ETHICAL ISSUES

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Publication Ethics:

NIDM Journal on Disaster & Development is committed to upholding the integrity of the work it publishes. The value of academic publishing relies on everyone involved behaving ethically.

The author(s) submitting the paper(s) to the “NIDM Journal on Disaster & Development” are requested to adhere to the following ethical guidelines:

1. The author(s) must ensure that their article is their own original work, which does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any other person or entity, and cannot be construed as plagiarizing any other published work, including their own previously published work.
2. The corresponding author on behalf of all authors has accountable for the content of a submitted manuscript or published paper.
vThe author(s) must not submit a manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously.
3. The author(s) should neither submit previously published work nor work which is based in substance on previously published work, either in part or whole.
4. The author(s) must appropriately cite all relevant publications. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, should not be used or reported in the author's work unless fully cited, and with the permission of that third party.
5. The author(s) must make available all necessary formal and documented ethical approval from an appropriate research ethics committee, including evidence of anonymization and informed consent from the client(s) or patient(s) studied, if appropriate.
6. The author(s) must avoid making defamatory statements in submitted articles that could be construed as impugning any person's reputation.
7. The author(s) must declare any potential conflict of interest - be it professional or financial - which could be held to arise with respect to the article.
8. The author(s) must disclose all sources of funding for the research reported in the paper.
9. The corresponding author should provide a list of suggested reviewers (minimum four). The corresponding author must provide the correct details for suitable reviewers with the appropriate experience to review, ensuring that the suggested reviewers do not have a conflict of interest.

Authors Responsibilities:

The NIDM Journal on Disaster & Development recommends that authorship be based on the following criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work.
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval of the version to be published.
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work he or she has done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. In addition, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors.

Following are the responsibilities of the author(s)

1. Reporting standards
2. Data access and retention
3. Originality and plagiarism
4. Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication
5. Acknowledgment of sources
6. Authorship of the paper
7. Hazards and human or animal subjects
8. Disclosure and conflicts of interest
9. Fundamental errors in published works

Review Process:

1. After submission, the manuscript is screened for basic technical requirements.
2. The corresponding author receives a confirmation e-mail, informing them whether the manuscript is properly structured or not, and presents the obligations to the corresponding author.
3. Even though the authors are responsible for the potentially plagiarized content, the editorial office, by using plagiarism checker software and other freely available online checkers, scans the content for plagiarism.
4. The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to return to authors, without peer-review, improperly formatted manuscripts or non-authorized submissions.
5. The Editor-in-Chief identifies a potential editor from the editorial board members or handles the manuscript himself.
6. The Editor-in-Chief/assigned editor evaluates the manuscript only based on objective criteria, such as scientific validity and the technical soundness of the content. Subtle determinations (interest, novelty, or impact) are not acceptable in the NIDM Journal on Disaster & Development review process.
7. The Editor-in-Chief/assigned editor identifies the anonymous reviewers who are willing to review the submitted manuscript within one month.
8. All the papers submitted to NIDM Journal on Disaster & Development undergo a double-blind peer-review process, which means that both the reviewer and author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice-versa, throughout the review process.
9. All the reviewers are familiar with the NIDM Journal on Disaster & Development review policy. Their awareness of the necessity of a brief response on whether they are able to promptly conduct the review or not, adopts the quality and the agility of the review procedure.
10. The submitted manuscript to NIDM Journal on Disaster & Development is reviewed by at least two reviewers.
11. The reviewers can send the confidential comments to the Editor-in-Chief/assigned editor through email on journal[dot]nidm[at]nidm[dot]gov[dot]in
12. After the review process, the Editor-in-Chief makes a final decision. There are several types of decisions possible. They include:
    • Accept the manuscript as submitted;
    • Accept it with minor revision;
    • Accept it with major revision;
    • Reject the manuscript because it does not meet the journal criteria;
    • Withdrawn - if no reviewer is ready to review the manuscript.
13. In general, the first review round takes 1 month to 5 months duration.
14. The authors are requested to save their article files at their own end for future use.
15. The journal will not provide the article files during the revisions.
16. If an article is rejected or withdrawn from the journal, the journal will not provide the article file to the corresponding author. The article (and copyright form, if submitted) will also be deemed to be automatically removed from the journal. Subsequently, the authors are free to submit their articles at any other place.

Conflict of Interest:

Authors, reviewers, or editorial board members have to disclose every situation or connection, which could potentially affect the impartial review and publication procedure.

Archiving:

The publisher has the plan for electronic backup and preservation of access to the journal content in the event a journal is no longer published.

Submission declaration and verification:

An article submission means that the work discussed has never been published before (save as an abstract, a published lecture, or an academic thesis) that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere, that it has been approved for publication by all authors and by the responsible authorities where the work was done, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, including electronically, without the written consent of the copyright-holder.

Use of inclusive language:

Inclusive language values variety, shows respect for all people, is sensitive to differences, and supports equality. Content should make no assumptions about the reader's views or commitments; contain nothing that suggests one person is superior to another based on age, gender, colour, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability, or health condition; and utilise inclusive language throughout. Bias, stereotyping, slang, references to dominant culture, and/or cultural preconceptions should all be avoided by authors. We recommend aiming for gender neutrality by defaulting to plural nouns ("clinicians, patients/clients") and avoiding "he, she," or "he/she" whenever feasible. Unless they are relevant and valid, we recommend avoiding the use of descriptors that relate to personal attributes such as age, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation, disability, or health condition. These guidelines are intended to serve as a starting point for identifying suitable language, but they are neither exhaustive nor definitive.

Changes to authorship:

Before submitting their paper, authors are expected to carefully evaluate the list and order of authors, and to give the definitive list of authors at the time of the initial submission. Any changes to the authorship list, such as the addition, deletion, or rearranging of names, should be done only after the paper has been accepted and only with the journal Editor's approval. The Editor must receive the following information from the appropriate author in order to make such a request: (a) the reason for the modification in the author list, and (b) written confirmation from all authors (email, letter) that they agree with the addition, removal, or rearrangement. After the article has been approved, the Editor will only consider the addition, deletion, or rearranging of authors in extraordinary circumstances. The manuscript's publication will be halted while the Editor examines the request.

Copyright:

After an article is accepted, writers will be requested to sign a 'Exclusive License Agreement,' in which they will retain copyright.

Anonuymous Peer Review:

This journal has an anonymous peer review system. The editors will evaluate all submissions to see if they are appropriate for the journal. Papers that are considered appropriate are generally forwarded to at least two independent professional reviewers who assess the paper's scientific merit. The Editors are in charge of making the ultimate decision on whether or not to approve or reject an article. The decision of the Editors is final. Editors are not engaged in choices concerning papers that they have authored or that have been written for them by family members or colleagues, or that are related to items or services in which the editor has a financial interest. Any such submission is subject to all of the journal's standard procedures, with peer review conducted separately from the appropriate editor and their research groups.

Article Processing Charges:

There is no article processing charges for publication in DD journal. All articles published in DD journals are freely available online, immediately upon publication.

Ownership:

National Institute of Disaster Management (NIDM), Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

Contact details for submission:

All correspondence about paper submissions and other questions should be sent to the Editor, Disaster and Development Journal at journal[dot]nidm[at]nidm[dot]gov[dot]in