Code of Ethics

Overview

Fungal Diversity, published by BioAcademic Press, is committed to upholding high standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in scholarly publishing.

Responsibilities of Authors

• Originality and integrity: submissions must be original, accurate, and free from plagiarism, data fabrication, or falsification.
• Authorship: all individuals who made significant contributions must be listed as authors and approve the final manuscript.
• Acknowledgment of sources: authors must properly cite relevant work and acknowledge funding, institutional support, and potential conflicts of interest.
• Data transparency: authors should provide access to underlying data and materials when requested and ensure ethical compliance.
• Dual submission: manuscripts must not be under consideration by another journal at the time of submission.

Responsibilities of Editors

• Editors evaluate manuscripts based on academic merit, originality, and relevance.
• Editors treat submitted manuscripts as confidential and do not use unpublished material for personal advantage.
• Editors recuse themselves from handling manuscripts where they have conflicts of interest.
• Editorial decisions are guided by reviewers' recommendations and journal standards.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Reviewers must keep manuscripts confidential and not use peer-review information for personal benefit.
• Reviews should be fair, constructive, and unbiased.
• Reviewers should identify relevant published work not cited by authors and report ethical concerns.
• Reviewers must decline assignments where they have conflicts of interest.

Publisher Responsibilities

• BioAcademic Press works with editors to maintain the scholarly record and address corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern when necessary.
• The publisher supports compliance with international ethical standards, including COPE guidance.
• The publisher provides editors and reviewers with guidance on best practices in scholarly publishing.

Misconduct and Complaints

• Allegations of research or publication misconduct are investigated according to COPE guidelines.
• Authors who violate ethical standards may face rejection, retraction, or reporting to institutions or funders.
• Complaints related to editorial decisions or conduct are handled transparently and fairly by the Editors-in-Chief in consultation with the publisher.