General Considerations 

• The publisher is committed to ensuring that all editorial decisions made by the editor-in-chief and the editorial board are final and based solely on professional judgment, without any influence from commercial interests.
• Additionally, the publisher is responsible for continuously monitoring and ensuring adherence to ethical principles by the editor-in-chief, editors, editorial board members, reviewers, authors, and readers of the journal.
• When necessary, the publisher must announce and publish corrections, transparency principles, and retractions of published articles.
• Authors' personal information must remain strictly confidential for all individuals with access to it, including the editor-in-chief, editorial board members, internal and executive managers, reviewers, advisors, and editors. This confidentiality must be upheld at all times, except in cases of academic misconduct, where sharing the information with relevant investigative committees is permitted.
• Furthermore, all decisions regarding articles at any stage must be made based on the principles of fair judgment, without regard to the authors' race, gender, religious beliefs, ethnicity, nationality, or political philosophy.

Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board Responsibilities

• The editor-in-chief has full authority to accept or reject manuscripts.
• The final decision on manuscript acceptance or rejection is based on the opinions of reviewers and editorial board members.
• The editor-in-chief must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts under review until they are published.
• It is the editor-in-chief's duty to uphold the confidentiality and anonymity of reviewers’ identities.
• The editor-in-chief must avoid conflicts of interest and disclose any potential conflicts when necessary.
• The editor-in-chief is responsible for investigating cases of plagiarism and fraudulent data, and must publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, or apologies when required.
• In line with the journal's Double-Blind peer review policy, the anonymity of both reviewers and authors must be preserved.
• The editor-in-chief must not disclose manuscript content or related information to anyone except the corresponding author, reviewers, and, if necessary, other editorial board members.

Reviewers' Responsibilities

• The confidentiality of manuscript information must be maintained at all times, and the peer review process must be conducted anonymously.
• Reviewers should evaluate manuscripts within the given timeframe and assist the editorial team in making decisions regarding acceptance or rejection.
• Reviewers' recommendations regarding manuscripts should be submitted via the review form and included in the comments section for the author and editor.
• Reviewers must refrain from evaluating manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist and report any potential conflicts as soon as possible.
• Reviewers’ judgments on the quality and content of manuscripts should be based on expert opinions and conducted with impartiality.

Authors’ Responsibilities

• Adherence to fundamental writing and research principles is essential, and manuscripts must be prepared according to the journal's formatting guidelines (Authors' Guidelines).
• Before submitting a manuscript, all authors must review the journal’s submission guidelines and policies (Terms and Conditions).
• The corresponding author must confirm the consent and awareness of all co-authors by submitting the Author Commitment Form.
• All authors listed in the manuscript and commitment form must have made a substantial contribution to the writing and development of the article.
• Authors’ institutional affiliations and any conflicts of interest between authors or organizations must be clearly stated in the manuscript.
• To support the peer review process, eligible authors are encouraged to participate in the review of other manuscripts submitted to the journal.
• Authors must clearly disclose any funding sources for their research, if applicable.
• If an error or inaccuracy is identified in a published article, authors must promptly notify the editor to facilitate correction or retraction.
• All submissions to the journal are subject to similarity detection software to prevent academic misconduct.
• Authors must properly cite all sources and references, both directly and indirectly used in their work.

Changes to Author Information

• After manuscript acceptance and during the publication stage, adding new authors or modifying authorship roles is not permitted.
• If an author wishes to remove their name from the author list, a signed letter from the author and all co-authors must be submitted, confirming their agreement.
• Any changes to the order of authors require a signed letter from all authors indicating their approval.

Authorship Criteria

To qualify for authorship, individuals must meet the following criteria:

1. Conduct the research design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation;
2. Write the manuscript or contribute significantly to its revision;
3. Provide final approval for publication.

Each author must contribute substantially to the manuscript to be accountable for specific content sections.

Authorship Principles and Responsibilities

• Throughout submission, review, and publication preparation, the corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal and ensuring compliance with all administrative requirements, including addressing reviewer comments, providing necessary documentation, and submitting required forms such as commitment statements and conflict of interest disclosures.
• The corresponding author must promptly respond to inquiries from the editor and executive manager during the review process and collaborate with the journal, if necessary, after publication.
• Once an article is accepted, adding a new author or altering authorship roles is not permitted. If an author requests removal from the author list, a signed letter from all authors must be submitted to confirm agreement. Any changes in author order must also be approved in writing by all co-authors.

Potential Research Misconduct

Data Fabrication and Falsification

Data fabrication and falsification occur when a researcher either reports fabricated data without conducting an actual study or manipulates, alters, or omits research data and findings after performing an experiment.

Human and Animal Studies

All articles reporting experimental research on humans must include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained from each participant or their legal guardian. Additionally, all human and animal studies must be conducted with prior approval from a local ethics committee.

Duplicate Publication

Duplicate publication occurs when two or more articles share essentially the same hypotheses, data, discussion points, and conclusions without appropriate cross-referencing.

Citation Manipulation and Fraud

Excessive citation of sources that do not contribute to the scientific content of a manuscript—solely to increase citations of a particular author or journal—is considered citation manipulation. This is a form of research misconduct as it falsely inflates the perceived impact of a work.

Simultaneous Submission

Simultaneous submission occurs when a manuscript (or significant portions of it) is submitted to a journal while it is already under review by another journal.

Salami Publication

Salami publication, or redundant publication, involves inappropriately dividing the results of a study into multiple papers, often to artificially expand an academic résumé.

Improper Authorship or Attribution

All listed authors must have made a substantial scientific contribution to the research and have endorsed all claims in the manuscript. It is essential to include all individuals who made significant contributions, including students and laboratory technicians.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is intentionally using another person’s ideas or original materials as one’s own. Copying even a single sentence from another manuscript or one’s own previously published work without proper citation is considered academic misconduct.

• All submitted manuscripts are checked for originality using the Hamanandjoo to ensure authenticity. 
• The manuscript will be rejected if plagiarism is detected during the review process.
• If plagiarism is identified after publication, the journal reserves the right to issue a correction or retract the article.
• The journal also retains the right to notify the authors' affiliated institutions in cases of plagiarism, whether detected before or after publication.

The Principles of Transparency

Study Design and Ethical Approval

Scientific research must follow a logical structure and an appropriate study design while adhering to ethical research standards. Conducting research with lower standards may be considered research misconduct. Authors are responsible for the entire scientific content of their manuscript and the accuracy of bibliographic information.

Data Analysis

Data must be properly analyzed. While improper analysis is not necessarily misconduct, fabrication and manipulation of data are considered serious violations of research ethics.

Conflict of Interest

• Conflicts of interest may not always be obvious but can influence the judgment of authors, reviewers, and editors. Such conflicts, when revealed later, may mislead readers. They can be personal, commercial, political, academic, or financial.
• Financial interests include employment, research funding, stock ownership, payments for lectures or travel, consultancy roles, and corporate sponsorship of staff. Authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest transparently.

Peer Review Process

• This journal follows a double-blind peer review process, meaning that both the reviewers’ and authors’ identities are concealed from each other during the review process. To facilitate this, authors must ensure their manuscripts are prepared in a way that does not reveal their identity.
• Authors have the right to request that a specific reviewer not be assigned to their manuscript due to a potential conflict of interest.

Archiving Policy

This policy outlines how IJSST authors can archive copies of their articles on personal websites, corporate websites, and various subject repositories. IJSST  is published under an open-access license, allowing articles to be made available immediately under their specific license terms. If an author has published an article under an open-access license, the journal encourages them to share the final published version instead of the accepted manuscript. Authors may also reuse their article’s abstract and citation information (e.g., title, author name, publication date) and full text of their article anywhere, including on social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, and Twitter, provided that, where possible, a link to the article is included. Ideally, this link should contain a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), which can be found in the online citation details of the article. The accepted version of the manuscript may be archived in the author's personal website and/or their institutional repository or archive.

IJSST is officially archived in the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI).

Publication Schedule

IJSST is a quarterly journal, publishing four issues per year. All published articles, from the journal's inception to the present, are available on its official website at https://ijsst.areeo.ac.ir/.

Privacy and Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts must be handled with the utmost confidentiality. When authors submit their work for review, they entrust their scientific findings and creative efforts to editors, and their reputation and career may be at stake. Disclosing confidential details during the review process may violate their rights.

Reviewers also have confidentiality rights, which editors must respect. If there is suspicion of dishonesty or fraud in a manuscript, confidentiality may be breached. However, under normal circumstances, it must be strictly maintained.

Beyond authors and reviewers, editors are prohibited from disclosing any information regarding submitted manuscripts, including:

• Date of submission
• Manuscript content
• Status in the review process
• Reviewers' comments and critiques
• Final editorial decisions

Requests to use manuscript materials in legal proceedings are also subject to this confidentiality policy.

Editors must inform reviewers that all manuscripts sent for review are the private property of the authors. Consequently:

• Reviewers and editorial staff must avoid discussing or appropriating authors' work before publication.
• Reviewers are not allowed to keep personal copies of the manuscript or share it with others unless explicitly permitted by the editor.
• After submitting their comments, reviewers must return or destroy all copies of the manuscript.
• Editors should not retain copies of rejected manuscripts.
• Reviewers' comments should not be published or disclosed publicly without explicit permission from the reviewer, author, and editor.

Ownership and management

Seed Science Society of Iran and Seed and Plant Certification and Registration Institute

 Copyright and Licensing

The IJSST provides immediate open access to its content. All articles in this journal are published under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0). This license allows use, sharing, adaptation, distribution, and reproduction of content in any medium or format, provided that the original author(s) and source are properly credited.

Under this journal’s open-access policy, authors retain the copyright to their articles while allowing others to download, reuse, reprint, modify, distribute, and copy the content, as long as proper attribution is given and the original source is correctly cited.

Copyright

In this journal, authors retain copyright ownership for their content without restrictions. 

Advertising

The IJSST does not have a policy for accepting or publishing advertisements.

Corrections and Retractions

To maintain the integrity of academic and scientific records, the journal may occasionally need to issue a correction or a retraction for a published article. According to accepted academic norms, this is usually done by publishing a "Correction" (Erratum) or a "Retraction" notice rather than altering the original article itself. Instead of modifying the published article, a separate document is issued with a highlighted correction or retraction notice.

The original article remains publicly available and is typically indexed in the Erratum or Retraction section. However, in exceptional cases where the content is irreparably flawed, the journal may need to remove it from its website and archival platforms.

In some cases, the original author(s) may be required to provide clarifications or minor corrections to their published article. Such modifications are only acceptable if they do not alter the article’s findings or conclusions.

• Correction (Erratum)
  • If changes to a published article affect its meaning or conclusions but do not invalidate the entire paper, the editors may decide to issue an Erratum. This correction will be indexed and linked to the original article.
  • Corrections related to authorship of published articles are also handled through an Erratum.
• Retraction
  • In rare cases where the scientific integrity of an article is significantly compromised, retracting the article may be necessary. In such instances, the journal's decisions will comply with COPE retraction guidelines.
  • Retracted articles will be indexed and linked to the original publication.

Process for Identifying and Addressing Allegations of Research Misconduct

The IJSST is committed to preventing the publication of articles involving research misconduct. The editor-in-chief takes necessary steps to identify and address potential misconduct, including the following:

1. Initial Investigation and Notification:
• The editor informs the editorial office and provides relevant documents and a draft letter to the corresponding author, requesting an explanation without making assumptions.
2. Referral to the Publishing Committee:
• If the author's explanation is deemed unacceptable, and there is evidence of serious misconduct, the case is referred to the Publishing Committee.
• The committee will review the case and decide whether the misconduct is severe enough to warrant a submission ban for the author.
3. Actions for Minor Misconduct:
• If the misconduct is less severe, the editor, in consultation with the Publishing Committee, will issue a warning letter to the author, reminding them of the journal's publishing policies.
• If the article has already been published, the editor may require the author to issue a formal apology in the journal to correct the record.
4. Actions for Severe Misconduct:
• The journal will send a formal warning to the responsible author.
• All manuscripts submitted by the author under review will be immediately rejected.
• The author will be banned from serving on the journal’s editorial board or acting as a reviewer.
• The journal reserves the right to take further action if necessary.
5. Retraction of Articles in Cases of Severe Fraud:
• If research misconduct results in a retraction, a Retraction Notice will be published in the journal and linked to the original online article.
• The online version of the article will be marked with the date of retraction.

Author Complaint and Appeal Process

The IJSST welcomes reasonable and well-founded appeals regarding editorial and peer-review decisions. However, such appeals must be supported by clear evidence and strong justifications.

Authors requesting an appeal must:

• Provide substantial evidence or new data in response to editorial and reviewer comments.
• Acknowledge that final decisions are based on thorough peer review and editorial assessments and are rarely overturned.
• If an author believes there is a valid reason for an appeal, they can follow the steps below:

Appeal Process Steps:

1. Provide a Clear and Justifiable Reason:
• Authors must submit a well-reasoned, documented request to the journal’s editorial office.
2. Clearly State the Grounds for Appeal:
• Authors should clearly explain why they disagree with the editorial decision.
3. Submit New Data or Information:
• If applicable, authors should provide new data or information not considered in the initial review process.
4. Provide Evidence of Review Errors:
• If authors believe the reviewers made an error in evaluating their manuscript, they must submit supporting documents and justifications.
5. Report Conflicts of Interest in the Review Process:
• If authors suspect conflicts of interest influenced the review process, they must provide evidence to substantiate their claim.

Guidelines and Ethical Instructions of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

The IJSST is committed to following the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines in the review and publication processes. More details can be found at: (https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts-new/translations). 

COPE’s Code of Conduct and Best Practices for Editors

https://publicationethics.org/media/609/download?attachment

Best Practices for Editors

The editor is responsible for the content published and must:

• Consider the needs of readers and authors.
• Maintain the scientific and ethical quality of articles.
• Support freedom of expression and uphold scientific integrity.
• Prevent commercial interests from compromising ethical standards.
• Publish corrections and clarifications when necessary.
• Gather feedback from authors, readers, and reviewers to improve journal processes.
• Stay informed about new peer-review methods and promote transparency in research.
• Prevent research misconduct and foster publication ethics.
• Evaluate journal policies to encourage responsible behavior.

Editorial Responsibilities Toward Readers

• Ensure that all articles undergo expert peer review.
• Encourage the publication of research with accurate and transparent reporting.
• Prevent unethical authorship practices, such as ghost or guest authorship.
• Provide information about the sources of research funding.

Editorial Responsibilities Toward Authors

• Accept or reject articles based on their significance, originality, and scientific quality.
• Maintain the decisions of previous editors unless serious issues arise.
• Provide clear and regularly updated guidelines for authors.
• Select qualified and impartial reviewers.
• Disclose conflicts of interest and establish a transparent process for handling complaints.

Editorial Responsibilities Toward Reviewers

• Provide comprehensive and up-to-date guidelines for reviewers.
• Protect the confidentiality of reviewer identities unless using an open review system.
• Evaluate reviewer performance and discontinue collaboration with low-quality reviewers.
• Acknowledge the contributions of reviewers and encourage academic institutions to recognize peer-review activities.

Editorial Responsibilities Toward the Editorial Board

Editors should keep editorial board members informed about journal policies and adjust board composition based on qualifications and journal needs. Additionally, mechanisms should be in place to ensure impartial peer review of submissions from editorial board members.