Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

World Nutrition is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical publishing, editorial integrity, and scholarly responsibility. As the official journal of the World Public Health Nutrition Association (WPHNA), the journal adheres strictly to internationally recognised ethical frameworks, including the principles and guidelines of:

This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and publishing staff.

  1. Commitment to Ethical Publishing: World Nutrition is dedicated to maintaining integrity, transparency, accountability, equity, and editorial independence throughout the publication process. Editorial decisions are based solely on scholarly merit, methodological rigour, originality, ethical compliance, and relevance to public health nutrition. The journal does not tolerate unethical behaviour, scientific misconduct, or malpractice at any stage of the editorial or publication process.
  1. Definitions of Publication Malpractice: Publication malpractice includes, but is not limited to:
  • Plagiarism – Presenting another person’s work, ideas, data, or text without proper acknowledgment.
  • Self-plagiarism / Redundant publication – Reusing substantial parts of one’s own published work without appropriate citation or justification.
  • Duplicate publication – Submitting or publishing the same or substantially similar manuscript in more than one journal.
  • Data fabrication – Making up research data or results.
  • Data falsification – Manipulating research materials, processes, or data to misrepresent findings.
  • Inappropriate authorship practices – Including individuals who did not contribute substantially (gift authorship) or excluding those who did (ghost authorship).
  • Undisclosed conflicts of interest – Failure to disclose financial, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence interpretation of findings.
  • Ethical violations in human research – Failure to obtain ethical approval or informed consent.
  1. Plagiarism, Originality, and Duplicate Publication Policy: All submitted manuscripts are screened using professional plagiarism detection software.
  • Manuscripts must be entirely original and not under consideration elsewhere.
  • Substantial textual or conceptual overlap with previously published material without proper citation is not permitted.
  • Duplicate and redundant publications are strictly prohibited.
  • Transparent disclosure of preprints is permitted and does not constitute prior publication.

Confirmed cases of plagiarism or duplicate publication result in immediate rejection or retraction, depending on the stage of publication.

  1. Data Integrity, Fabrication, and Falsification: Authors are required to:
  • Accurately report methods, data, and results
  • Retain original data and make them available upon reasonable request
  • Ensure reproducibility and transparency

Suspected data fabrication or falsification is investigated following COPE protocols, and may result in manuscript rejection, article retraction, institutional notification, and public correction statements.

  1. Authorship and Contributorship: Authorship must reflect substantial intellectual contribution to the study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, drafting, or critical revision of the manuscript.

The journal follows ICMJE authorship criteria. All authors must:

  • Approve the final manuscript
  • Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work

Authorship Disputes: Authorship disputes are handled in accordance with COPE guidance, requiring:

  • Written explanation from all involved parties
  • Institutional verification when necessary
  • Editorial mediation where possible

Unresolved disputes may result in manuscript rejection or publication delay.

  1. Conflict of Interest (COI) Policy: All participants in the publication process must disclose potential conflicts of interest:
  • Authors must declare all financial, institutional, and personal relationships.
  • Reviewers must decline review where conflicts exist.
  • Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts involving conflicts.

Failure to disclose conflicts may result in rejection, retraction, or public disclosure of corrections. The journal does not accept sponsorship or advertising from industries that may compromise public health.

  1. Peer Review Ethics and Confidentiality: Reviewers are expected to:
  • Provide objective, constructive, and timely evaluations
  • Maintain strict confidentiality
  • Declare conflicts of interest
  • Refrain from using manuscripts for personal advantage

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): Reviewers and editors are strictly prohibited from uploading manuscripts or content into generative AI platforms. AI tools must not replace human editorial judgment or peer review.

  1. Editorial Independence: Editorial decisions are independent of ownership, funding bodies, sponsors, and commercial interests. The Editor-in-Chief holds final authority over editorial decisions, guided by scholarly merit and ethical compliance.
  2. Retraction, Correction, and Expression of Concern Policy: The journal maintains the integrity of the scholarly record through transparent post-publication correction mechanisms:
  • Corrections – Issued for honest errors that do not invalidate findings
  • Expressions of Concern – Published when serious concerns arise pending investigation
  • Retractions – Issued for proven misconduct, unreliable data, plagiarism, or unethical research

All actions follow COPE Retraction Guidelines and are clearly linked to the original article.

10.  Handling of Allegations and Investigations: Suspected misconduct is investigated using, confidentiality, fairness, transparency, and due process, where necessary, authors’ institutions and funding agencies may be notified.

  1. Appeals and Complaints Mechanism: Authors may appeal editorial decisions by submitting a detailed written appeal to: editor@worldnutritionjournal.org

    Appeals are reviewed independently by senior editorial leadership and, when necessary, external experts. All decisions following appeal are final.

    12. Continuous Review and Policy Updates
    This policy is reviewed regularly to align with evolving best practices in scholarly publishing.

    Last updated: January 2026