Editorial Policy

The Journal of Research in Agriculture and Food Sciences (JRAFS) is committed to maintaining high standards of editorial independence, integrity, transparency, and fairness. The journal’s editorial policies are informed by internationally recognized principles of scholarly publishing, including the Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing developed by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME, as well as relevant recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), where applicable to the journal’s subject areas.

1. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made independently on the basis of the scientific and scholarly merits of submitted manuscripts. The journal’s editorial decision-making is not influenced by the publisher, advertisers, sponsors, commercial interests, authors, or other external parties.

The Editor-in-Chief has overall responsibility and authority for the journal’s editorial content and decisions concerning the evaluation, acceptance, revision, or rejection of manuscripts. The Editor-in-Chief may delegate aspects of the editorial process to Associate Editors or members of the Editorial Board while retaining ultimate editorial responsibility.

Editorial decisions are based primarily on:

• Scientific quality and methodological rigor

• Originality and scholarly contribution

• Relevance to the journal’s aims and scope

• Validity and clarity of the research

• Compliance with applicable ethical standards

• Quality and integrity of the reporting

Editorial decisions are not based on commercial considerations, authors’ institutional affiliations, nationality, gender, personal characteristics, or other irrelevant factors.

2. Role of the Publisher

The Journal of Research in Agriculture and Food Sciences is published by Eldaghayes Publisher. The publisher provides the journal with administrative, technical, production, and publishing support but does not interfere with or influence editorial decisions.

The publisher respects the editorial independence of the Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board. Commercial, financial, promotional, or other organizational interests must not determine whether a manuscript is accepted, rejected, or published.

Editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the journal’s editorial leadership, independently of the publisher’s other publishing activities.

3. Editorial Board

The Editor-in-Chief is supported by an Editorial Board comprising qualified researchers and subject-matter experts in relevant areas of agriculture, food sciences, and related disciplines.

The Editorial Board may contribute to:

• Advising on the journal’s editorial policies and development

• Supporting the assessment and peer-review of manuscripts

• Identifying appropriate reviewers

• Providing subject-specific editorial expertise

• Advising on emerging research areas and scholarly standards

• Supporting the continued improvement of the journal’s editorial quality

Editorial Board members are expected to maintain appropriate standards of confidentiality, impartiality, and ethical conduct and to disclose and manage any conflicts of interest.

The journal welcomes constructive feedback from authors, reviewers, readers, and the wider research community regarding its editorial policies and practices.

4. Peer Review and Editorial Oversight

JRAFS uses a double-blind peer-review process. Manuscripts are first assessed by the editorial team to determine whether they are appropriate for the journal’s scope and meet the minimum requirements for consideration. Manuscripts that proceed to peer review are evaluated by qualified independent reviewers with relevant expertise.

In the double-blind review process, the identities of authors and reviewers are concealed from each other to the extent practicable. Reviewers are expected to provide objective, constructive, and confidential assessments.

Final editorial decisions are made by the Editor-in-Chief or an appropriately delegated editor based on the manuscript, peer-review reports, and the journal’s editorial standards. Peer reviewers provide recommendations but do not make the final publication decision.

5. Ethical Standards and Conflicts of Interest

Editors, Editorial Board members, reviewers, and authors are expected to comply with the journal’s ethical and publishing policies.

Editors and Editorial Board members must disclose relevant conflicts of interest and should not participate in editorial decisions concerning manuscripts where a conflict could compromise, or reasonably appear to compromise, their impartiality.

Reviewers must also disclose potential conflicts of interest and decline invitations when they are unable to provide an independent and objective assessment.

Authors are required to disclose relevant financial, personal, institutional, or other relationships that could influence the interpretation or evaluation of their work.

Further requirements are provided in the journal’s Conflict of Interest Policy and Publication Ethics Policy.

6. Transparency and Accountability

JRAFS is committed to providing clear and accessible information about its editorial and publishing practices. The journal publicly provides information concerning, where applicable:

• Aims and scope

• Editorial leadership and Editorial Board

• Instructions for Authors

• Peer-review procedures

• Publication ethics and research integrity

• Copyright and licensing

• Open access and article processing charges

• Conflicts of interest

• Corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern

• Complaints and appeals

The journal maintains editorial procedures designed to ensure that manuscripts are evaluated fairly, consistently, confidentially, and according to established scholarly and ethical standards.

JRAFS will review and update its editorial policies when necessary to reflect developments in scholarly publishing standards and best practices.