Editorial Independence & Journal Governance Policy

The Yemeni Journal of Life Sciences is committed to maintaining editorial independence, transparent journal governance, responsible editorial decision-making, and high standards of scholarly integrity.

The journal's editorial decisions are based on academic and scientific considerations and are not influenced by commercial, financial, political, personal, or other inappropriate interests.

This policy describes the principles governing editorial independence, responsibilities, decision-making, and the relationship between the journal's editorial functions and its financial and administrative arrangements.

1. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made independently on the basis of:

  • Scientific and scholarly quality.
  • Originality and contribution to knowledge.
  • Methodological soundness.
  • Ethical compliance.
  • Relevance to the journal's scope.
  • Quality and appropriateness of peer review.
  • Accuracy and integrity of the submitted work.

Editorial decisions must not be influenced by:

  • Commercial interests.
  • Advertising.
  • Sponsorship.
  • Financial considerations.
  • Personal relationships.
  • Institutional pressure.
  • Political considerations.
  • Nationality or geographic origin.
  • Gender, religion, ethnicity, or other unrelated personal characteristics.

2. Independence From Financial Interests

The journal's financial arrangements do not determine whether a manuscript is accepted, rejected, revised, or published.

The Yemeni Journal of Life Sciences operates as a Diamond Open Access journal.

The journal does not charge:

  • Submission fees.
  • Article processing charges (APCs).
  • Publication fees.
  • Reading fees.
  • Download fees.

The journal does not currently receive external financial support, sponsorship, advertising revenue, or institutional funding.

The costs of website hosting and domain registration are currently covered through personal support provided by the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor.

No member of the editorial or publishing team receives a full-time or part-time salary or remuneration from the journal.

These arrangements are disclosed to promote transparency and do not influence editorial decisions.

3. Editorial Decision-Making

Editorial decisions are made according to the journal's published policies and procedures.

Editors should consider manuscripts objectively and should not make decisions based on:

  • The author's institutional status.
  • The reputation of the author's institution.
  • The author's nationality.
  • The author's geographic location.
  • The author's academic seniority.
  • Personal relationships.
  • Commercial considerations.

The same editorial standards should be applied consistently to manuscripts within the journal's scope.

4. Role of the Editor-in-Chief

The Editor-in-Chief has overall responsibility for the editorial direction and integrity of the journal.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for:

  • Maintaining editorial independence.
  • Ensuring that editorial policies are implemented.
  • Overseeing the peer-review process.
  • Ensuring appropriate handling of ethical concerns.
  • Protecting the integrity of the published record.
  • Ensuring that editorial decisions are made according to established policies.
  • Appointing and coordinating appropriate editorial personnel.
  • Reviewing and updating editorial policies when necessary.

The Editor-in-Chief may delegate specific editorial responsibilities to qualified members of the editorial team.

5. Editorial Board

Members of the Editorial Board are expected to:

  • Provide appropriate scholarly expertise.
  • Support the journal's editorial objectives.
  • Maintain confidentiality.
  • Declare relevant conflicts of interest.
  • Participate in editorial activities when requested.
  • Promote responsible research and publication practices.
  • Support the integrity and reputation of the journal.

Editorial Board members should not use their position to obtain personal, financial, or professional advantage from confidential editorial information.

6. Conflicts of Interest in Editorial Decision-Making

Editors and Editorial Board members must disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

An editor should not manage or make a decision on a manuscript when they have a significant conflict of interest.

Potential conflicts may arise from:

  • Personal relationships.
  • Institutional affiliations.
  • Recent collaboration.
  • Competition.
  • Financial interests.
  • Supervisory relationships.
  • Academic disputes.
  • Other circumstances that could reasonably affect impartiality.

Where appropriate, another qualified editor should be assigned to the manuscript.

Further requirements are described in the Conflict of Interest Policy.

7. Handling Manuscripts Submitted by Editors

Editors and Editorial Board members may submit manuscripts to the journal.

However, their position within the journal must not provide them with preferential treatment.

When an editor or Editorial Board member is an author or co-author of a submitted manuscript:

  • They should not make the editorial decision on their own manuscript.
  • They should not have access to confidential reviewer identities beyond what is normally available to authors.
  • The manuscript should undergo the journal's standard editorial assessment and peer-review procedures.
  • Another qualified editor should handle the manuscript whenever reasonably possible.

The journal aims to ensure that editorial participation does not compromise the independence or fairness of peer review.

8. Peer-Review Independence

Peer review should be conducted independently and objectively.

Editors should select reviewers based on:

  • Relevant expertise.
  • Independence from the authors.
  • Absence of significant conflicts of interest.
  • Ability to provide a constructive scholarly assessment.

Reviewers must maintain confidentiality and should not use unpublished information obtained during peer review for personal or professional advantage.

Further requirements are provided in the Peer Review Policy and Reviewer Guidelines.

9. Separation of Editorial and Commercial Considerations

The journal does not permit commercial considerations to determine editorial decisions.

Where the journal develops future partnerships, sponsorship arrangements, services, or other financial relationships, such arrangements should not compromise:

  • Editorial independence.
  • Peer-review integrity.
  • Publication decisions.
  • Scientific content.
  • Author rights.
  • Reader access.

10. Advertising

The Yemeni Journal of Life Sciences does not currently accept or display commercial advertising.

If advertising is introduced in the future, it must be clearly distinguishable from editorial content and must not influence editorial decisions.

11. Sponsorship and External Support

The journal does not currently receive external sponsorship or financial support.

If external support is accepted in the future, the source and nature of such support should be disclosed transparently.

External financial support must not provide the sponsor with control over:

  • Editorial decisions.
  • Peer review.
  • Acceptance or rejection of manuscripts.
  • Publication timing.
  • Scientific content.

12. Transparency of Journal Ownership and Management

The journal is committed to providing clear information about its ownership, management, editorial leadership, and publishing arrangements.

Information concerning the journal's:

  • Editorial leadership.
  • Editorial Board.
  • Publisher or journal management.
  • Contact information.
  • Open access model.
  • Licensing.
  • Publication charges.
  • Financial arrangements.

should be made publicly available through the journal website where appropriate.

13. Editorial Accountability

Editors are accountable for decisions made under their editorial responsibility.

The journal maintains procedures for addressing:

  • Editorial complaints.
  • Appeals.
  • Conflicts of interest.
  • Research misconduct.
  • Publication ethics concerns.
  • Corrections and retractions.

See the Complaints & Appeals Policy, Research Misconduct Policy, and Retraction & Correction Policy.

14. Editorial Confidentiality

Editors and Editorial Board members must protect confidential information obtained during the submission, review, and publication processes.

Confidential information must not be disclosed or used for personal or professional advantage.

Exceptions may apply when disclosure is necessary to investigate ethical concerns or comply with applicable legal, institutional, or regulatory requirements.

15. Editorial Independence From Authors and Reviewers

Authors and reviewers must not attempt to improperly influence editorial decisions.

Attempts to influence editors through:

  • Personal relationships.
  • Institutional pressure.
  • Threats.
  • Repeated inappropriate communications.
  • Undue political or commercial influence.
  • Other inappropriate means.

may be addressed through the journal's complaints and editorial procedures.

16. Editorial Independence and Open Access

The journal's Diamond Open Access model is intended to provide unrestricted access to published scholarly content without charging authors publication fees or readers access fees.

Editorial decisions remain independent of the journal's open access model.

No author receives preferential treatment because of their ability or inability to provide financial support.

17. Volunteer-Based Editorial Structure

The journal currently operates through voluntary scholarly and editorial contributions.

No member of the editorial or publishing team currently receives a full-time or part-time salary or remuneration from the journal.

Volunteer participation does not reduce the journal's commitment to:

  • Editorial quality.
  • Peer-review integrity.
  • Research ethics.
  • Transparency.
  • Accountability.
  • Professional scholarly publishing standards.

18. Institutional and Personal Support

The journal may rely on personal or institutional resources to maintain its basic publishing infrastructure.

At present, website hosting and domain registration costs are covered through personal support provided by the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor.

Such support does not confer editorial authority over individual manuscripts or publication decisions.

19. Editorial Independence in Future Financial Arrangements

If the journal receives financial support, sponsorship, grants, advertising revenue, or other external resources in the future, such arrangements will be managed in a manner that protects editorial independence.

The journal will seek to disclose relevant financial relationships transparently.

20. Governance and Policy Review

The journal periodically reviews its governance and editorial policies to ensure that they remain appropriate and consistent with recognized standards of scholarly publishing.

Policies may be updated in response to:

  • Changes in international publishing standards.
  • Developments in research integrity.
  • Changes in the journal's organizational structure.
  • Changes in funding or financial arrangements.
  • Feedback from authors, reviewers, readers, and Editorial Board members.

21. Commitment to Transparency

The Yemeni Journal of Life Sciences is committed to transparent journal management and responsible scholarly publishing.

The journal will make reasonable efforts to ensure that relevant information concerning editorial responsibilities, policies, financial arrangements, peer review, publication ethics, and author rights is clearly available to authors and readers.

Related Policies

For related information, please refer to:

  • Publication Ethics
  • Peer Review Policy
  • Reviewer Guidelines
  • Conflict of Interest Policy
  • Complaints & Appeals Policy
  • Research Misconduct Policy
  • Authorship & Contributorship Policy
  • Retraction & Correction Policy
  • Open Access Policy
  • Copyright & Licensing Policy
  • Privacy Policy