Complaints and Appeals
Authors, reviewers, or readers who wish to raise concerns about any aspect of an IGBR journal’s editorial process — including editorial decisions, peer review, publication timing, or editor conduct — may submit a written complaint to the Executive Director of IGBR at info@igbr.org. Complaints are acknowledged within 10 business days and addressed within 60 days.
If a complainant is not satisfied with the initial response, they may appeal in writing to the IGBR Board of Directors. The Board’s decision is final. IGBR follows the COPE Flowcharts for handling complaints (available at publicationethics.org).
Corrections
When a published article contains a substantive error — whether introduced by the author, the editor, or in production — IGBR will publish a correction notice. Minor typographical errors that do not affect meaning may be corrected silently within 30 days of publication; thereafter, a formal correction notice is published and linked to the original article. Corrections identify the specific change, the section affected, and the publication date of the correction. The original article remains available with a clear notice directing readers to the correction.
Retractions
Articles are retracted when the Editor, in consultation with the IGBR Board, determines that the findings are unreliable due to misconduct (fabrication, falsification, plagiarism) or honest error, that the article has been previously published elsewhere without disclosure, that it reports unethical research, or that it contains material copied without authorization. Retraction notices are published in the next available issue, clearly labeled, freely accessible, and linked bidirectionally to the retracted article. The retracted article is not removed from the journal archive; it remains available with a watermark or prominent retraction notice. IGBR follows the COPE Retraction Guidelines.
Expressions of Concern
When concerns about a published article arise but the evidence is insufficient for retraction or when an investigation is ongoing, IGBR may publish an Expression of Concern. This notice is linked to the original article and updated when the investigation concludes.
Allegations of Misconduct
Allegations of research or publication misconduct — including plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, image manipulation, duplicate or redundant publication, authorship disputes, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and reviewer misconduct — may be raised by anyone, including readers, editors, reviewers, or authors, by contacting the journal Editor or IGBR Executive Director at info@igbr.org.
Upon receiving an allegation, IGBR will: (1) acknowledge receipt within 10 business days; (2) conduct a preliminary review to determine whether the allegation warrants investigation; (3) if warranted, contact the author(s) and, where appropriate, their institution; (4) gather and review evidence; (5) reach a determination in consultation with the IGBR Board; and (6) take action appropriate to the finding, which may include correction, retraction, expression of concern, contacting the author’s institution, or contacting funding agencies. IGBR follows the COPE Flowcharts for handling each category of misconduct. Allegations are handled confidentially to the extent possible.
Post-Publication Discussion
Readers may submit comments, critiques, or responses to published articles by writing to the journal Editor. At the Editor’s discretion, substantive critiques may be published as letters to the journal, with authors given the opportunity to respond in the same issue.
Research Integrity and Data Availability
Authors are encouraged, and where appropriate required, to make underlying data available to other researchers upon reasonable request. For research involving human subjects, authors must confirm that appropriate informed consent was obtained and that the study was approved by an Institutional Review Board or equivalent ethics committee; the approval reference must be stated in the Methods section. For research involving proprietary or sensitive data, authors must describe the data access conditions in the Methods section.
Conflicts of Interest
Authors must disclose all financial and non-financial conflicts of interest that could reasonably be perceived to influence their work, including but not limited to employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patents, and personal relationships. Disclosure must appear at the end of the manuscript before the References section.
Editors and reviewers must recuse themselves from handling any manuscript where they have a conflict of interest, including recent co-authorship, close personal relationship, institutional affiliation, or any financial interest in the subject matter.
Authorship
Authorship is restricted to individuals who (1) made a substantial contribution to conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the work; (2) drafted or revised the manuscript critically; (3) approved the final version; and (4) agree to be accountable for the work. Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be recognized in the Acknowledgments. Disputes over authorship are the responsibility of the authors and their institution; IGBR will not adjudicate authorship disputes but will delay or suspend publication until disputes are resolved.
Institutional Review
For serious allegations of misconduct, IGBR may contact the author’s institution to request a formal investigation. IGBR will await the institution’s findings before taking further action on the article.
COPE Membership and Alignment
IGBR editorial policies and procedures align with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Best Practice Guidelines. IGBR follows COPE Flowcharts for handling misconduct allegations, retractions, corrections, and other editorial matters.