Based on the Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the position statements developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, Singapore 20101
DUTIES OF EDITORS:
Publication decisions
The Managing Editors of Open Access Government are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. They may be guided by the policies of the journal’s editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor-in-Chief and the Managing Editor may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision.
The Editorial team will evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to the nature of the authors or the host institution including race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
Sponsored supplements undergo the same rigorous quality control as any other content for the journal. Decisions on such material are made in the same way as any other journal content. The sponsorship of supplements (if any) and role of the sponsor will be clearly declared to readers.
Confidentiality
The editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author and other editorial advisers, as appropriate. In the case of a misconduct investigation, Open Access Government may disclose material to relevant third parties (e.g., an institutional investigation committee or other editors).
Disclosure and conflicts of interest
Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor’s own research without the express written consent of the author.
Corrections
When genuine errors in published work are pointed out by readers, authors, or editors, which do not render the work invalid, a correction (or erratum) will be published as soon as possible. The online version of the paper may be corrected with a date of correction and a link to the printed erratum. If the error renders the work or substantial parts of it invalid, the paper will be retracted with an explanation as to the reason for retraction (i.e., honest error).
Ensuring the integrity of the published record – suspected research or publication misconduct
If serious concerns are raised by readers, reviewers, or others, about the conduct, validity, or reporting of academic work, the Open Access Government Editorial Team will initially contact the authors and allow them to respond to the concerns. If that response is unsatisfactory, Editors will refer the matter to the authors’ institution/s. In cases when concerns are very serious and the published work is likely to influence clinical practice or public health, Open Access Government may consider informing readers about these concerns, by issuing an ‘expression of concern’, while the investigation is ongoing. Once an investigation¬ is concluded, Open Access Government will publish a comment that explains the findings of the investigation. Open Access Government may decide to retract a paper if it is convinced that serious misconduct has happened even if an investigation by an institution or national body does not recommend it.
Open Access Government will respond to all allegations or suspicions of research or publication misconduct raised by readers, reviewers, or other editors. Cases of possible plagiarism or duplicate/redundant publication will be assessed by the journal. In other cases, Open Access Government may request an investigation by the author’s institution or other appropriate bodies (after seeking an explanation from the authors first and if that explanation is unsatisfactory).