Misconduct Address Mechanism

1. PREAMBLE

 Nigerian Journal of Technology (NIJOTECH) hereinafter referred to as “Journal” does not tolerate submission of works which contain plagiarised material or infringe the copyright or moral rights of third parties. Plagiarism is the act of dishonestly copying or taking advantage of, the work of another author as if it were your own, without acknowledgement. Plagiarism can take many forms including word for word copying of another work, or simply copying the ideas from another work without attribution. Plagiarism includes so called “self-plagiarism”, which is the submission of one’s own previously published material to a new publication, without informing the publisher of the new publication that the work has been previously published.There is also a concern where authors submit the same work to multiple journals. This can waste the time of publishers and reviewers and this policy therefore aims to prevent this. Copyright infringement is unlawful and occurs when a substantial part of the work of another author is copied without consent. Copyright infringement and plagiarism can overlap but are not synonymous. For example:

  1. If an author includes in his/her work a direct copy of a substantial part of another author’s workwithout their permission and passes it off as their own work then this may be both plagiarism and copyright infringement.
  2. If an author includes in his/her work a direct copy of a substantial part of another author’s work without their permission but expressly acknowledges in the work that it is the work of another author then this would not be plagiarism but may be copyright infringement.
  3. If an author presents the work or ideas of another author as their own but does not include in his or her work a direct copy of a substantial part of the other author’s work, then this may be plagiarism but would not be copyright infringement.

 

Authors have certain moral rights which include the right to object to derogatory treatment of a copyright work. Infringement of moral rights occurs if a person publishes commercially or communicates to the public a derogatory treatment of the work of another author. A derogatory treatment of a work is any addition to, deletion from or alteration to or adaptation of the work which amounts to distortion or mutilation of the work or is otherwise prejudicial to the honour or reputation of the author. Moral rights of authors also include the right to be identified as the author of a copyright work (if the author has asserted this right), and breaching this right would also constitute an infringement of moral rights.

 

2. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE AUTHORS

Before submitting any work to NIJOTECH the author(s) must make sure that:

  1. theauthor(s) owns all of the rights in the work including the copyright in the work;
  2. the work is the author(s)’s own original work and is not copied wholly or substantially from anyother work or material or any other source;
  3. the work does not infringethe copyright or other rights of any third party;
  4. the author(s) has the right to licenseor assign (as applicable) the copyright in the work;
  5. thework or any version of it has not previously been published or submitted for publication except as specifically informed to NIJOTECH at the time of submission; and
  6. the author has not submitted the work or any substantially similar work to another publication andwill not do so unless NIJOTECH decides not to publish the work.
  7. All authors MUST complete a Statement of Originality Form and Copyright Form.

3. DEALING WITH CASES OF PLAGIARISM, COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT OR MORAL RIGHTS

INFRINGEMENT

 If NIJOTECH becomes aware that a work may contain plagiarised material or infringe copyright or moral rights belonging to a third party, either before or after publication of that work, we will follow the procedures set out in the following sections.

In following the procedures set out below, NIJOTECH will assess for its own internal purposes whether to continue to consider for publication or withdraw a work. Any decision reached by NIJOTECH will be solely as to whether or not NIJOTECH wishes to consider publishing the work. NIJOTECH will not issue a decision as to whether or not plagiarism, or infringement of copyright or moral rights has actually taken place.

3.1 PROCEDURE WHERE A WORK HAS BEEN SUBMITTED, BUT NOT PUBLISHED

If NIJOTECH becomes aware that a work may contain plagiarised material or infringe copyright or moral rights belonging to a third party before publication, NIJOTECH will contact the author(s) to highlight the issue that has arisen and ask for the author(s)’s explanation of the apparent problem.The following is a non-exhaustive list of actions that may be taken by NIJOTECH in such circumstances:

3.1.1 No response or unsatisfactory response:

If no response is received or an unsatisfactory response is received to NIJOTECH’s query:

  • the work may immediately be withdrawn from the editorial/review process and may not bepublished;
  • NIJOTECH may inform the author(s) that no further action with respect to progressing thereviewing/editorial handling of the work will take place and that NIJOTECH will not consider for

publication works written by the author(s) for a period of 5 years;

  • NIJOTECH may not consider for publication works written by the author(s) for a period of 5

years; and

  • the Editorsmembers of staff employed by NIJOTECH may also be informed of these actions only on a need to know basis.

3.1.2 Response admitting mistake:

  1. In the case of minor mistakes (for example omission ofproper citation of the source of reproduced material) NIJOTECH may request from the author(s) some wording for use in noting any correction to the online version by adding a note to the metadata or adding an additional separate PDF, or in the case of a print version for use in printing an erratum note in a subsequent issue before progressing the editorial process.
  2. In the case of misconduct, NIJOTECH may adopt any or all of the responses and actions listed in section1.1

3.2 SUBMITTING A SIMILAR WORK TO MORE THAN ONE PUBLICATION:

If prior to publication, it is found that an author(s) has submitted a work or substantially similar work concurrently to more than one publisher without informing NIJOTECH, NIJOTECH will inform the author that it believes the same work or substantially similar work had been submitted to another publication. However,

If prior to publication, it is found that the work or a substantially similar work has already  been published previously in another publication, NIJOTECH will inform the author that it believes the same work or a substantially similar work has been published in another publication and NIJOTECH may reject the work.

Any repeat occurrence may result in a similar process to that described in section 3.1.1 above except that NIJOTECH may not consider for publication works written by the author(s) for a period of 1 year. 

3.3 PROCEDURE WHERE A WORK HAS ALREADY BEEN PUBLISHED

If NIJOTECH has published a work and subsequently becomes aware of matters which give rise to a reasonable suspicion that the work contains plagiarised material or material that infringes copyright or moral rights then NIJOTECH may immediately withdraw the work from the relevant publication. In respect of NIJOTECH Digital Library, the metadata, (Title and Authors) may be retained, but the PDF shall be removed and replaced by a notice indicating the work is currently unavailable; and

-NIJOTECH shall request that the AJOL simultaneously takes down the PDF from their database and leaves in place similar metadata and a similar notice to that retained on the NIJOTECH website. If NIJOTECH withdraws publication of a work in this manner NIJOTECH may then follow the procedure set out in Sections 3.3.1 and 3.3.2.

If NIJOTECH becomes aware that a work may contain plagiarised material or has infringed on copyright or moral rights belonging to a third party after publication, NIJOTECH will inform the author(s) that an issue has arisen and ask for the author(s)’s explanation of the apparent problem.

The following is a non-exhaustive list of actions that may be taken by NIJOTECH in such circumstances:

15.1

3.3.1 No response or unsatisfactory response:

If no response is received or an unsatisfactory response is received to NIJOTECH’s query, the work shall be withdrawn from the relevant publication as follows:

  1. In respect of NIJOTECH, the metadata, (Title and Authors) may be retained, but the PDF shallbe removed and replaced by a notice indicating the work has been retracted.
  2. NIJOTECH shallrequest that AJOL simultaneously takes down the PDF from their database and leaves in place similar metadata and a similar retraction notice to that retained on NIJOTECH
  3. The work has also been printed, in the next available issue of the publication NIJOTECH shallpublish a retraction note (included in the contents list) with respect to the work.
  4. NIJOTECHshall inform the author(s) that the work will be withdrawn from the relevant publication and that NIJOTECH may not consider for publication works written by the author(s) for a period of 5 years;
  5. NIJOTECH may not consider for publication works written by the author(s) for a period of 5 years; and
  6. Editorsof NIJOTECH and members of staff employed by NIJOTECH shall also be informed of these actions only on a need to know basis.

3.3.2 Response admitting mistake:

If the author(s) responds admitting a mistake, then resolution will be pursued as follows:

  • In the case of minor mistakes (for example omitting to include proper citation of the source of reproduced material),NIJOTECH may request from the author(s) some wording for use in noting anycorrection to the online version by adding a note to the metadata or adding an additional separate PDF, or in the case of a print version for use in printing an erratum note in a subsequent issue.
  • In the case of misconduct, NIJOTECH may adopt any or all of the responses and actions listed in

Section 6.1

3.4 SIMILAR MATERIAL PUBLISHED IN MORE THAN ONE PUBLICATION

Where it is discovered after publication of the work that the work or a substantially similar work has been published previously in another journal, NIJOTECH will inform the author that it believes the same work had been published in another journal and NIJOTECH shall withdraw the article. Any repeat occurrence shall result in a similar process to that described in Section 3.3.1 above except that NIJOTECH may not consider for publication works written by the author(s) for a period

of 1 year.

3.5 DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES FOR MEMBERS

Where the author(s) is a member of NIJOTECH and NIJOTECH believes that the author(s) may have acted contrary to the Bye-laws of NIJOTECH, then the matter may be referred to the Disciplinary Board of NIJOTECH together with all known facts.

4. DISPUTES BETWEEN AUTHORS AND THIRD PARTIES

The following procedure will be followed if there is a dispute between a third party and an author whereby a third party has made an allegation of plagiarism or infringement of copyright or moral rights against an author(s) of a work submitted to NIJOTECH for publication or published by NIJOTECH. 4.1 WHERE SUCH A DISPUTE ARISES:

  1. The author(s) and the third party should endeavour to resolve their difficulties independent of NIJOTECH;
  2. NIJOTECH will not act to decide the dispute between the third party and the author;
  3. NIJOTECH will not agree to act as an arbitrator or mediator on either a formal or an informal basis inany such dispute but does encourage the parties to resolve the matter amicably between themselves;
  4. NIJOTECH will decide for its own internal purposes on the basis of the procedures set out in the sections above, whether or not to publish a work or withdraw publication of a work if it has already been published; and
  5. NIJOTECH reserves the right not to publish any work that is the subject of a dispute until the dispute has been resolved.

4.2 WHEN SUCH A DISPUTE IS FINALLY RESOLVED through Court proceedings or by arbitration or mediation by the author(s) and the third party, and the outcome referred to NIJOTECH, a decision as to whether or not to publish a work, or reinstate a work which has been withdrawn, will be taken by NIJOTECH.

4.3 IF NIJOTECH ITSELF IS ACCUSED OF INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT OR MORAL RIGHTS, NIJOTECH will take such steps as it deems appropriate to defend its interests.

In all matters that will require litigations and leading to court proceedings, authors are enjoined to sign on the Copyright form that such matters will be handled at the courts of competent jurisdictions within Nsukka, Enugu State, Nigeria.

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Parts of this policy statement was adapted from that used by the IET of UK (www.theiet.org)