Publication Ethics and Malpractice

The CNU JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION (CNU JHE) is dedicated to maintaining the utmost integrity in publishing practices and endeavors to prevent any form of publication misconduct. To ensure fairness and impartiality, CNU JHE employs a rigorous double-blind peer-review process for all submitted works, and takes steps to avoid any real or potential conflicts of interest among the editorial and review staff and the material being reviewed. Any deviations from the established guidelines should be promptly reported to the Editor-in-Chief, who is fully committed to resolving any such issues as quickly as possible.

 

Editorial Process

The primary goal of CNU JHE is to advance knowledge by publishing top-quality research articles across a range of disciplines. The journal upholds the principles of editorial independence, diversity, and inclusivity, and encourages submissions from individuals from diverse backgrounds and regions. Upon submission, the manuscript is assigned to an editor for an initial evaluation. If the paper meets the standards of CNU JHE, it is then reviewed by at least two independent peer reviewers, whose feedback is used by the associate editor to determine whether the article should be recommended for publication. Finally, accepted articles are forwarded to the Chief Editor for the final approval.

CNU JHE has a strict policy against discourteous conduct or communication aimed at our editors, staff, or any other personnel involved in our publishing efforts. We reserve the right to take suitable actions to protect individuals from such behavior. This may include withdrawing a manuscript from consideration or lodging a complaint against offensive comments made by colleagues or peers.

 

Peer Review Process

Peer review, which is also known as refereeing, is a formal evaluation process that involves subjecting an author's scholarly work, research, or ideas to the critical analysis of other experts who possess extensive knowledge of the same specialized field. It necessitates a group of qualified experts who are capable of conducting unbiased evaluations in a specific, often highly specialized area. The review process is also carried out when evaluating submitted manuscripts or grant applications. This standard process encourages authors to adhere to the accepted standards of their respective fields, helping to avoid the dissemination of unfounded claims, unsatisfactory interpretations, and personal opinions. Peer review also increases the likelihood of identifying and addressing any weaknesses. Additionally, both grant funding and publication in scholarly journals typically require that the subject matter is both innovative and significant.

The reviewers and editors are accountable for delivering a timely and constructive evaluation of the submitted research articles based on the rigor of analysis, the quality of presentation, and the importance of the contribution.

Each article is reviewed by two referees, consisting of two experts in the field. The referees provide an evaluation of the work that highlights any shortcomings or issues along with recommendations for improvement. The editorial board then assesses the referees' comments and takes note of their opinions on the manuscript before forwarding the decision, along with the referees' feedback, back to the author(s).

 

Criteria of Acceptance or Rejection

A manuscript is considered accepted if it meets the following criteria:

  1. It receives endorsement for publication from a minimum of two referees.
  2. It adheres substantially to the reviewers' instructions.
  3. It complies with ethical guidelines and protocols for studies involving humans and animals.
  4. It scores no higher than 10% on the Plagiarism Detection Test and receives a Grammarly Rating of at least 95%. Otherwise, the manuscript is returned to the author(s).

 

The referees provide an explicit recommendation for the manuscript, selected from a list of options provided by the journal. Most recommendations fall into one of the following categories:

  1. Accept without revisions,
  2. Accept with minor revisions,
  3. Accept with major revisions,
  4. Reject with the option to resubmit, or
  5. Reject.

 

If the referees have conflicting opinions on the quality of a manuscript, various strategies are employed to come to a decision. If the editor receives both positive and negative reviews for a manuscript, the board will request additional reviews to serve as a tie-breaker. In the case of a tie, the authors may be invited to respond to a referee's criticisms, and a compelling rebuttal may break the tie. If the editor is uncertain about the persuasiveness of a rebuttal, the board may seek a response from the referee who made the original criticism. In rare cases, the board may facilitate communication between an author and a referee to allow them to discuss a point. However, the board does not permit referees to collaborate with one another, and the objective of the process is explicitly not to reach a consensus or persuade anyone to change their opinions.

 

Comments

CNU JHE welcomes the submission of comments on previous articles. Comments on articles previously published in the journal will generally be reviewed by two reviewers, usually an author of the original article (to assist the editor in evaluating whether the submitted comment represents the previous article's accuracy) and an independent reviewer. The original author will be invited to reply if a comment is accepted for publication. All other editorial requirements, as enumerated above, apply to proposed comments.

 

Recruiting Referees

CNU JHE picks its reviewers through its editorial office. When a manuscript arrives, an editor solicits reviews from scholars or other experts to referee the manuscript. The identities of the referees selected by the Editorial Board are kept unknown to research authors. However, the reviewer's identity can be disclosed under some particular circumstances. Disclosure of Peer Review can be granted under the following grounds: as evidence to prove that the published paper underwent peer review as required by the University for ranking and financial incentives, for regulatory bodies such as the Commission on Higher Education, Accreditation of Academic Programs. Requests for peer review results shall be made in writing.

 

Authorship and Contributorship

When submitting original articles to CNU JHE for publication, all authors must confirm that their work is an authentic representation of their own contributions and has not been plagiarized, wholly or partially, from any other work.

Authors corresponding with the journal are required to use their institutional email address during the submission process. All contributing authors should be identified during submission, with their names, ORCID number, and affiliation listed on a separate cover page submitted through the journal's portal as a separate file. Only authors whose names appear on the cover page during submission will be recognized as authors of the publication. Individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship may be acknowledged in the publication's Acknowledgements section.

 

Plagiarism

It is within our right to scrutinize all submissions for plagiarism using reliable software such as Turnitin. Our journal follows a strict rule that requires a maximum similarity index of 10%. Articles that exceed this limit will be returned to the author(s) for revision or rejected. If any instance of plagiarism is discovered after publication, we will follow the guidelines outlined in the Retractions section. We welcome reports of plagiarism from our readers, reviewers, and editors.

 

Duplicate and Redundancy Policy

The CNU JHE discourages significant publication overlap, except when it is required to advance the field of study, and only with the explicit approval of the original publication and proper citation of the original source. (Adapted from Cambridge University Press, Version 4.0, September 20, 2021).

 

Policy on Conflicts of Interest and Funding

The authors of the manuscript confirm that they have disclosed all actual or potential conflicts of interest and any benefits they may have derived from their work. Furthermore, CNU JHE requires authors to include a statement regarding their funding. The editors and reviewers are also expected to reveal any possible conflicts of interest that may impede the neutrality or integrity of a publication.

 

Retraction

The act of retracting an article from the digital file is performed by the journal publisher in response to post-publication discovery of fraudulent claims, plagiarism, or serious errors of methodology that went undetected in the quality assurance process. The editorial office validates any complaints from third-party researchers on these grounds, and retraction is initiated only after the author is informed and given the opportunity to present their side in accordance with due process.

 

Policy on Digital Preservation

Digital Preservation refers to the methodical storage of electronic files in various formats, including but not limited to compact discs, cloud computing, Google drive, email accounts, and external hard drives. This approach ensures that in cases where the website crashes, natural disasters occur, fire or other human-made destructions happen, or virus invasions take place, the files are retained and protected.

 

Policy on Handling Complaints

The journal takes complaints about any contribution that may infringe on copyright or other intellectual property rights, contain material inaccuracies, libelous or otherwise illegal materials seriously. The editorial team will investigate the complaint and may request that all parties involved provide evidence to support their claims. Based on this investigation, the journal will decide whether to remove the allegedly unlawful material in good faith. If the complaint lacks sufficient foundation, the material will not be removed. However, if the complaint is well-founded, legal defenses such as fair use in the case of copyright infringement or truthfulness of a statement in the case of libel may apply. The journal will document its investigation and decision. If an author is found guilty, the article will be subjected to the retraction policy.

 

Policy on Use of Human Subjects in Research

The publication of research articles involving human subjects by the Journal is subject to the verification by the author(s) that all laws and regulations related to the protection of human subjects have been followed. The research protocol must have received approval from the appropriate Ethics Review Board (ERB). If the research protocol has been deemed exempt, the ERB must have determined it as such. The manuscript should be accompanied by a Certificate of Approval issued by the IRB.

 

Research Authorization or Permit Requirement

If applicable, authors must attach the following authorizations or permits to their manuscript for consideration:

  1. For studies involving human subjects: Ethics Clearance and, if relevant, a National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) permit.
  2. For studies utilizing biological materials with genetic manipulation or the introduction of exotic or imported plants, microorganisms, or animals: Biosafety permit.
  3. For studies conducted on animals: Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) Clearance/Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) authorization.
  4. For studies covering the protected areas of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR): Gratuitous Permit.

 

 

Publication Frequency and Fee

The CNU JHE is published once a year, and there are no charges for submitting articles. Additionally, every published article is exempt from any fees related to processing or publishing.

 

Open Access and Copyright Policy

The CNU JHE follows an open access policy, allowing for widespread global knowledge exchange. As a result, readers are not required to pay any subscription fees in order to access the complete texts of all articles. There is no need to seek permission from the publisher or author to read, download, or print the articles. Moreover, the journal welcomes article submissions without any charges to the authors.

While authors grant the publisher exclusive publication rights, they retain copyright ownership of their articles. Under this arrangement, authors have the right to:

  1. Share their articles with others in the same manner permitted for third parties under the relevant user license, as long as it includes the publisher's logo and a link to the definitive version on CNU Journal of Higher Education.
  2. Retain rights to patents, trademarks, and other intellectual property, including research data.
  3. Receive proper attribution and credit for their published work. For further information, please refer to the link: [https://www.elsevier.com/about/policies/copyright#Author-rights].

 

Appeals and Complaints

To raise appeals or file complaints, it is necessary to submit a written communication addressed to the Editor in Chief of the CNU JHE. The concerns will be handled by the members of the CNU JHE Editorial Board. For this purpose, emails should be sent to jheonline@cnu.edu.ph.

 

Privacy Statement

The information provided, including names and email addresses, on this journal site will be utilized solely for the intended purposes of this journal. It will not be shared with any other party or used for any other purposes.

 

Sponsor and Source of Support

The Center for Research and Development (CRD) of Cebu Normal University sponsors and funds the CNU JHE. For inquiries, you may contact them at the following details: contact number (+63 32) 254 1452 loc. 127, email: jheonline@cnu.edu.ph.