Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science
Journal / Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science / About the Journal

 

Publisher

Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA).

EDITORIAL WORKFLOW

The editorial workflow includes an upfront analysis in 7 days time to check for suitability for the journal scope, general quality, formal aspects of compliance with the guidelines for authors. Also plagiarism analysis, to be made by one of the editors and editorial assistant, is part of the workflow. The manuscripts passed by initial scrutiny will then be subjected to double-blind peer review. Based on reviews, editors may suggest, besides authors’ revisions, additional reviews. Accepted manuscripts undergo copyediting for language improvement and consistency. The layout is consistently applied, and elements such as graphs and tables are adapted to maintain the journal style.

Peer Review
The WIOJMS publishes double-blind peer-reviewed research papers that present original data and reviews. A minimum of 2 reviewers are selected within the international scientific community with recognized experience in the thematic context of the manuscript under consideration. The reviewers are expected to return their report in a 3-week period. All communication between the intervenients is on an anonymous base. Only manuscripts that have received favourable reviews are published, taking into consideration:

1. The scientific merit, particularly in the local, regional and international context.
2. The appropriateness of the design in view of the questions raised.
3. The manner of presentation, especially with respect to conciseness, clarity, arrangement, the accuracy of facts and logic.
4. The level of detail of methodologies and analytic tools.
5. The use of appropriate tables and quality figures in relation to the text.
6. The citation of appropriate and pertinent literature, namely reference sources and current state of the art.
7. The availability of the source data and the interpretation of the results to allow for the conclusions presented.

Peer review reports should include general evaluation constructive comments and criticism, and if applicable the original manuscript with thorough suggestions and corrections in track changes. Recommendation for publication should be given as acceptable, revisions required, re-submit for review, or decline submission. Peer reviewers should refer to COPE’s Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers. WIOJMS protects the confidentiality of participants in the double-blind peer review process.

ETHICAL STATEMENTS

The integrity of our scientific content, editorial flow and publishing process is of major importance to us. We try to implement the best practice principles in the Western Indian Ocean Journal of Marine Science (WIOJMS). The journal follows the general guidelines of Cambridge University Press for the editorial processes, including those pertaining to authors, peer reviewers, and editors. The most relevant components of these guidelines applied to WIOJMS are referred to below.

Research Integrity
Our principles of research integrity cover: honesty in all aspects of research; scrupulous care, thoroughness, and excellence in research practice; transparency and open communication; care and respect for all participants in and subjects of research; accountability both for one’s own research integrity and that of others when behaviour falls short of our standards.

Editorial Process
Our editorial processes reflect commitment to editorial independence. We do not discriminate against authors, editors or peer reviewers based on personal characteristics or identity. We are committed to embedding diversity, removing barriers to inclusion, and promoting equity at every stage of our publishing process. We do not tolerate abusive behaviour or correspondence towards our staff and others involved in the publishing process, including authors and reviewers.
The journal encourages editors and peer reviewers to familiarise themselves with and act in accordance with relevant best practice guidelines on peer review. Editors and peer reviewers should refer to COPE’s Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.
WIOJMS protects the confidentiality of participants in the double-blind peer review process.

Authorship
The journal recommends co-authorship if: substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; and/or drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content. We provide standards to increase transparency in authorship (for example, ORCID).
The corresponding author’s specific responsibilities include: manuscript correction and proofreading; handling the revisions and re-submission of revised manuscripts up to the acceptance of the manuscripts; acting on behalf of all co-authors in all communications related to the manuscript/published article. We encourage authors to list anyone who does not meet the criteria for authorship in an Acknowledgments section in their publication with permission, for example to recognise the contributions of anyone who provided research or writing assistance.

Plagiarism
The journal follows the definition of plagiarism by Cambridge University, defined as ‘using someone else’s ideas, words, data, or other material produced by them without acknowledgement’. Plagiarism is not tolerated, and we reserve the right to check all submissions through appropriate plagiarism-checking tools. The journal resorts to Grammarly business software for plagiarism checks. Submissions containing suspected plagiarism, in whole or part, will be rejected.

Duplicate and Redundant Publication
Readers, reviewers and editors should raise any suspicions of duplicate or redundant publication. Upon submission, manuscripts should not be under consideration, accepted for publication or in press within a different journal. Any manuscript based on a thesis should be a reworking of the material in the thesis and written to conform to the journal’s style guide. If a thesis was published by a publisher and is publicly accessible, permission may be required from the thesis publisher before submission. The relevant editor should be informed that the manuscript draws on a thesis in the cover letter.

Research with Humans or Animals
Research involving humans or animals should be approved by relevant ethics committee(s) and should conform to international ethical and legal standards for research. We also expect authors to respect human participants’ right to privacy, and to gain any necessary consent to publish before submission.

Fraudulent Research and Research Misconduct
Where we are made aware of fraudulent research or research misconduct by an author, our first concern is the integrity of content we have published. Any publication found to include fraudulent results will be retracted, or an appropriate correction or expression of concern will be issued.

Data and Supporting Evidence
We support transparency and openness around data, code, and other materials associated with research. We expect authors to maintain accurate records of supporting evidence necessary to allow others to understand, verify, and replicate new findings, and to supply or provide access to this supporting evidence, on reasonable request.

Post-publication corrections
If published content is found to have an error, an Erratum will be produced and published with the subsequent issue.

Gender, race and nationality policy
The journal promotes equity in all aspects and does not tolerate interferences due to gender identity, race, ethnicity or nationality to interfere with the Editorial processing in any way. The journal encourages participation from scholars of diverse backgrounds.

Advertising
The journal does not include any advertising and will not accept any form of advertising in the articles.

OPEN ACCESS POLICY

WIOJMS is a free-of-charge Open Access online journal with no page charges for authors.

PUBLICATION FREQUENCY

Two Regular Issues per year plus Special Thematic Issues.