Journal of Zhejiang University: Agriculture and Life Sciences is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal, which is sponsored by Zhejiang University and is published by Zhejiang University Press Co., Ltd. The journal guidelines are fully consistent with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and the Code of Conduct for Journal Publishers (https://publicationethics.org).

Journal of Zhejiang University: Agriculture and Life Sciences takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities.

Duties of Editors

1. Fair play

Editors evaluate submitted manuscripts exclusively on the basis of their academic merit (importance, originality, study’s validity, clarity) and their relevance to the journal’s scope, without regard to sex, gender, race, religion, citizenship, etc. of the authors.

2. Confidentiality

Editors and editorial board members must ensure that the information regarding manuscripts submitted by the authors is kept confidential.

3. Disclosure and conflicts of interest

The editors and editorial board members will not use unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript for his own research without written consent of the author. The editors and editorial board members 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.

4. Publication decisions

The editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts being considered for publication undergo peer-review by at least two reviewers who are expert in the field. Reviewers might accept, reject or require a revision for style and/or content. After favorable opinions of the reviewers, the final acceptance or rejection rests with the Editorial Board, who reserves the right to refuse any material for publication. The decisions on acceptance, revision, or rejection are made within three months of submission.

5. Involvement and cooperation in investigations

Editors (in conjunction with the publisher) will take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regard to a submitted manuscript or published paper. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication. The journal editors follow the COPE Flowcharts when dealing with cases of suspected misconduct. If on investigation, the ethical concern is well-founded, a correction, retraction, expression of concern or other note as may be relevant, will be published in the journal.

Duties of Authors

1. Reporting standards

Authors should present an accurate account of their original research as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Manuscripts must follow the submission guidelines of the journal. (See the “Instruction to Author” in the journal’s web site: http://www.zjujournals.com/agr/EN/column/item455.shtml).

2. Data access and retention

Authors should provide raw data related to their manuscript for editorial review and must retain such data.

3. Originality and plagiarism

Authors should ensure that they have written and submitted only entirely original works, and they have cited the work and/or words of others. Publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the work reported in the manuscript should also be cited. The journal does not tolerate plagiarism in any form; and the plagiarism in any form constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

4. Multiple, duplicate, redundant or concurrent submission/publication

Papers describing essentially the same research should not be published in more than one journal or primary publication. Submission of a manuscript concurrently to more than one journal is unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

5. Authorship of the manuscript

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author ensure that all the authors have seen and agreed to the submitted version of the manuscript and their inclusion of names as co-authors.

6. Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Authors should—at the earliest stage possible (generally by submitting a disclosure form at the time of submission and including a statement in the manuscript)—disclose any conflicts of interest that might be construed to influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript. All sources of financial support for the work should be disclosed (including the grant number or other reference number if any).

7. Acknowledgement of sources

Authors should acknowledge all sources of data used in the research and cite publications that have been influential in research work.

8. Hazards and human or animal subjects

If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the authors must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animals or human participants, the authors should ensure that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them; the manuscript should contain a statement to this effect. Authors should also include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human participants. The privacy rights of human participants must always be observed.

9. Fundamental errors in published works

At any point of time, if author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal editors or publisher and to cooperate with the editors to retract or correct the paper in form of an erratum. If editors or publisher learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error or inaccuracy, it is also the author’ s obligation to promptly correct or retract the paper or provide evidence to the journal editors of the correctness of the paper.

10. Participate in peer review process

Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process and cooperate fully by responding promptly to editors’ requests for raw data, clarifications, and proof of ethics approval, patient consents and copyright permissions. In the case of a first decision of “revisions necessary”, authors should respond to the reviewers’ comments systematically, point by point, and in a timely manner, revising and re-submitting their manuscript to the journal by the deadline given.

Duties of Reviewers

1. Contribution to editorial decisions

Peer review assists editors in making editorial decisions and, through editorial communications with authors, may assist authors in improving their manuscripts. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication.

2. Promptness

Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to review the research reported in a manuscript or knows that its prompt review will be impossible should immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review, so that the manuscript could be sent to another reviewer.

3. Confidentiality

Any manuscript received for review is confidential document and must be treated as privileged information. This applies also to the invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.

4. Standards of objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively and observations formulated clearly with supporting arguments so that authors can use them for improving the manuscript. Personal criticism for the authors is inappropriate.

5. Acknowledgement of sources

Reviewers must ensure that authors have acknowledged all sources of data used in the research. Reviewers should also notify the editors of any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other manuscript (published or unpublished) of which they have personal knowledge.

6. Disclosure and conflicts of interest

Any invited reviewer who has conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies or institutions connected to the manuscript and the work described therein should immediately notify the editors to declare their conflicts of interest and decline the invitation to review so that alternative reviewers can be contacted.

Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the written consent of the authors. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for the reviewer’s personal advantage. This applies also to the invited reviewers who decline the review invitation.

Duties of the Publisher

1. Handling of unethical publishing behavior

In cases of alleged or proven scientific misconduct, fraudulent publication or plagiarism, the publisher, in close collaboration with the editors, will take all appropriate measures to clarify the situation and to amend the article in question. The publisher, together with the editors, shall take reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers where research misconduct has occurred, and under no circumstances encourage such misconduct or knowingly allow such misconduct to take place.

2. Access to the journal content