1. Ethics and Publication Integrity

AJOMENA is committed to the highest standards of research integrity and publication ethics, in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices and international scholarly publishing standards.

Endogeny Policy (AJOMENA)

1.1 Purpose

The Endogeny Policy of the African Journal of Offshore, Marine Engineering and Naval Architecture (AJOMENA) is designed to ensure editorial independence, international diversity, and scholarly integrity by limiting the share of articles authored by individuals affiliated with the journal’s editorial board, reviewers, or publishing institution.

This policy prevents excessive internal publication bias and ensures that AJOMENA maintains credibility as an international peer-reviewed journal aligned with DOAJ and global indexing standards.

1.2 Definition of Endogeny

For the purpose of this policy, endogeny refers to:

• Publications authored or co-authored by editors-in-chief, associate editors, editorial board members, reviewers, or journal-affiliated institutional staff
• Articles originating from the journal’s own publishing organisation (NIMENA) or closely related entities
• Manuscripts where editorial staff have direct academic, institutional, or supervisory relationships with the authors

1.3 Acceptable Threshold

AJOMENA adopts the following limit:

• Maximum of 25% endogeneity per year or per issue cycle

This means that:

• No more than one-quarter of all published research articles in a given year (or of the latest two issues in continuous publication format) may involve editorial board members or affiliated institutional authors.
• The remaining minimum of 75% must be external submissions from independent researchers.
• The one-quarter endogeny rule does not apply where manuscripts submitted by concerned authors are edited by external editors and reviewed by reviewers based outside the journal’s and publisher’s country of origin.

1.4 Editorial Restrictions

To ensure compliance with this policy:

• Editorial board members must not influence the review process of their own submissions
• Any manuscript submitted by an editor or board member must be handled by:
• An independent senior editor, and
• At least two external reviewers with no institutional affiliation
• The Editor-in-Chief must ensure complete recusal from handling any manuscript with a conflict of interest

1.5 Submission Balance and Monitoring

AJOMENA will:

• Track the percentage of internally affiliated publications annually
• Publish an Endogeny Report as part of its editorial transparency statement
• Monitor author affiliations to identify institutional clustering or repeated submissions from internal sources

Key indicators monitored include:

• Number of editorial-board-authored papers
• Number of institution-affiliated papers (NIMENA-linked)
• Total annual publication volume
• Percentage ratio of internal vs external authorship

1.6 Transparency Requirement

AJOMENA will publicly disclose:

• The proportion of endogeny in each publication year
• Any measures taken to reduce excessive internal publishing
• Compliance status with international indexing standards

This transparency is essential for:

• DOAJ eligibility
• Scopus and Web of Science indexing requirements
• COPE ethical publishing standards

1.7 Conflict of Interest Safeguard

To maintain fairness:

• All authors with editorial affiliations must fully disclose their roles
• Such manuscripts are subject to enhanced scrutiny during peer review
• Undisclosed editorial affiliation is considered ethical misconduct

1.8 Enforcement Mechanisms

Violation of this policy may result in:

• Manuscript rejection
• Post-publication correction or reclassification
• Removal from editorial consideration
• Suspension of editorial privileges
• Institutional notification in severe cases

1.9 Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed annually by the AJOMENA Editorial Board to ensure alignment with:

• DOAJ best practices
• COPE Core Practices
• Evolving international indexing standards

1.10 Statement of Commitment

AJOMENA is committed to maintaining a globally diverse, transparent, and ethically independent publication environment, ensuring that editorial affiliation does not influence publication opportunities or compromise scholarly objectivity.

2 Research Integrity and Originality

All submitted manuscripts must comply with the following mandatory ethical requirements. AJOMENA does not tolerate any form of academic misconduct. Manuscripts must be entirely original and free from unethical research practices.

2.1 The following are strictly prohibited:

• Plagiarism in any form, including text, ideas, data, figures, or tables without proper attribution
• Fabrication, including invention of data, results, or sources
• Falsification, including manipulation or selective alteration of research data or findings

Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, authenticity, and integrity of all submitted content.

2.2 Publication Ethics and Redundancy Policy

To maintain the integrity of the scholarly record, AJOMENA enforces strict rules against redundant dissemination of research.

The following are not permitted:

• Duplicate submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously
• Redundant publication, where substantially similar content is published in multiple outlets without justification
• Salami slicing, where one study is inappropriately divided into multiple publications to inflate output

Authors must declare any prior dissemination of the work, including preprints, conference proceedings, or related publications.

2.3 Ethical Approval for Human, Animal, and Sensitive Research

Research involving human participants, animals, environmental systems, or sensitive data must comply with recognised ethical standards.

Mandatory requirements include:

• Approval from a recognised Institutional Review Board (IRB) or ethics committee
• Compliance with national and international research ethics regulations
• Inclusion of an ethical approval statement in the manuscript (including approval reference number where applicable)

Where formal ethical approval is not required by law, authors must provide a clear justification.

2.4 ORCID Requirement

All authors must provide a valid ORCID iD at the time of submission.

• ORCID ensures accurate author identification and disambiguation
• Manuscripts without ORCID identifiers may be returned for correction before review
• ORCID records must be linked to institutional affiliations where applicable

2.5 Authorship Integrity and Misconduct Prevention

AJOMENA strictly prohibits unethical authorship practices, including:

2.6 Ghost Authorship

Individuals who made substantial contributions but are not acknowledged or listed as authors are not permitted.

2.7 Guest Authorship

Inclusion of individuals who did not meet authorship criteria (e.g., honorary or courtesy authorship) is prohibited.

2.8 Gift Authorship

Adding authors based on seniority, influence, or non-scientific relationships without actual contribution is strictly forbidden.

2.9 Accountability and Responsibility

All authors share collective responsibility for:

• The accuracy and integrity of the research
• Ensuring proper attribution of contributions
• Disclosing conflicts of interest
• Addressing any post-publication issues or corrections

2.10 Changes in Authorship

• Any addition, removal, or reordering of authors after submission must be accompanied by written consent from all listed authors
• Changes are subject to editorial approval and may be rejected if unjustified
• Authorship disputes will be handled according to COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines

2.11 Compliance Enforcement

Failure to comply with this authorship policy may result in:

• Immediate rejection of the manuscript
• Suspension of submission privileges
• Retraction of published articles (if applicable)
• Notification of institutional ethics committees

3 Funding and Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy

AJOMENA requires full transparency regarding research funding and potential conflicts of interest to ensure objectivity, credibility, and trust in published research.

3.1 Funding Disclosure Requirements

All authors must clearly disclose all sources of financial support related to the research. This includes:

• Name of funding agencies, institutions, or organisations
• Grant numbers or reference codes (where applicable)
• Internal institutional funding or departmental support
• Any in-kind support (equipment, software, or materials)

Authors must also specify the role of funders in the research process, including:

• Study design
• Data collection
• Data analysis and interpretation
• Manuscript preparation
• Decision to publish

If funders had no involvement, authors must explicitly state this.

3.2 No Funding Statement

If the research received no external financial support, authors must include the following statement:

“The authors received no external funding for this study.”

This statement is mandatory and must appear in the manuscript funding section.

3.3 Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure

All authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could influence, or be perceived to influence, the research process or outcomes.

Conflicts may include:

• Financial relationships (grants, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria)
• Institutional affiliations or competing interests
• Personal or professional relationships that may affect objectivity
• Intellectual property or patent interests related to the work

If no conflicts exist, authors must state:

“The authors declare no conflicts of interest.”

3.4 Transparency and Accountability

• All disclosures must be made at the time of submission
• Editors may request additional clarification or supporting documentation
• Undisclosed conflicts discovered after publication may result in correction, retraction, or institutional reporting

3.5 Editorial Oversight

AJOMENA editors and reviewers are required to assess funding and conflict disclosures during peer review to ensure transparency and integrity. Any concerns will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines.

3.6 Compliance Requirement

Failure to provide accurate funding or conflict of interest disclosures may result in:

• Manuscript rejection
• Retraction of published articles
• Suspension of submission privileges

4 Plagiarism Screening Policy

4.1 Plagiarism Checks

AJOMENA is committed to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity and publication ethics. All submitted manuscripts undergo a mandatory plagiarism screening process before they are considered for peer review.

Each submission is checked using recognised iThenticate or equivalent editorial screening tools to ensure originality of content and proper citation of sources.

4.2 Acceptable Similarity Threshold

Manuscripts submitted to AJOMENA are expected to demonstrate a high level of originality. As a general guideline:

• A similarity index of not more than 15–20% may be acceptable, depending on the nature of the manuscript and the sources of overlap.
• Individual matches to a single source should not exceed acceptable citation norms.
• Properly cited quotations, references, and commonly used methodological phrases may be excluded from similarity concerns at the discretion of the editorial team.

Manuscripts exceeding the acceptable similarity threshold may be returned to authors for revision or rejected outright.

4.3 Types of Plagiarism Monitored

AJOMENA screens for all forms of academic misconduct, including but not limited to:

• Direct plagiarism: Verbatim copying of text without proper attribution
• Self-plagiarism: Reuse of an author’s previously published work without acknowledgement
• Mosaic plagiarism: Patchwriting or improper paraphrasing of multiple sources
• Source manipulation: Inaccurate or incomplete citation of referenced works
• Image and data plagiarism: Use of figures, tables, or datasets without permission or attribution

4.4 Author Responsibility

Authors are solely responsible for ensuring the originality of their submissions. By submitting a manuscript to AJOMENA, authors confirm that:

• The work is original and free from plagiarism
• All sources have been properly cited and acknowledged
• Necessary permissions have been obtained for any copyrighted materials included in the manuscript

Any detected ethical violation remains the responsibility of the author(s), not the journal.

4.5 Editorial Action on Similarity Reports

Where plagiarism is detected, the editorial team may take one or more of the following actions:

• Request revision and resubmission with corrected citations
• Reject the manuscript outright
• Notify the authors’ affiliated institution in cases of severe or repeated misconduct
• Ban future submissions from offending authors, where necessary

4.6 Final Statement

AJOMENA maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy towards unethical publication practices. All manuscripts are evaluated not only for scientific merit but also for originality and adherence to global publishing ethics standards.