Submitting authors are required to acknowledge that they are aware of the Biohouse policy on plagiarism and copyright when signing the article's copyright transfer agreement.
Plagiarism is the copying of ideas, text, data and other creative work (e.g. tables, figures and graphs) and presenting it as original research without proper citation. Separate from the issue of plagiarism is the need for authors to obtain permission to reuse previously published work (even if properly cited) from the holder of the copyright (which is typically not the author).
It is essential that editors and reviewers be told by the authors when any portion of a paper is based heavily on previous work, even if this work has been written by one or more of the authors of the paper. It is the responsibility of the author not only to cite the previous work, including their own, but to provide an indication of the extent to which a paper depends on this work.
The holder of a copyright owns the right to reproduce published work. A copyright is indicated by “© 2009 ”. The date (or date range) only indicates when material was created or modified; this is not an expiration date. Copyrighted work can appear in print or on the Internet. Authors need to use care when taking advantage of printed material, images and/or data that is available for download from the Internet. It is the responsibility of the author to ensure that proper permissions are obtained as appropriate, but some use of copyrighted material is permitted without permission under “fair use” doctrine (As per Copyright Act of 1976). The author is required to transfer copyright (Access Copyright Transfer Forms) of his or her paper to Biohouse but reserves the right to use all or part of the paper in future works he or she may write or edit, e.g., textbooks, reviews, and lectures, and to obtain a copyright assignment from Biohouse without fee for such purposes.
Note that even when an author has permission to re-use work of others or their own work, this permission does not absolve the author of the responsibility to cite prior work.
The Editors-in-Chief, and their respective Editorial Boards, are the primary means of detecting plagiarism in manuscripts submitted to Biohouse journals. Complainants shall bring cases of suspected author misconduct to the attention of the Editor-in-Chief (EIC). The EIC shall ensure that the following documentation is provided: written description of the alleged misconduct; title of the manuscript; full list of author names; for alleged plagiarized manuscript – title, list of author names and publication in which the manuscript appeared; for use of ideas – title of idea, full list of creators and date of creation; copies of both manuscripts; full name and address of complainant. An Editor-in-Chief (EIC), after being made aware of a suspicion of plagiarism, shall review all evidence and make a preliminary judgment regarding the claim. As part of the EIC's deliberation, it is required that the authors be contacted and provided an opportunity to rebut the charge. If the EIC finds sufficient evidence for justification of a charge of plagiarism, the EIC shall forward all materials to the experts to help determine the level of plagiarism. Punishments would typically include, ban author from submission to Biohouse journals, remove article from publication, non refund of APC etc. Additionally, it is required that any author found guilty of plagiarism who also holds an editorial office at a Biohouse journal will be dismissed from that office. If a determination of plagiarism has been made, and after any appeals are exhausted, the EIC will determine appropriate steps both to ensure that it does not happen again and, if the plagiarized paper has appeared in print, to possibly notify the readership. These steps may include notification of the employer(s) of the author(s), and if the paper has appeared in print, public notification to the readership. The charge of plagiarism, supporting materials and outcome are only to be made known to those persons who are involved in the review process.
Biohouse Open Access articles posted to repositories or websites are without warranty from Biohouse of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. To the fullest extent permitted by law Biohouse disclaims all liability for any loss or damage arising out of, or in connection, with the use of or inability to use the content.