Publication Ethics

At the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN), we are fully committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and professionalism in academic publishing. This ethics policy forms the foundation for promoting trust, accountability, and excellence within the scholarly community.

Our dedication to ethical publishing ensures that all authors, reviewers, and editors follow well-established guidelines and principles. This policy sets out the core responsibilities and expectations for everyone involved in the publication process.

General Principles

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) strictly follows the ethical guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). By submitting their manuscripts, authors confirm adherence to these standards, ensuring that all content meets the journal’s ethical requirements and editorial policies.

BJN is committed to promoting transparency, integrity, and scholarly excellence, fostering a strong and trustworthy academic environment for all contributors and readers.

Affiliations

Authors submitting manuscripts to the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) are required to provide a complete and accurate list of affiliations. This ensures that all institutions or organizations associated with the research are properly credited.

Research Articles: Authors must include affiliations of institutions involved in the approval, funding, or conduct of the research.
Non-Research Articles: Authors should provide their current institutional affiliations.
Changed Affiliation: If an author has changed institutions prior to publication, both the affiliation at the time of research and the current affiliation should be listed.
Independent Researchers: Authors with no institutional affiliation must clearly state their independent status.

Maintaining accurate and transparent affiliations is essential for preserving the integrity of the scholarly record and appropriately recognizing the contributions of all parties involved.

Appeals and Complaints

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) adheres to the ethical guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in managing appeals and complaints. Authors have the right to appeal editorial decisions by presenting substantial evidence or new information addressing the feedback from reviewers and editors.

Complaints concerning the editorial process, including issues related to peer review or publication ethics, are treated with the utmost seriousness. Authors, reviewers, and other stakeholders are welcome to submit concerns directly to the editorial office. For appeals, please contact appeals@mesopotamian.press.

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments should properly credit individuals or organizations that contributed to the development of the manuscript but do not meet the criteria for authorship. Contributions may include support in funding, technical assistance, or editorial guidance.

Authors are encouraged to clearly recognize any assistance provided by colleagues, mentors, or institutions involved in supporting the research.

Financial Support: Authors should include full details of all funding sources and grant information.

Editorial and Technical Assistance: Contributions such as language editing, data analysis, or access to equipment should be appropriately acknowledged.

Providing accurate acknowledgments promotes transparency and reflects integrity in scholarly publishing.

Authorship

Authorship in the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) reflects significant contributions to the design, execution, and writing of the research and manuscript. It serves as an official recognition of individual roles and ensures accountability for the quality and accuracy of the published work.

General Guidelines

To be listed as an author, individuals must satisfy all of the following criteria:

Substantial Contributions: Significant involvement in the study’s conceptualization, methodology, data analysis, or interpretation of results.
Drafting and Revising: Active participation in drafting or critically revising the manuscript for intellectual content.
Final Approval: Reviewed and approved the final manuscript version, including any revisions.
Accountability: Agreed to take responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the research, and to address any issues should they arise.

Those who do not meet these criteria should not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section.

Authorship Order

The order of authors should reflect their respective contributions. Any disputes regarding the order must be resolved by the authors prior to submission. Changes to the authorship order after submission require written consent from all listed authors.

Changes to Authorship

Requests to add or remove authors after submission must include:

Justification: A clear explanation for the requested change.
Consent: Written approval from all current authors, as well as those being added or removed.

Authors must also submit the completed Change of Authorship Form with their request. The journal reserves the right to decline changes that lack sufficient justification or proper consent.

For post-publication changes, corrections will be issued as formal notices. Major authorship changes after acceptance may be denied unless strongly justified with evidence of contributions.

Responsibilities of the Corresponding Author

The corresponding author holds primary responsibility throughout the submission, review, and publication process. Duties include:

Communication: Acting as the main contact with the journal and ensuring that all co-authors are informed of the manuscript’s progress.
Approval: Confirming that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript before submission.
Compliance: Verifying that the manuscript meets the journal’s submission and ethical guidelines.

If authorship disputes result in a manuscript withdrawal, the corresponding author must submit a completed Manuscript Withdrawal Form to disputes@mesopotamian.press with consent from all co-authors.

Citations

Accurate citation practices are vital to uphold academic integrity and credibility in scholarly publishing. The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) requires authors to properly cite all sources referenced in their manuscripts.

General Citation Guidelines

All claims, data, or arguments presented in a manuscript must be supported by references to reliable, relevant, and current sources. Authors are encouraged to prioritize peer-reviewed literature and avoid citing unverified or unreliable materials.

Accuracy: Ensure that all citations are correctly formatted and accurately reference the original source.
Balance: Present a balanced and comprehensive overview of the relevant literature, avoiding disproportionate emphasis on a single author, group, or publication.
Self-Citation: Avoid excessive self-citation that could artificially inflate personal or institutional metrics.

Non-Research Articles

For non-research articles, such as reviews or opinion pieces, authors must ensure that citations provide a well-rounded and impartial representation of the topic. Selective citation practices that misrepresent the scope or depth of the field should be avoided.

Citation Manipulation

BJN strictly prohibits citation manipulation, including the deliberate inclusion of citations intended to artificially boost metrics or benefit specific individuals or journals without a valid scholarly reason.

Examples of citation manipulation include:

Excessive self-citation to inflate author metrics.
Mutual agreements between authors or groups to cite each other’s work improperly.
Including irrelevant citations that do not contribute meaningfully to the manuscript.

Manuscripts found to engage in citation manipulation may be rejected or retracted following investigation.

Uncertain Sources

If authors are uncertain about the validity or relevance of a source, they are encouraged to consult the journal’s editorial office before including it in their manuscript. This ensures that all references contribute constructively to the research and comply with ethical standards.

Conflicts of Interest

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) is dedicated to maintaining transparency and accountability throughout the scholarly publishing process. Authors, reviewers, and editors are required to disclose any conflicts of interest that may influence their work, decisions, or interpretations.

Disclosure by Authors

Authors must fully disclose all potential conflicts of interest, including financial, personal, or professional relationships that could affect the research or its interpretation. Examples include:

Financial Support: Grants, sponsorships, or any form of funding that contributed to the research or the preparation of the manuscript.
Institutional Relationships: Affiliations with any organizations that might benefit from the publication of the work.
Competing Interests: Any other interests or relationships that may potentially influence the objectivity of the research findings.

Authors are required to complete the Conflict of Interest Form and submit it together with their manuscript as part of the submission process.

Disclosure by Reviewers

Reviewers are also obligated to disclose any potential conflicts of interest ( COI form ) that may compromise their ability to provide an impartial and unbiased review. Common examples of conflicts include:

Collaborative or personal relationships with the authors of the manuscript.
Financial interests linked to the potential outcomes of the manuscript.
Professional associations or affiliations that might result in bias during the review process.

In cases where a conflict of interest exists, reviewers are encouraged to decline the review invitation and promptly inform the editorial office of BJN.

Disclosure by Editors

Editors are similarly required to disclose any potential conflicts of interest ( COI form ) that might influence their editorial judgment. This may include:

Personal, collaborative, or institutional relationships with any of the authors, reviewers, or their respective institutions.
Financial or professional interests that relate to the content, results, or potential outcomes of the manuscript under consideration.

In any situation where a potential bias is identified, editors must delegate responsibility for the editorial decision to an appropriate and qualified editorial board member to maintain the integrity of the process.

By enforcing these disclosure requirements, the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) ensures the credibility, integrity, and objectivity of its publication practices, protecting the trust of the scholarly community.

Corrections, Expressions of Concern, and Retractions

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) is firmly committed to preserving the accuracy and integrity of the academic record. To address significant errors, ethical concerns, or instances of research misconduct, the journal follows established protocols for issuing corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions.

Corrections

A correction notice is published when an error or omission in a previously published article may affect its interpretation but does not compromise the overall scholarly integrity of the work. Typical examples include:

Minor inaccuracies in figures, tables, or graphical elements.
Missing information in funding acknowledgments.
Undisclosed conflicts of interest that should have been declared.

There are two types of correction notices that may be issued:

Corrigendum: Issued to correct errors made by the authors.
Erratum: Issued to correct errors introduced by the publisher during the production process.

Retractions

A retraction notice is issued when an article contains major flaws or misconduct that invalidate its findings. Retractions may also be issued in cases of serious ethical breaches, such as:

Conducting research without proper ethical approvals.
Fabrication or falsification of data or results.
Plagiarism of previously published material.
Duplicate or redundant publication of the same content.

Retractions are carried out in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Retraction requests may be initiated by the authors, editors, or affiliated institutions.

The following standards are applied to all retractions:

The retraction notice will be linked to the original article and vice versa.
The article will be clearly marked as "Retracted" in both HTML and PDF formats.
The reasons for the retraction will be fully detailed in the notice.
The individual or organization responsible for requesting the retraction will be identified.

Retractions are issued to protect the integrity of the scholarly record and are not intended as punitive actions against the authors.

Expressions of Concern

An expression of concern is published when there are serious doubts or unresolved issues about the integrity of a published article, but conclusive evidence is not yet available, or an investigation is ongoing. Examples include:

Alleged research misconduct currently under investigation.
Unresolved ethical concerns that require in-depth review.

Once the investigation concludes, the expression of concern may be updated or followed by a correction or retraction. Both notices will remain part of the permanent record of the article.

Removals

In rare and exceptional cases, an article may be removed if its content is found to be defamatory, violates legal rights, or is subject to a valid court order. In such cases, a removal notice will be published in place of the original article, providing an explanation of the reasons for removal.

Consent for Publication

In the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN), obtaining explicit written informed consent is mandatory when an article includes personal information, images, or any other material that could identify individuals. Authors must comply with the following guidelines:

Requirements for Consent

Authors are responsible for securing written consent from individuals (or their legal guardians) prior to including identifiable personal content in their submissions. The consent must authorize publication under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which allows for free public access online.

For minors under the age of 18, consent must be obtained from a parent or legal guardian.
For deceased individuals, consent must be secured from their next of kin.
The manuscript must include a statement confirming that informed consent was obtained for publication.

Consent Documentation

Authors should utilize either a standard consent form or a form provided by their institution to obtain permission. The form must clearly state that the information or images will be made publicly accessible on the internet. It should also include:

Confirmation of unrestricted public access to the published materials.
Details concerning the publication license.

Authors must retain the signed consent forms and be prepared to provide them to the editorial office upon request. The forms will be handled with strict confidentiality and will not be made public.

Responsibility for Consent

It is solely the authors’ responsibility to obtain, securely store, and provide consent documentation as needed. The journal and publisher will not accept consent forms submitted with manuscripts or sent directly to the editorial office via email. Authors must ensure that all documentation is properly archived and can be produced upon request.

This policy ensures compliance with ethical publishing standards while respecting the privacy and legal rights of individuals featured in published research.

Confidentiality

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) enforces strict confidentiality standards to protect the integrity and privacy of the editorial and publication process. The following principles outline how confidentiality is maintained throughout all stages of publication:

Manuscript Confidentiality

All submitted manuscripts are treated as confidential documents. Access to these materials is limited to individuals directly involved in the editorial process, including editors, reviewers, and authorized administrative staff.

The content of submitted manuscripts must not be disclosed, discussed, or shared with unauthorized parties unless prior approval has been granted by the Editor-in-Chief.

Reviewer Obligations

Reviewers are required to uphold the confidentiality of the peer-review process by:

Refraining from discussing or sharing manuscript content with individuals outside the review process.
Ensuring that any unpublished data, ideas, or interpretations encountered during the review are not used for personal or professional advantage.

Violations of confidentiality by reviewers will be investigated and may result in disqualification from future reviewing for the journal.

Ethical Misconduct Investigations

In cases of suspected ethical misconduct, relevant sections of a manuscript may be shared with appropriate institutions, organizations, or ethics committees to facilitate a thorough investigation. Such actions will always adhere to the established guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The journal remains committed to protecting the confidentiality of all parties involved in any such investigations, ensuring that the process is conducted with fairness and impartiality.

Data Falsification/Fabrication

Data falsification and fabrication represent serious violations of research ethics. These practices involve the deliberate alteration, creation, or misrepresentation of data or results to mislead readers. Such misconduct severely undermines the trustworthiness and credibility of academic research and causes lasting harm to the scholarly record.

Authors submitting work to the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) are responsible for ensuring that all data presented in their manuscripts genuinely reflects the research conducted. Any instances of data fabrication or falsification will lead to immediate rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published article.

To promote transparency, authors are required to retain all original raw data for a defined period following publication. If requested, authors must be able to provide access to this original data to support the editorial and peer review processes. Failure to comply with such requests may result in manuscript rejection or withdrawal of the published work.

BJN enforces a zero-tolerance policy for data falsification or fabrication, recognizing that such unethical behavior compromises the integrity of scientific research and damages the reputation of both the journal and the academic community.

Duplicate Submission/Publication

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) maintains strict ethical standards regarding duplicate submissions and publications. Authors must confirm during the submission process that their manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another publication. Failing to disclose this constitutes a serious breach of ethical conduct.

Examples of duplicate submission or publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

Multiple Submissions: Submitting the same manuscript to both BJN and another journal concurrently.
Redundant Publications: Republishing research that has already appeared in another journal without offering significant new contributions.
Translation of Published Work: Submitting a translated version of a previously published article without properly disclosing the original publication.

In accordance with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), authors wishing to submit a secondary publication (such as a translated version) must:

Secure explicit permission from the publisher and copyright holder of the original work.
Clearly notify the Editor of BJN about the prior publication.

To ensure transparency, any secondary publication must clearly cite and reference the original article. This practice helps to properly credit the original research while maintaining ethical standards.

Funding

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) places a strong emphasis on transparency regarding financial support for research. Authors are required to disclose all forms of funding, including grants, sponsorships, or other financial assistance, related to the conduct and publication of their research.

The following guidelines apply to funding disclosures:

Detailed Disclosure: Authors must provide a full account of all funding sources, including the name of the funding organization, grant numbers, and a clear description of the funders’ roles in the research process.
Sponsor Involvement: If applicable, authors must specify the extent of the sponsor’s involvement in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or publication. If there was no involvement, this should be explicitly stated in the manuscript.

To comply with these requirements, authors must complete and submit the Financial Disclosure Form along with their manuscript. This process ensures clarity and upholds ethical publishing practices.

Transparent funding disclosures enhance the credibility and integrity of published research by informing readers of any potential influences on the study’s findings.

Images and Figures

When including images within the manuscript or submitting videos and audio recordings as supplementary materials or via external repositories, authors publishing in the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) must adhere to the highest ethical standards. Authors must ensure that any material containing identifiable information about individuals, such as photographs or medical data, is included only with explicit written consent from those individuals.

In cases involving deceased research subjects, consent must be obtained from their legal representatives. For vulnerable groups, including minors, consent must be secured from parents or legal guardians.

Experimental Photographs

Photographic images—especially those generated through techniques such as microscopy—must accurately represent the original data. Any alterations to images must be clearly described in the manuscript, with details on the software used, the methods applied, and the extent of modifications performed.

Authors must adhere to the following requirements:

Ensure that any modifications are minimal and applied consistently across all images.
Be prepared to provide original, unaltered images to the editorial office upon request.
Avoid any modifications that could mislead or distort the scientific interpretation of the results.

Reuse of Published Images

Authors intending to reuse images or figures from previously published works must obtain permission from the appropriate copyright holders. A statement confirming permission must be included in the figure legend, along with a proper citation of the original source.

For images published under licenses permitting unrestricted use—such as Creative Commons—authors must still provide full and proper attribution to the original source.

Misconduct

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) upholds the highest standards of academic integrity and is dedicated to addressing all forms of research misconduct. The journal adheres strictly to the ethical principles and protocols established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Reports of misconduct are treated with the utmost seriousness and investigated thoroughly according to COPE procedures.

Examples of research misconduct include, but are not limited to:

Plagiarism: Using another person’s work or ideas without proper attribution.
Fabrication: Creating fictitious data or results and presenting them as genuine.
Falsification: Manipulating research processes, equipment, or data to misrepresent findings.
Duplicate Submission: Submitting the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously.
Misrepresentation: Falsely claiming authorship or affiliations.
Image Manipulation: Altering images in a way that misleads or distorts the scientific record.

The journal reserves the right to take appropriate action in response to confirmed cases of misconduct. These actions may include retracting published articles, issuing corrections, or reporting incidents to relevant authorities or institutions.

Addressing Misconduct

When misconduct is suspected, the following process is followed, in line with COPE guidelines:

Initial Assessment: The editorial team reviews the allegations and supporting evidence.
Investigation: A comprehensive inquiry is conducted, which may include input from the authors, reviewers, or external experts.
Outcome: Based on the findings, the journal may reject the manuscript, withdraw a published article, or notify relevant institutions or agencies.

Throughout this process, the journal prioritizes transparency, accountability, and fairness to all parties involved.

Consequences of Misconduct

Depending on the severity of the misconduct, the following measures may be applied:

Rejection of the manuscript during the editorial process.
Retraction of already published articles, accompanied by an explanatory notice.
Notification of the authors’ affiliated institutions or funding agencies.
Imposition of a ban on future submissions to BJN by the authors involved.

These actions are taken to preserve the integrity of the scholarly record and uphold ethical standards within the academic community.

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) is unwavering in its commitment to upholding the highest ethical standards in academic publishing. All policies are guided by the ethical framework of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ensuring that the editorial process is conducted with fairness, transparency, and accountability.

Duties of Editors

Publication Decisions: The editorial board holds the responsibility for making final decisions on manuscript acceptance, guided by reviewer feedback and in compliance with legal and ethical considerations (e.g., libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism).
Confidentiality, Disclosure, and Conflicts of Interest: Editors must preserve confidentiality throughout the review process, sharing manuscript information only with relevant parties (authors, reviewers, and editorial advisers). Editors are also required to complete the Conflict of Interest Form for Editorial Board Members to maintain transparency and adherence to ethical practices.
Unpublished material disclosed within submitted manuscripts must not be used by editors, reviewers, or readers without explicit, written consent from the author(s).
Comprehensive information regarding funding sources and their role in the study or publication process must be transparently disclosed to readers.
Author Relations: Editors should ensure respectful and constructive communication with authors, offering clear feedback to facilitate improvements and uphold the scholarly integrity of published content.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decisions: Reviewers play a crucial role in the editorial process, providing objective and well-supported evaluations to assist the editorial board in manuscript decisions.
Qualification of Reviewers: Reviewers should only accept assignments aligned with their expertise. If a reviewer is unable to perform a fair assessment or anticipates delays, they should promptly notify the editor and recuse themselves.
Confidentiality: Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. Privileged information or ideas obtained through the peer review process must not be exploited for personal gain or shared with unauthorized individuals.
Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers are responsible for identifying relevant, uncited scholarly works and suggesting proper references for concepts or findings not appropriately credited.
Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest: Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest by completing the Conflict of Interest Form for Reviewers to ensure transparency and uphold ethical review practices.

Duties of Authors

Reporting Standards: Authors must provide an accurate, honest, and objective account of their research and its significance.
Originality, Plagiarism, and Concurrent Publication: Authors must ensure that their submissions are original works and appropriately cite all borrowed ideas, data, or language.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors are required to disclose any financial or substantive conflicts of interest that could potentially influence their findings or interpretations. To support transparency, authors must complete and submit the Conflict of Interest Form with their manuscript.
Authorship of the Paper: The corresponding author must confirm that the manuscript includes all appropriate co-authors and excludes any individuals who do not meet authorship criteria.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works: Should an author identify a significant error or inaccuracy in their published work, they must promptly inform the journal’s editor and cooperate in correcting or retracting the article as necessary.

Peer Review Process

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) adheres to a rigorous peer review system to ensure the highest standards of integrity, quality, and scholarly value in its published research. The journal’s review process is governed by clear ethical principles that promote fairness, transparency, and academic excellence.

Initial Assessment

Every manuscript submitted to BJN undergoes an initial screening conducted by the editorial team. This preliminary assessment determines whether the submission aligns with the journal’s scope, exhibits originality, and complies with the journal’s submission guidelines. Manuscripts that do not meet these basic requirements may be subject to desk rejection and will not advance to the peer review stage.

Single-Blind Peer Review

BJN employs a single-blind peer review model, in which reviewers remain anonymous, while authors’ identities are disclosed to the reviewers. This process is designed to encourage impartial and unbiased evaluations.

Typically, each manuscript is reviewed by a minimum of two independent experts in the relevant field. Reviewers are tasked with evaluating various aspects of the submission, including its originality, methodological rigor, quality of analysis, significance of findings, and overall contribution to the academic community. They are also expected to provide constructive feedback and recommendations for possible improvements.

Editorial Decision

Based on the reviewers’ reports and recommendations, the editor will render one of the following decisions:

Accept: The manuscript is accepted for publication, with or without minor revisions.
Revise: The manuscript requires major or minor revisions before further consideration.
Reject: The manuscript does not meet the standards required for publication in BJN.

The editorial team communicates the decision along with reviewers’ feedback to the corresponding author, ensuring transparency and clarity in the review process.

Appeals Process

Authors reserve the right to appeal editorial decisions if they believe the outcome was unjust or if they can provide substantial new evidence to address the reviewers’ comments. To initiate an appeal, authors must submit a comprehensive written response that directly addresses the reviewers’ feedback or presents new data in support of their claims.

All appeals are carefully reviewed either by members of the editorial board or by additional expert reviewers, as deemed necessary. The final decision on the appeal will be communicated to the author following this thorough review process.

For appeal submissions, authors should contact: appeals@mesopotamian.press.

Plagiarism Policy

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) enforces a strict zero-tolerance policy regarding plagiarism in any form. Plagiarism encompasses the unauthorized use of another individual’s work, ideas, or language without proper acknowledgment and includes both self-plagiarism and redundant publication.

Plagiarism Detection

All manuscripts submitted to BJN are subjected to a thorough plagiarism screening using advanced detection tools such as Turnitin. Any submission that displays substantial overlap with previously published literature or existing works will be immediately rejected.

It is the sole responsibility of the authors to ensure that their work is entirely original prior to submission. Accurate citation and proper referencing of all sourced materials are required to avoid instances of inadvertent plagiarism.

Types of Plagiarism

Full Plagiarism: Direct copying of another author’s work without citation or acknowledgment.
Partial Plagiarism: Paraphrasing or rewording substantial portions of another author’s work without proper attribution.
Self-Plagiarism: Republishing one’s own previously published work without disclosure or appropriate referencing.
Text Recycling: Reusing significant parts of text from the author’s prior publications across multiple submissions without acknowledgment.

Consequences of Plagiarism

Manuscripts found to contain plagiarism, whether prior to or following publication, will face serious consequences, including:

Immediate rejection or retraction of the manuscript.
Notification sent to the author’s affiliated institutions or funding organizations.
Blacklisting of the authors involved, preventing future submissions to BJN.

The journal’s procedures for addressing plagiarism cases are guided by the ethical standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Preprint Policy

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) supports the dissemination of research through preprint platforms. Authors are permitted to post their manuscripts on reputable preprint servers, such as arXiv or RePEc, at any time prior to formally submitting to the journal.

Linking Preprints to Published Articles

Once a manuscript is accepted and officially published by BJN, authors are encouraged to link their preprint version to the published article by including the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) of the final version. This practice ensures that readers can access the authoritative version of record while maintaining the availability of the preprint.

Authors may also update the preprint to reflect the accepted version, provided that it clearly acknowledges BJN as the publishing journal.

Transparency and Integrity

By allowing preprints, BJN promotes the early sharing of scientific findings while maintaining the integrity of the formal peer review process. Authors must ensure that preprints present accurate and faithful representations of their research and fully comply with the journal’s ethical standards.

Preprints must not mislead readers or misrepresent the study’s findings. Any significant revisions or corrections to the research should be promptly updated in the preprint repository to maintain accuracy and transparency.

This policy ensures that authors benefit from the flexibility to share their research openly while safeguarding the credibility and trustworthiness of the peer-reviewed publication process.

Patient Identifying Information

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) is fully committed to safeguarding patient privacy and confidentiality. Identifiable information — including textual details, images, videos, sonograms, pedigrees, or any other data — should only be included in a manuscript when it is scientifically necessary and when written informed consent has been obtained in advance.

Consent Requirements

Written informed consent must be obtained from the patient, or from a legal guardian in cases where the patient is a minor or otherwise incapable of providing consent. For deceased individuals, consent must be obtained from their closest living relative or legally authorized representative.

Authors must take care to exclude personal identifiers — such as names, initials, or hospital identification numbers — from both the manuscript and any accompanying images, unless their inclusion is absolutely necessary and is explicitly consented to by the patient or their representative.

Anonymity and Ethical Compliance

When submitting patient-related content, authors must fully comply with the ethical standards outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The manuscript must include a clear statement confirming that written informed consent was obtained and that all applicable ethical requirements have been met.

Whenever feasible, authors should anonymize images or data to protect the patient’s identity, while ensuring that the scientific value of the content is not compromised.

Failure to secure the necessary permissions or to comply with ethical standards regarding patient information may result in rejection of the manuscript or the removal of identifying content during editorial review.

Research Ethics and Consent

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) is dedicated to ensuring that all research published in the journal upholds the highest ethical standards. This commitment includes securing appropriate ethical approvals for studies involving human participants, animals, or plants.

Research Involving Humans

All research involving human participants must comply with established ethical principles, such as those detailed in the Declaration of Helsinki. Authors are required to obtain approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or an equivalent ethics committee prior to initiating the study.

Manuscripts must clearly describe the approval process, providing the name of the institution, the ethics committee involved, and the corresponding approval reference number. Retrospective approval is typically not accepted.

Authors must also confirm that informed consent was obtained from all participants, and that proper measures were implemented to protect participants' privacy and confidentiality.

Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with relevant ethical standards, including those established by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), or an equivalent body. Authors must obtain prior ethical approval from an appropriate committee or institutional authority.

The manuscript must include details regarding the approving institution, the name of the committee, the reference number of the approval, and any steps taken to minimize animal suffering. Authors should also provide justification for the use of animals in their research.

Research Involving Plants

Research involving plants must fully comply with institutional, national, and international regulations. Authors must confirm adherence to the guidelines and principles outlined in the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Authors must provide detailed information about any permissions or licenses obtained for conducting the research, thereby ensuring transparency and full compliance with all applicable ethical standards.

Failure to comply with required ethical guidelines or to provide sufficient documentation of ethical approvals may result in rejection of the manuscript.

Special Issues

At present, the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) does not publish special issues. However, should the journal decide to introduce special issues in the future, the following framework and procedures will be followed to ensure academic integrity and quality.

Special issues would be designed to highlight emerging topics and specific themes within the networking field, promoting innovative research and encouraging scholarly collaboration.

Appointment of Guest Editors

Guest editors for potential future special issues would be selected based on their expertise, scholarly reputation, and previous editorial experience. Nominations could be submitted by the editorial board, current editors, or through self-nomination.

All nominations would require review and approval by the Editor-in-Chief to maintain the journal’s high standards of scholarship and ethics.

Guest editors, once approved, would take responsibility for the following tasks:

Defining the scope and objectives of the special issue.
Drafting and promoting the call for papers.
Managing the manuscript submission and review process.
Ensuring the scholarly quality and originality of all selected manuscripts.
Working in close coordination with the Editor-in-Chief for final publication decisions.

Setup of Special Issues

To initiate a special issue, a detailed proposal would need to be submitted to the editorial board. This proposal should include:

The proposed theme and objectives of the special issue.
The target audience and the relevance of the topic to the field of networking.
The names and qualifications of prospective guest editors.
A proposed timeline covering submissions, peer review, and publication.

Upon approval by both the editorial board and the Editor-in-Chief, the call for papers would be disseminated via appropriate academic channels. The editorial team would work closely with guest editors to ensure that the special issue aligns with BJN’s publication schedule and meets its quality and ethical standards.

In summary, while BJN does not currently run special issues, this policy provides a clear framework should such initiatives be undertaken in the future to maintain excellence and rigor in academic publishing.

Standards of Reporting

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) underscores the importance of clear, comprehensive, and transparent reporting to ensure that published research is reproducible and verifiable. Authors are expected to uphold high standards of reporting to facilitate rigorous academic dialogue.

Rationale: Authors must provide a thorough explanation of the study’s purpose and significance, clearly outlining the research questions and objectives.
Research Protocol: The methodology, including experimental or observational procedures, must be described with sufficient detail to enable replication by other researchers.
Tools and Techniques: A detailed account of the tools, techniques, and software used in the study must be provided, including relevant version numbers where applicable.
Data Analysis: The methods for data collection, processing, and interpretation must be transparently described to ensure credibility.
Results and Interpretation: The study’s findings should be presented in a manner that accurately reflects the data, avoiding overgeneralization or misleading conclusions.

Adherence to these reporting standards ensures that research published in BJN makes a meaningful contribution to the academic community by fostering reproducibility, transparency, and trust in the scholarly record.

Use of Third-Party Material

Authors wishing to include third-party material in their submissions to the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) must ensure full compliance with relevant copyright and licensing laws. Third-party content encompasses text, images, tables, datasets, audio, video, or any other form of intellectual property not created by the submitting authors.

Permissions: Authors must obtain explicit written permission from the copyright holder to use third-party material, unless it qualifies as fair use or is in the public domain.

Fair Use: Limited use of excerpts for purposes such as critique, commentary, or educational analysis may be allowed under fair use provisions, provided appropriate attribution is given.

Attribution: All third-party materials, including those under Creative Commons or similar licenses, must be properly credited to the original source, following applicable citation standards.

Authors are responsible for maintaining documentation of any permissions they obtain. If requested, such documentation must be provided to the journal’s editorial office for verification.

By adhering to these guidelines, authors help ensure compliance with intellectual property regulations and uphold ethical standards in academic publishing.

Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in Writing

This section pertains specifically to the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing and preparation of manuscripts submitted to the Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN). It does not address the use of such tools for data analysis or deriving scientific insights during the research process.

Purpose: Authors may utilize AI tools to enhance the clarity, readability, or language quality of their manuscripts. However, these tools must not replace essential intellectual contributions, such as generating scientific conclusions, creating original content, or making clinical recommendations.

Supervision: The use of AI tools must be performed under human supervision. Authors are fully responsible for carefully reviewing and editing any AI-generated content to verify its accuracy and ensure its alignment with ethical and scholarly standards.

Accountability: Regardless of AI usage, authors retain full responsibility and accountability for the content of their submissions. They must ensure that the manuscript meets all editorial and ethical standards of BJN.

Disclosure and Transparency

Authors are required to clearly disclose any use of AI or AI-assisted technologies in the preparation of their manuscript during submission. This disclosure will be included in the published article to ensure transparency for readers, reviewers, and editors, and to maintain alignment with the terms of use of the AI tools applied.

Authorship Responsibilities

Generative AI tools or AI-assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship entails responsibilities that can only be fulfilled by human contributors, including:

Responding to inquiries regarding the accuracy, integrity, or originality of the work.
Approving the final manuscript version for submission and publication.
Ensuring that the manuscript fully complies with ethical, scholarly, and legal standards.

It remains the authors' responsibility to guarantee that the manuscript represents original scholarly work, regardless of any AI involvement during writing.

Use of AI in Peer Review

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) recognizes the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in various aspects of scholarly publishing. However, it is essential to maintain that the peer review process fundamentally depends on critical human expertise and judgment. The following principles outline how AI tools may and may not be used in the peer review process at BJN.

Human Responsibility

Peer review requires a high level of intellectual evaluation, nuanced analysis, and decision-making that cannot be delegated to AI tools. The review and evaluation of manuscripts must remain the sole responsibility of qualified human reviewers and editors.

Confidentiality

Reviewers and editors must not upload any part of a manuscript, in whole or in part, into AI tools. Doing so could violate the confidentiality of the peer review process, as well as infringe on data privacy, proprietary rights, and potentially breach the terms of use of the AI tool involved.

Peer Review Reports

All elements of the peer review process — including reviewer reports, editorial decisions, decision letters, and internal correspondence — must not be processed using AI tools, even for purposes such as improving writing style or grammar. Maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of these documents is essential.

AI in Decision-Making

AI tools must not be used to make or influence editorial decisions regarding the quality, validity, or impact of a manuscript. Such decisions must always remain under the exclusive authority of human reviewers and editors who possess the necessary expertise.

Ethical Use of AI

The BJN supports the ethical use of AI in certain non-evaluative editorial functions, such as plagiarism detection and reviewer identification. These applications must always align with accepted ethical standards and must safeguard the confidentiality of manuscript content and the privacy of all involved parties.

Acknowledgment of Ethical Standards

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) is fully committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in scholarly publishing. All individuals engaged in the journal’s publishing process — including authors, reviewers, and editors — are expected to adhere to the ethical principles established by respected organizations such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

By submitting a manuscript to BJN, authors explicitly affirm their commitment to these ethical principles, guaranteeing that their work maintains originality, accuracy, and integrity. Likewise, reviewers and editors are entrusted with ensuring objectivity, confidentiality, and fairness throughout all stages of the editorial and peer review process.

In instances where ethical misconduct is suspected, BJN follows stringent investigative procedures in accordance with the guidelines of COPE. This rigorous approach helps foster trust, accountability, and excellence within the academic publishing community.

Closing Statements

The Babylonian Journal of Networking (BJN) remains dedicated to upholding integrity, transparency, and the highest ethical standards throughout its publishing processes. By adhering to internationally recognized ethical guidelines, the journal fosters a culture of trust and accountability within the academic community it serves.

We actively encourage all contributors — authors, reviewers, and editors — to consistently uphold these standards. By embracing fairness, honesty, and rigor in all scholarly endeavors, the community contributes to the responsible advancement of knowledge.

These ethics policies provide a strong and reliable framework that ensures excellence in academic publishing while safeguarding the rights and responsibilities of every participant involved in the process.