Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion

JESI fosters diversity, equality, and inclusion throughout journal publication. We urge the Editor-in-Chief, editors, and reviewers to carefully review this statement. We strive to eliminate biases. Our guidelines align with COPE (https://publicationethics.org/diversity-equity-inclusion-accessibility-position-statement).

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by 193 United Nations member states in 2015. They aim to increase living standards everywhere by eliminating hunger, poverty, and gender inequality while protecting the planet. The SDGs publisher compact lists 10 ways publishers can contribute to the SDGs from 2020 to 2030.

The Journal of Entomological Society of Iran signed the publisher compact in December 2024, becoming the first journal in Iran to do so. Committed to the SDGs, the Journal primarily focuses on SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure), and SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). The Journal aims to support environmentally sustainable solutions, such as responsible use of insecticides, increased adoption of non-chemical pest control methods like biological control, and greater awareness of issues related to chemical pesticides. It also promotes the pursuit of lasting solutions, such as organic farming, for a more sustainable world.

The JESI editorial team is committed to fair representation of gender, geographic, and institutional diversity in authorship and peer review.

 

Authorship and Contributorship Policy

All authors are responsible for ensuring the accuracy and validity of their research. The corresponding author must follow COPE rules (https://publicationethics.org/authorship) and confirm that all authors have read and approved the manuscript before submission. Authors must also guarantee the originality of their work; all material must result from their research.

Any author must be assigned based on the four criteria defined by the ICMJE, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (https://www.icmje.org/) (ICMJE Recommendations, 2024).

1.Substantial involvement in the design of the project, creation, contributions to the ideation or definition of the project; commentary, data analysis, and their analysis or interpretation for the work.

2. Preparing the early draft or working on the manuscript substantially to improve its content.

3. Approving the final version of the manuscript.

4. Authors must be accountable for all work-related matters and clarify all questions about the project's integrity or honesty are resolved.

All changes to authorship after submission require approval of the editorial office and all co-authors, and must be consistent with COPE flowcharts.

All authors must include the following sections in the manuscript: 'Conflict of Interest,' 'Availability of Data and Materials,' 'Authors' Contributions,' 'Funding,' 'Ethics Approval,' 'Consent to Participate,' and 'Acknowledgment.'

This policy is fully aligned with the latest approved protocols of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

 

Author's Contributions Statement

Every manuscript must include an "Author Contribution Statement" using the CRediT taxonomy. This section outlines each author's manuscript role and appears before the reference list. For CRediT roles, see https://credit.niso.org. Authors should use the following terms: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Draft preparation, Final review and edit, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, and Funding acquisition.

 

Alteration to Authorship

Any changes to authorship after submission—including adding, deleting, changing order, or modifying contributions—must be approved by all authors and explained to the Editor. The Editor may contact any author to verify agreement. We follow COPE rules for such cases (https://publicationethics.org/files/International%20standards_authors_for%20website_11_Nov_2011.pdf).

 

Acknowledgment

Non-author contributors who do not meet all International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship criteria but make significant research contributions should not be listed as authors but must be acknowledged.

 

Conflict of Interest 

Every manuscript must have a 'Conflict of Interest Statement.' Relevant direct or indirect associations, financial or non-financial interests (including consultancies, advisory boards, stock ownerships, equity interests, patents, royalties) with any organization or commercial entity from the past 5 years or foreseeable future, important to the study's outcome, must be stated clearly.

If in doubt about disclosing an association or financial involvement, authors should seek advice from the Journal's Office (j.ent.soc.Iran@gmail.com) before submission. During submission, a signed Conflict of Interest (COI) disclosure form must be uploaded. A statement on undisputed data ownership is also required, properly attributed via co-authorship or acknowledgments. Suspected undisclosed conflicts will be addressed using COPE protocols.

 

Conflict of interest for the JESI stakeholders

All JESI stakeholders must declare any potential conflict of interest while handling the manuscript and do the best appropriate action:

  Authors must declare any conflict of interest like funds in their manuscripts

  Reviewers must ignore review invite when they have a conflict of interest

  Editors should take care and select the reviewers with the least challenging potential for conflict of interest

  Editors must decline from handling manuscript when there is a risk for conflict of interest

 

Critical considerations for editors and their own manuscripts

When editor submit their own work to the JESI, then they have withdrawn from the review proce. The editor must provide a clear statement about their editorial role and the review process. The editorial team must be confident in an exact editorial process by a person with minimal risk of conflict of interest. They should not have to identify the reviewers or the decision-maker.

 

Plagiarism Policy

We use plagiarism detection software, including iThenticate [iThenticate (https://www.ithenticate.com/), Grammarly (www.grammarly.com) for English, and Hamanadjoo (https://tik.irandoc.ac.ir/) from Irandoc for Persian documents, to assess text similarities and originality. Any form of plagiarism, including unacknowledged quotations or presenting another's work as one's own, is unethical. JESI considers ghost, guest, and gift authorship unethical. Authors must guarantee the originality of their work. Citation manipulation, improper credit assignment, data fabrication, redundant or duplicate publication, dishonest communications, and simultaneous submission are also forms of plagiarism. The JESI will reject or retract any paper involving plagiarism or self-plagiarism, following COPE Retraction Guidelines.

The JESI does not tolerate any violation of publication ethics:

   Plagiarism: Using someone else’s work or ideas as your own without proper citation is unacceptable. JESI screens all manuscripts for plagiarism and considers it a serious ethical violation.

  Simultaneous Submission: Authors must ensure that the work has not been published elsewhere in any language and is not under consideration by another journal at the same time.

  Duplicate Publication: Duplicate publication occurs when multiple articles, without cross-referencing, present the same main ideas, data, or conclusions.

   Redundant Publications: This case involves splitting one study into several articles solely to increase the publication count.

  Data Fabrication: This type involves making up data or results. Data falsification is the manipulation or omission of research data or results.

 Citation Manipulation: This means adding unnecessary citations to boost an author’s or journal’s citation count, misrepresenting their importance.

 Improper Author Contribution or Attribution: All authors must contribute significantly to the research and approve its claims. Include everyone who contributed, such as students and technicians.

 

Human and Animal Rights

JESI strictly adheres to protocols concerning human and animal rights. For manuscripts related to medical investigations involving human participants, we require author(s) to provide a statement that shows the ethics committee confirmed the study and compliance with the relevant standards outlined in one of these sources:

 

   The Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma.declaration-of-Helsinki/)

   US Federal Policy for Protection of Human Subjects (https://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/regulations-and-policy/regulations/common-rules/index.html)

  European Medicines Agency Guidelines for Good Clinical Practices (https://www.ema.europa.eu/en/human-regulatory-overview/research-development/good-clinical-practice)

If the authors have used chemicals, methods, or equipment harmful to human health, they must explicitly mention these in the manuscript. For animal studies, authors must indicate compliance with institutional or national guidelines on the care and use of animals. Authors must ensure privacy and informed consent for human participants, and editors may request evidence of ethical approval when required. The authors must include Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or Institutional Review Board (IRB) or ethics approval in the manuscript.

 

Consent to Participate:

For a manuscript including data about humans, informed consent to participate in the work should be obtained, and this issue needs to be stated in the declaration section of the manuscript. If this is not the case, the word "Not applicable" should be inserted.

 

Peer Review Policy:

All materials published in the JESI undergo single-blind peer review. Reviewers assist the Editors of JESI in making decisions about manuscript acceptance and contribute to improving the manuscript through their feedback. Each manuscript is initially screened by the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) in terms of structure and content (2 days). If it meets the scope and standard of the journal, it will be sent to an appropriate section editor. The section editor evaluates the manuscript based on its novelty, structure, and plagiarism (1 week). If the manuscript passes this initial editor check, then it will enter the external review process, where two to three referees will evaluate it within a specified timeframe (4-6 weeks). In other words, each article undergoes two stages of evaluation: an internal evaluation by the EIC and the section editor, followed by an external review phase. The EIC makes the final decision based on the reviewer reports and the suggestions of the section editor (1 week). The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over editorial decisions and is independent of the publisher.

In the case of manuscripts from distinguished authors, reviewers must clarify any conflict of interest before accepting the review invitation. If a conflict of interest exists, the reviewer should promptly inform the editor and decline to review the manuscript.

If a manuscript does not fit with the reviewer’s field, the reviewer should promptly inform the editor. Invited reviewers are encouraged to specify their areas of expertise. Reviewers are expected to provide accurate and impartial assessments within the designated timeframe. Reviewer comments should be explicit, transparent, and non-inflammatory, and must avoid derogatory or libelous language. Reports that are insulting or uninformative will be rescinded. Reviewers are prohibited from disclosing unpublished information prior to publication and from using data or ideas from the manuscript for personal or third-party benefit.

The key criteria for assessing manuscript quality include originality, novelty, a worthy contribution to entomology and its related fields, and the provision of new information. Additional factors include the manuscript's structure, adherence to author guidelines, reference quality, and English writing style, including grammar, spelling, and punctuation. We encourage the reviewer to provide a two-paragraph report that addresses the aims, questions, and hypotheses of the manuscript, as well as its contribution to the area of research. The report should highlight the importance of the work and include a concise conceptual message to explain interesting aspects, scientific methods, and conclusions based on the data. We expect the reviewers to provide an objective and timely review.

Reviewers who feel unqualified to evaluate a manuscript should decline the request. They must follow the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/peerreview). Reviews must remain uninfluenced by non-scientific factors, including the origin of the manuscript, ethnicity, nationality, politics, or religion.

The JESI is always seeking reviewers who can provide critical and constructive comments while remaining anonymous and adhering to the deadlines. If there is any conflict of interest, such as professional relations, friendship, collaboration, or competition, the reviewers should decline the invitation to review.

The journal policy is to improve the review process and use more qualified international reviewers. Over the past four years, from 2020 to 2025, the use of international reviewers has risen to roughly one-third.

 

Transparency of Review Timeline

  First decision: 2 days

 Review time: 4-6 weeks

 Acceptance rate: 35%

 

Process to Manage Research and Publication Misconduct

If, at any stage of submission, evaluation, and publishing of an article, we discover a case of fraud or non-compliance with ethical standards, we will follow the COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts). The JESI reserves the right to inform the corresponding author(s) and the affiliated organization. Sanctions may include rejection, retraction, or reporting to the author’s institution. In the case of any misconduct, a committee, including the chief editor, selected editors, and experts in the subject, will begin to investigate. The action will be taken based on the guidelines of the COPE. Here, the policies of the COPE follow. Any concerns or cases regarding publishing ethics issues should be reported to the Editor in Chief (jkb@um.ac.ir). Based on the COPE's guidelines, the editor will act as soon as possible.

COPE’s guidelines are utilized to address instances of ethical misconduct. Additionally, the Journal adheres to the protocols as descaribed in the "Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in the Field of Medicine," published by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

 

Post-publication Discussion and Correction

The journal welcomes post-publication discussion via correspondence. Corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern will follow COPE guidelines. The JESI provides an item titled "Send comment about this paper”. There is an opportunity to send comments to the chief editor up to one week before the final publication. The JESI policy about correcting, revising, or retracting the paper after publication depends mainly on the quality and content of the comment. When we receive a worthy comment that is useful for our community, we will follow it to fix the case and show it on the paper's webpage below the references section. JESI ensures that all corrections/retractions are linked to the original article.

 

Appeal Policy

If the author(s) of a manuscript disagree with editorial decision(s), they have the right to appeal. In such a case, the author(s) should contact the Editor-in-Chief of JESI in written form (email). The Editor-in-Chief will then review the editors' and reviewers' reviews again and communicate with the author(s). If necessary, the Editor-in-Chief will send the manuscript to fresh reviewer(s) for reassessment. Ultimately, the final decision rests with the editorial board, overseen by the editor. The timeline for the response is within 30 days.

 

Data Sharing and Reproducibility:

JESI encourages author (s) to share their data, as this facilitates reproducibility, reduces redundant research efforts, and enables purposeful reuse. Reliable data repositories include Dryad (https://datadryad.org/stash) or Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/). Where possible, datasets should be cited with DOIs.” JESI requires authors to clarify the data availability statement in each article as a mandatory issue.JESI follows the guidelines of the COPE about data sharing and reproducibility

 

Funding

All manuscripts must include a funding acknowledgment section. Authors should report any funding sources and state the funding source name and the grant number. For example: 'This work was supported by the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad [grant number xxx to yyy].' If no funds were received, affirm: 'This research received no specific grant from any funding source.'

 

AI (Artificial Intelligence) and Related Technology Use

Each manuscript must include an 'AI and related technologies use' declaration before references. Authors should describe in detail how they used AI technologies, such as Large Language Models (LLMs), chatbots like ChatGPT, or image improvement software. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

This declaration does not apply to the use of some prevalent data appliances, such as using them as key research elements, grammar and spelling checkers to polish the manuscript structure and language quality, and formatting the references. This statement should appear in the published paper. In the absence of any use of AI-related technology, authors should write "None" in that section. The author has the final responsibility to ensure the validity, originality, and honesty of the work. Artificial intelligence (AI) and any other related technologies must not be credited as authors or co-authors of a manuscript. We follow the COPE and related protocols for AI and related technology (https://publicationethics.org/cope-position-statements/ai-author).

 

Archive Policy:

The JESI’s contents are freely available through its permanent website. The papers are deposited in international (Portico and Zenodo ) and national [(Scientific Information Database (SID), Magiran, Google Scholar, and ISC) repositories. All authors can archive all versions of their papers in personal or university/ institute repositories. The National Library and Archives of Iran, the central libraries of the University of Tehran, Tarbiat Modares University, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, and the Iranian Research Institute of Plant Protection, have printed copies of the JESI. The journal ensures long-term digital preservation through regular backups and DOI registration.

 

Copyright and Open Access License:

JESI is an open-access journal distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en). The license permits unrestricted use, copying, and redistribution of the contents in any format or medium. It also allows for remixing, transforming, and building upon the material if it is non-commercial and the original author(s) are given appropriate credit.

All authors must address any case of copyright matter while using any material, such as a figure or table, from a non-open-access source. The corresponding author must complete and sign the copyright form (agreement) and submit it along with the other components of the manuscript. The authors retain copyright under CC BY-NC 4.0. The JESI is a free journal without any Article Processing Charge (APC).

 

Implementation of Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) Recommendations:

The Journal of Entomological Society of Iran is a signatory of the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). Based on this:

  We will provide diverse metrics for fair evaluation.

  We use the CRediT author system to provide clear authorship responsibility.

  We release all references along with the full paper online.

  We are trying to encourage authors to cite primary literature.

  We do not have any restrictions on the reference number.

 

Duties of the publisher

The JESI makes decisions about the manuscript based solely on scientific merit and professionalism, free from any bias or external influence.

The JESI is committed to maintaining the integrity and quality of academic outputs.

The JESI ensures that all parties, including the chief editor, editors, reviewers, authors, and readers, follow the COPE protocols.

The JESI works with the chief editor and editors to screen for any case of publishing misconduct and prevent it.

The JESI checks all submissions for any type of plagiarism and fraud, and if required, publishes corrections or retractions.

The Entomological Society of Iran, as the owner, supports the JESI by providing a defined budget for each published volume. The sources of this budget is the Entomological Society of Iran. This budget covers all costs related to publication infrastructure, journal operations, manuscript processing, editing, publishing, record maintenance, and archiving.

The JESI is financially supported solely by the Entomological Society of Iran and has neutrality regarding advertising and sponsorship.

The ESI guarantees editorial independence and does not interfere with the chief editor and editors in making decisions on the manuscripts.

 

How do you start a complaint?

The complaint submission process is easy: simply send an email to jkb@um.ac.ir. All complaints will receive acknowledgment within two working days. Complaints are first reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief, and unresolved issues are referred to the Ethics Committee within 30 days. All complaints are handled confidentially under COPE guidelines.

All sections of the publication ethics are fully compliant with the COPE Core Practices (2023).

 

Commitment to Excellence

By adhering to these unique ethical standards, JESI fosters a publishing environment that prioritizes originality, integrity, and collaboration, setting it apart in the field of entomology, pest science, and related fields.

 

JESI reviews and updates this ethics policy regulary in line with COPE Core Practices revisions. Last Update on 15 December 2025 

 

 

 

Diversity of Editorial Boards of JESI