Please note that SAJ strongly supports academic integrity and ethical conduct. All authors, reviewers and guest editors at SAJ are expected to take responsibility for their actions and contribute to making SAJ a transparent, diverse and inclusive publishing community.

SAJ is proud to act as a safe and equitable platform for everybody, with zero tolerance for all forms of plagiarism, unethical behaviour and discrimination. SAJ is committed to providing a research environment characterised by impartial, merit based decision making, promoting fairness and respect for all members.

We kindly invite everyone who might have any concerns to reach out to the Editorial Staff if they suspect of unethical behaviour or other types of misconduct. Please note that when dealing with unethical behaviour, the Editorial staff will rely on the guidelines and recommendations provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): http://publicationethics.org/resources/

When presented with evidence of an academic misconduct, the Editor in Chief shall initiate the procedure of dealing with unethical behaviour, as per below.

Investigation

• Editor-in-Chief shall consult with the Editorial Board.
• All evidence shall be treated as highly confidential and only made available to the investigating parties.
• The party under investigation shall at all times have the chance to respond to any charges made against them.
• Misconduct can be classified as a Minor or a Major Misconduct.

Minor Misconduct

Please note that minor misconduct will be resolved in a dilagoue with persons involved without involving third party members, e.g.:

• Communication with authors/reviewers in the cases of minor breaches caused by misunderstanding of academic integrity standards.
• A warning letter to author or reviewer regarding minor misconduct.

Major Misconduct

The Editor-in-Chief shall consult the Editorial Board, and, when necessary, additional experts. They shall make a decision about the further course of action based upon the available evidence. The possible outcomes might be as per below.

• Publication of a formal announcement or editorial describing the misconduct.
• Informing the author’s (or reviewer’s) head of department or employer of any misconduct by means of a formal letter.
• The formal retraction of publications from the journal in accordance with the Retraction Policy (see below).
• A ban from submissions in SAJ for a predefined period.
• Referring a case to a professional organization or legal authority for further investigation and action.