceptable, and the Planta Tropika does not tolerate plagiarism in any form. Authors who submitted articles: affirm that manuscript contents are original. Furthermore, the authors’ submission also implies that the manuscript has not been published previously in any language, either wholly or partly, and is not currently submitted for publication elsewhere. Editors, authors, and reviewers, within the Planta Tropika are to be fully committed to good publication practice and accept the responsibility for fulfilling the following duties and responsibilities, as set by the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors. As part of the Core Practices, COPE has written guidelines on the http://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines.

Allegation of Research Misconduct

Research misconduct means fabrication, falsification, citation manipulation, or plagiarism in producing, performing, or reviewing research and writing an article by authors, or in reporting research results. When authors are found to have been involved with research misconduct or other serious irregularities involving articles that have been published in scientific journals, Editors have a responsibility to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the scientific record.

In cases of suspected misconduct, the Editors and Editorial Board will use the best practices of COPE to assist them to resolve the complaint and address the misconduct fairly. This will include an investigation of the allegation by the Editors. A submitted manuscript that is found to contain such misconduct will be rejected. In cases where a published paper is found to contain such misconduct, a retraction can be published and will be linked to the original article.

The first step involves determining the validity of the allegation and an assessment of whether the allegation is consistent with the definition of research misconduct. This initial step also involves determining whether the individuals alleging misconduct have relevant conflicts of interest.

If scientific misconduct or the presence of other substantial research irregularities is a possibility, the allegations are shared with the corresponding author, who, on behalf of all of the coauthors, is requested to provide a detailed response. After the response is received and evaluated, additional review and involvement of experts (such as statistical reviewers) may be obtained. For cases in which it is unlikely that misconduct has occurred, clarifications, additional analyses, or both, published as letters to the editor, and often including a correction notice and correction to the published article are sufficient.

Institutions are expected to conduct an appropriate and thorough investigation of allegations of scientific misconduct. Ultimately, authors, journals, and institutions have an important obligation to ensure the accuracy of the scientific record. By responding appropriately to concerns about scientific misconduct, and taking necessary actions based on the evaluation of these concerns, such as retractions, withdrawal and correction, Planta Tropika will continue to fulfill the responsibilities of ensuring the validity and integrity of the scientific record, as described in the Plagiarism Policy and R-W-C Policy.

Complaints and Appeals

Planta Tropika will have a clear procedure for handling complaints against the journal, Editorial Staff, Editorial Board, or Publisher. The complaints will be clarified to the respected person with respect to the case of the complaint. The scope of complaints includes anything related to the journal business process, i.e. editorial process, found citation manipulation, unfair editor/reviewer, peer-review manipulation, etc. The complaint cases will be processed according to COPE guidelines.

Research ethics

Research involving humans
Research studies on humans (individuals, samples, or data) must have been performed in accordance with the principles stated in the Declaration of Helsinki.

Prior to starting the study, ethical approval must have been obtained for all protocols from the local institutional review board (IRB) or other appropriate ethics committee to confirm the study meets national and international guidelines for research on humans. A statement to confirm this must be included within the manuscript, which must provide details of the name of the ethics committee and reference/permit numbers where available.

For non-interventional studies (e.g. surveys), where ethical approval is not required (e.g. because of national laws) or where a study has been granted an exemption by an ethics committee, this should be stated within the manuscript with a full explanation. Where a study has been granted exemption, the name of the ethics committee which provided this should also be included. However, if the researcher is in doubt, they should always seek advice from the relevant department before conducting the study.

Non-stigmatizing and non-discriminatory language should be used when describing different groups by race, ethnicity, age, disease, disability, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Human studies categorized by such groupings should include an explanation of the definitions and categories, including whether any rules of human categorization were required by the relevant funding agencies.

Ethical approval for all studies must be obtained before the research is conducted. Authors must be prepared to provide further information to the journal editorial office upon request.

Ethical considerations for different human study designs
Consent for research involving children, adolescents, and vulnerable or incapacitated study participants

Written informed consent must be obtained from the parent or guardian of any participants who are not able to provide full informed consent themselves. Age of legal adulthood is determined by the country in which study participants are based, which is typically between ages 16-18. A statement to confirm informed consent has been obtained must be included within the manuscript.

In settings where verbal informed consent has been obtained rather than written informed consent, this must be explained and stated within the manuscript.

In accordance with the principles outlined in the Nuremberg Code and the Belmont Report, informed consent must have been given with free will, under no coercion or bribery of any kind.

Retrospective studies
Researchers must confirm they have obtained ethical approval to conduct the study, as well as permission from the dataset owner to use the information in databases/repositories for the purposes of the research they are conducting. Where permission to use information from a database/repository is not required (e.g. where it is publicly available and unrestricted re-use is permitted via an open license), a statement to explain this must be included within the manuscript.

Data acquired must be kept anonymized unless otherwise advised by the owners of the content in the database. Where participants’ details are not required to be anonymized, authors must be able to provide evidence that written informed consent, including consent to publish, was obtained from participants. A statement to confirm this must be included within the manuscript.

Survey studies
Researchers must ensure they have informed all participants why the research is being conducted, whether or not anonymity is assured, and how the data they are collecting is being stored. The participant’s right to confidentiality should always be considered and they should be fully informed about the aims of the research and if there are any risks associated. Their voluntary consent to participate should be recorded and any legal requirements on data protection should be adhered to.

As with all research studies, ethics approval from an appropriate IRB/local ethics committee must be obtained prior to conducting the study. A statement to confirm this must be included within the manuscript. In settings where ethics approval for survey studies is not required, authors must include a statement to explain this within the manuscript.

Covert observational research
As the nature of this type of research does not provide study participants the opportunity to opt-out or provide full informed consent, researchers must ensure they have considered the full rationale for the covert nature of their research and obtain ethical approval to conduct the study from an appropriate ethics committee. Ideally, researchers should seek informed consent from the study participants after the completion of the study. Authors must include a statement within the manuscript to provide the rationale for the covert nature of the research and the details of the name of the ethics committee(s) which approved the study and include the reference/permit numbers where available. Please note, the Editor reserves the right to deem research of this type not suitable for consideration in their journal.

Research on indigenous communities
Authors should be aware of any specific research ethics approval and informed consent procedures which need to be followed in order to conduct research in communities where special processes for permissions may exist. Authors should also be aware of cultural sensitivities or any restrictions associated with the publication of content, including images included in their manuscripts. In many indigenous communities, additional permissions may need to be sought from community leaders or an Elder.

Authors working with indigenous communities are advised to consult appropriate guidelines for ethical research and publishing (including requirements for authorship) such as the AIATSIS Guidelines for ethical publishing, the National Inuit Strategy on Research and Interviewing Elders: Guidelines from the National Aboriginal Health Organization. Authors conducting research using media tools are advised to consult appropriate guidelines such as the On Screen Protocols & Pathways: A Media Production Guide to Working With First Nations, Metis, and Inuit Communities, Cultures, Concepts & Stories.

Duties of Editor

Publication Decisions
The editors of Planta Tropika ensure that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication to undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers who are experts in the field. The Principal Editor is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be published, based on the validation of the work in question, its importance to researchers and readers, the reviewers’ comments, and such legal requirements as are currently in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.

Fair Play
Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit (importance, originality, study’s validity, clarity) and its relevance to the journal’s scope, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, political philosophy or institutional affiliation. Decisions to edit and publish are not determined by the policies of governments or any other agencies outside of the journal itself. The Principal Editor has full authority over the entire editorial content of the journal and the timing of publication of that content.

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

Disclosure and conflicts of interest
The Editors will not use unpublished information disclosed in a submitted manuscript for their own research purposes without the author’s explicit written consent. Privileged information or ideas obtained by editors as a result of handling the manuscript will be kept confidential and not used for their personal advantage. Editors will recuse themselves from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships/connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers; instead, they will ask another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript.

Management of unethical behavior (s)
The editors, together with the publisher(s), should take rationally responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented regarding a submitted manuscript or published article. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication. For this reason, Planta Tropika has legal experts in the field of Intellectual Property rights on the Ethics Advisory Board.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper.

Confidentiality
Any manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to or discussed with others except as authorized by the editor.

Standards of Objectivity
Reviews should be conducted objectively. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate. Referees should express their views clearly with supporting arguments.

Acknowledgment 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.

Authorship

The individuals who conduct the work are responsible for identifying who meets these criteria and ideally should do so when planning the work, making modifications as appropriate as the work progresses. We encourage collaboration and co-authorship with colleagues in the locations where the research is conducted. It is the collective responsibility of the authors, not the journal to which the work is submitted, to determine that all people named as authors meet all four criteria; it is not the role of journal editors to determine who qualifies or does not qualify for authorship or to arbitrate authorship conflicts. If agreement cannot be reached about who qualifies for authorship, the institution(s) where the work was performed, not the journal editor, should be asked to investigate. The criteria used to determine the order in which authors are listed on the byline may vary, and are to be decided collectively by the author group and not by editors. If authors request removal or addition of an author after manuscript submission or publication, journal editors should seek an explanation and signed statement of agreement for the requested change from all listed authors and from the author to be removed or added.

Corresponding Author
The corresponding author is the one individual who takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer-review, and publication process. The corresponding author typically ensures that all the journal’s administrative requirements, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and disclosures of relationships and activities are properly completed and reported, although these duties may be delegated to one or more co-authors. The corresponding author should be available throughout the submission and peer-review process to respond to editorial queries in a timely way, and should be available after publication to respond to critiques of the work and cooperate with any requests from the journal for data or additional information should questions about the paper arise after publication. Although the corresponding author has primary responsibility for correspondence with the journal, the ICMJE recommends that editors send copies of all correspondence to all listed authors.

Author contribution
When a large multi-author group has conducted the work, the group ideally should decide who will be an author before the work is started and confirm who is an author before submitting the manuscript for publication. All members of the group named as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, including approval of the final manuscript, and they should be able to take public responsibility for the work and should have full confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the work of other group authors. They will also be expected as individuals to complete disclosure forms.

Data access and retention
Authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, should be prepared to provide public access, and should, in any event, be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.

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. If the editor or the publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the obligation of the author to promptly retract or correct the paper or provide evidence to the editor of the correctness of the original paper.