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b. Peer Reviewers

The quality of research outputs is judged by the peer review mechanism. The scientific and academic advancements of
academic and research institutions and scientists are based on peer-reviewed publications. Unknown to each other, the peer
reviewers shall be selected through invitations from research institutions/agencies other than the author(s). Each of the peer
reviewers must be a recognized scientist through his/her publications in international peer reviewed journals. A statistician may
beaddedasamemberof the panel of reviewers whennecessary, asevaluated bythe editor in chief. Thereviewers shall have
responsibilities towards:
1) Theauthorsbyprovidingawrittenandunbiasedfeedbackonthescientific meritsofthework,itsconciseness,
clarity andrelevance, andthemaintenanceofconfidentiality in thereviewprocess;
2) Theeditorial staff by providing informative, thoughtful, constructive and fair criticisms with respect to the
originality andscientific merits ofthe researchwork, including thestandardsoftheresearchjournal; and
3) Thereaders byprotecting themfromflawed researches that cannotbe validated and ensuring that the article
citationsareall relevant worksofotherscientists.

c. TimelinessofPublication
Research outputs and information must always be published as soon as possible. Since it usually takes several months in the
revise-and-submit cycles before the manuscripts get finally published in the journal, the Editors should be responsible for
timeliness in manuscript submission, providing prompt responses and decisions related to the journal, and acceptance of the
published articles.
d. Joint Authorship ofPublications

Only those who have substantially contributed or made an important contribution to the research work should be listed as
authors. Substantial or important contribution refers involvement in the conceptualization, overall design, implementation,
completion and writing the research paper. To avoid administrative complexities, joint authorship resulting from the contribution
fromvariouspeople shouldbestipulatedin theresearchcontractoragreement.

Thetest for the claim of joint authorship is the ability of anyof the namedauthors to take responsibility for the publication. More
importantly,thefield ofspecialization of eachoftheauthorshall haveabearing in theareascoveredandtackled bythepaper.

Usually the first named author in the manuscript is the senior author. It would be logical and fair that he/she the one who had
the most significant contribution in the content of the paper, having been involved in the conduct of the research project,
particularly in theconceptualization andwriting ofthescientific paper.

e. ResearchMisconduct

All authorssubmitting manuscriptsfor publicationsin the University R&Djournal shall refrain fromresearch misconduct such as
thefollowing:
 Unethical treatmentofresearchsubjects;
 Fabrication of researchdata;
 Falsification of research data; and
 Plagiarism.
Theunethical treatment of researchsubjects applies to obligation of the researchers relevant to the subjects of study,
whether human or animals, particularly adherence to ethical standards in experimentation such as care and use of human
beings and animals. On the other hand, fabrication and falsification of research data refers to the invention, recording, or
reporting of fraudulent data. Fabrication andfalsification constitute the most serious forms of misconduct in research as they
result inscientific recordsthat donot accurately reflect observed truthfromresearch.