Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences (AES) is committed to upholding the highest standards of scholarly publishing integrity and follows the ethical guidelines and best practice recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and other relevant international scholarly publishing frameworks.

Authorship

Authorship of a manuscript submitted to Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences must be based on the following four criteria, as recommended by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;

2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;

3. Final approval of the version to be published;

4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work they have completed, authors should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other components of the work. Furthermore, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors.

All individuals designated as authors must meet all four criteria for authorship, and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as authors. Individuals who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section rather than listed as authors. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding, the collection of data, technical assistance, writing assistance, or general supervision of the research group does not constitute authorship. Financial and material support should be disclosed in the Acknowledgements section.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all individuals named in the Acknowledgements section have granted permission to be listed and that all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript prior to submission.

Authors are expected to comply with the international standards for authors as recommended by COPE.

Changes to Authorship

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences generally does not consider changes to authorship after a manuscript has been submitted. Authors are strongly advised to finalize the authorship list and the order of authors before initial submission.

The journal's policy regarding changes to authorship is as follows:

• All authors must be listed in the manuscript, and their complete details must be entered into the submission system.

• Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should only be made before acceptance and must be approved by the journal editor.

• Requests for authorship changes must be submitted by the corresponding author and must include the reason for the request along with written confirmation from all authors, including those being added or removed, indicating their agreement with the proposed change.

• The journal editor will only consider changes to authorship after acceptance under exceptional circumstances.

• Publication of the manuscript may be delayed while a request for authorship change is under review.

• If the manuscript has already been published, any approved authorship changes will be reflected in a corrigendum.

• Unauthorized changes to authorship may result in rejection of the manuscript or, if already published, retraction of the article.

Contributorship Statement

A contributorship statement is required for every manuscript submitted to Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences. This statement should specify who contributed to the planning, conduct, and reporting of the work described in the article.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all funding sources that provided financial support for the research and/or preparation of the article. The role of sponsors, if any, should be clearly stated with respect to the study's design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, report writing, and the decision to submit the article for publication. If the funding sources had no involvement in these aspects, this should be explicitly mentioned in the submission.

To ensure compliance with funder requirements, please list funding sources in the following standard format:

Funding: This work was supported by the [Funding Agency Name] [grant number xxxx]; the [Funding Agency Name] [grant number yyyy]; and the [Funding Agency Name] [grant number zzzz].

Detailed descriptions of programs, types of grants, scholarships, or awards are not required. When funding is derived from a block grant or other institutional resources, simply list the name of the institution or organization that provided the funding.

If no funding was provided for the research, the following statement is recommended:

Funding: This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Acknowledgments

Authors should acknowledge individuals who assisted with the project but who do not meet the criteria for authorship. All sources of grant and other support for the project or study, including funds received from contributors, institutions, and commercial sources, should be reported. Consultancies and funds paid directly to investigators must also be listed.

Competing Interests

A competing interest exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as the validity of research or the welfare of research participants) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain, employment, consultancies, stock ownership or options, honoraria, patents, paid expert testimony, or personal relationships).

There is nothing inherently unethical about a competing interest; however, it must be acknowledged and clearly stated. All authors must declare all competing interests in their cover letter and in the "Competing Interests" section at the end of the manuscript file, before the references. Authors with no competing interests to declare should explicitly state this.

Ethical Approval of Research and Publication Ethics

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and is committed to adhering to its Best Practice Guidelines.

The journal takes allegations of publication misconduct seriously, both before and after publication, and reserves the right to contact authors' institutions, funders, or regulatory bodies if necessary. If conclusive evidence of misconduct is identified, appropriate steps will be taken to correct the scholarly record, which may include issuing a correction, expression of concern, or retraction.

Authors are expected to be familiar with publication ethics, particularly concerning authorship, dual submission, plagiarism, figure manipulation, competing interests, and compliance with standards of research ethics. In cases of suspected misconduct, the journal will follow COPE standards and practices and may seek advice from the COPE Forum when necessary.

Statement of Ethics Approval

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences requires every research article submitted to include a statement that the study obtained ethics approval (or a statement that ethics approval was not required and an explanation of why), including the name of the ethics committee(s) or institutional review board(s), the number or ID of the approval(s), and a statement that participants provided informed consent before taking part. Even when a study has been approved by a research ethics committee or institutional review board, editors may request more detailed information about the ethics of the work.

Research Involving Human Participants

Studies involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and institutional requirements. Where ethical approval is required, authors should provide information regarding the responsible ethics committee or institutional review body and the relevant approval or reference number.

Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals should comply with applicable institutional, national, and international standards for animal welfare and ethical experimentation. Authors should provide details of ethical approval and adhere to the relevant guidelines, such as the ARRIVE guidelines for reporting animal research.

Patient Consent and Confidentiality

Any article that contains personal medical information about an identifiable living individual requires the patient's explicit consent before publication. The journal requires the patient to sign a consent form, which necessitates that the patient has read the article.

If consent cannot be obtained because the patient cannot be traced, publication will be possible only if the information can be sufficiently anonymized. Anonymization means that neither the patient nor anyone else could identify the patient with certainty.

If the patient is deceased, the authors should seek permission from a relative as a matter of courtesy and medical ethics. If relatives are not contactable, the journal will balance the value of the case, the likelihood of identification, and the likelihood of offense if identified in deciding whether to publish without a relative's consent.

The journal's policy on obtaining consent for the publication of photographs of patients is a subset of the general policy on patient confidentiality. If there is any possibility that a patient may be identified from a photograph or other image, or from its legend or accompanying text, written consent from the patient is required for publication.

Images such as X-rays, laparoscopic images, ultrasound images, pathology slides, or images of undistinctive parts of the body may be used without consent provided they are anonymized by the removal of any identifying marks and are not accompanied by text that could reveal the patient's identity through clinical or personal detail.

Traditional Knowledge, Indigenous Communities, and Ethical Research

Because ethnobotanical research frequently involves Indigenous and local knowledge systems, Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences places particular emphasis on ethical engagement with knowledge-holding communities.

Authors should demonstrate appropriate consideration of:

• Prior informed consent

• Community participation and consultation

• Respect for cultural practices and protocols

• Appropriate attribution of knowledge

• Confidentiality of sensitive knowledge

• Protection of sacred or restricted information

• Intellectual property rights

• Access and benefit sharing

• National legislation and regulatory requirements

• Relevant international agreements and ethical frameworks

Researchers should avoid presenting traditional knowledge as an unrestricted resource for scientific or commercial exploitation. Where appropriate, studies should clearly explain how local communities and knowledge holders participated in the research and how their rights and interests were protected.

Access and Benefit Sharing

Research involving genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge should comply with applicable national and international requirements concerning access and benefit sharing, including the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Nagoya Protocol where applicable.

Authors should report relevant permits, agreements, ethical approvals, and other legal or institutional requirements. The journal encourages research models that promote fair recognition and responsible sharing of benefits arising from the study or utilization of traditional knowledge and biological resources.

Biosafety and Biosecurity

All necessary statements regarding biosafety and biosecurity concerns—such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs), toxins, pathogenic agents, and radioactive materials—should be clarified, and the regulatory frameworks for biosafety and biosecurity should be addressed. Similar to regulatory frameworks such as the Nagoya Protocol, all necessary measures must be included.

Research Reporting Guidelines

Authors are encouraged to use the relevant research reporting guidelines for the study type provided by the EQUATOR Network. This will ensure that sufficient information is provided for editors, peer reviewers, and readers to understand how the research was performed and to judge whether the findings are likely to be reliable.

Key reporting guidelines include:

• Randomized controlled trials (RCTs): CONSORT guidelines

• Systematic reviews and meta-analyses: PRISMA guidelines and MOOSE guidelines

• Observational studies in epidemiology: STROBE guidelines and MOOSE guidelines

• Diagnostic accuracy studies: STARD guidelines

• Quality improvement studies: SQUIRE guidelines

• Animal research: ARRIVE guidelines

Clinical Trial Registration

In accordance with ICMJE recommendations, a clinical trial is defined as "any research project that prospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome."

In agreement with the ICMJE, Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences will not consider reports of clinical trials unless they were registered prospectively before the recruitment of any participants.

As a condition of consideration for publication, the journal requires registration of all trials in a public trials registry that is acceptable to the ICMJE (any registry that is a primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform or in ClinicalTrials.gov, which is a data provider to the WHO ICTRP).

Plagiarism Policy

Definition of Plagiarism

Plagiarism is defined as any direct or indirect use, reproduction, or adaptation of another individual's work without appropriate acknowledgment. This includes, but is not limited to, the copying of text, tables, figures, or data; structural or conceptual imitation of existing works; presenting others' ideas, data, or results as original; self-plagiarism; and the duplicate or redundant submission and publication of manuscripts.

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences utilizes iThenticate software, a plagiarism detection service that verifies the originality of content submitted before publication. If plagiarism is identified, the journal will follow COPE guidelines.

Authors bear full responsibility for ensuring the originality of their manuscripts, providing accurate and complete citations, and confirming that the work has not been plagiarized or published elsewhere prior to submission. Submission of a manuscript to this journal constitutes full acceptance of this policy and a commitment to the ethical principles governing scholarly publication.

Forms of Plagiarism (Not Limited To):

• Directly copying text from other sources

• Copying ideas, images, or data from other sources

• Reusing text from your own previous publications

• Using an idea from another source with slightly modified language

If plagiarism is detected during the peer review process, the manuscript may be rejected. If plagiarism is detected after publication, the journal reserves the right to issue a correction or retract the paper, as appropriate. The journal reserves the right to inform authors' institutions about plagiarism detected either before or after publication.

Peer Review Policy

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences is committed to conducting a rigorous and fair peer review process and providing publications with the highest possible quality.

• All submitted manuscripts are reviewed both internally and externally.

• The journal follows a double-blind peer review process for all submitted manuscripts.

• All submitted manuscripts are subjected to an anonymous handling process.

• Editorials, obituaries, news, letters, comments, or highlights written by the journal's editor(s) do not undergo an external peer review process and are reviewed internally by the members of the Editorial Office.

• In the case of submissions by any member of the editorial board, editorial office, or editors (including the Editor-in-Chief, Editor, or Associate Editor), the journal's policy remains the same. These submissions are independently peer-reviewed, and no editor will have any input or influence on the peer review process or the publication decision for their own article. An independent editor makes the final decision on acceptance or rejection. The journal strictly limits the number of such publications.

Peer Review Procedures

All manuscripts submitted to Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences are subject to rigorous review. This review consists of the following steps:

1. Initial submissions are reviewed by internal staff to ensure adherence to the journal's policies based on international guidelines, including ethical requirements for human and animal experimentation.

2. Submissions are then assigned to an Editor for evaluation.

3. The handling Editor determines whether reviews from additional experts are needed to evaluate the manuscript. The majority of submissions are evaluated by at least two external reviewers; however, the Editor determines the number of reviews required based on the subject matter and reviewers' expertise.

4. After evaluation, the handling Editor selects one of the following decisions:

   • Accept

   • Minor Revision

   • Major Revision

   • Reject

   • Transfer to another journal

5. If the decision is Minor Revision or Major Revision, authors have 30 days to resubmit the revised manuscript. Authors may contact the journal office if they require an extension.

6. Upon resubmission, the Editor may choose to send the manuscript back to external reviewers or may render a decision based on their own expertise.

Permissions

It is the author's responsibility to secure all permissions before publication.

Material from Other Sources

Any written or illustrative material that has been or will be published elsewhere must be duly acknowledged and accompanied by the written consent of the copyright holder (this may be the publisher rather than the author). This includes your own previously published material if you are not the copyright holder.

Reproducing Materials Published by Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences

Materials published by Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences may be reproduced in full or in part in any medium or language only on the condition that the original material is properly cited.

Publication Frequency

The publication frequency and all related information regarding the journal are listed on the journal website (please see "About Journal").

Fees, Copyright, and Licensing

Article Processing Charges

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences does not charge authors any Article Processing Charge (APC) for the submission, peer review, or publication of manuscripts.

There are no mandatory fees for:

• Manuscript submission

• Peer review

• Accepted article publication

• Color figures

• Online publication

Any future change to the journal's fee policy will be clearly announced on the official journal website before implementation.

Copyright and Author Rights

Authors retain copyright and other publishing rights to their work, subject to the terms of the Creative Commons license under which the article is published.

Authors are permitted to share, archive, and disseminate their published work in accordance with the applicable license and institutional or funder requirements.

The journal does not require authors to transfer copyright ownership to the publisher.

Open Access Agreement

Upon submitting an article, authors are asked to indicate their agreement to abide by an open-access Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Under the terms of this license, authors retain ownership of the copyright of their articles. However, the license permits any user to download, print out, extract, reuse, archive, and distribute the article, provided that appropriate credit is given to the authors and the source of the work. The license ensures that the article will be available as widely as possible and that it can be included in any scientific archive.

Article Sharing Policy

Are authors allowed to archive their submitted articles in an open-access repository?

No. Authors submitting articles to the journal are prohibited from publishing the submitted material in an open repository before peer review and publication in the intended journal. However, source data of the submitted work mandatorily made public on a website, such as registries required for clinical trials, are exempt from this prohibition and present an acceptable form of publicized data from the article before its publication.

Are authors allowed to archive their accepted articles in an open-access repository?

Yes. Authors may deposit their corrected manuscripts in open repositories after acceptance in the journal.

Are authors allowed to archive the final published article (PDF) in an open-access repository?

Yes. Authors are encouraged to archive the final PDF version of their article in open repositories, such as those of their own universities.

Data Availability and Research Transparency

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences encourages authors to make research data, analytical procedures, supplementary materials, and other relevant research resources available whenever ethically, legally, and practically possible.

For ethnobotanical research, however, unrestricted data sharing should not compromise:

• Community privacy

• Confidential traditional knowledge

• Sacred or restricted information

• Intellectual property rights

• Sensitive locations of threatened species

• Legal or conservation requirements

Authors should therefore balance principles of scientific openness with the responsible protection of community and biodiversity interests.

Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences recognizes that artificial intelligence and generative AI technologies are increasingly used in academic research and scholarly communication.

AI tools may be used for appropriate purposes such as:

• Language improvement

• Grammar and spelling correction

• Translation assistance

• Improving readability

• Organizing non-sensitive textual material

However, authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scientific validity of their manuscripts.

AI tools must not replace human responsibility for:

• Scientific reasoning

• Data interpretation

• Research conclusions

• Citation verification

• Ethical decisions

• Authorship

• Generation or fabrication of research data

AI systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Any substantive use of generative AI in manuscript preparation should be transparently disclosed in accordance with the journal's current policy. The editorial team reserves the right to request clarification concerning the use of AI when necessary to protect research integrity.

Retraction and Correction Policy

The journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy and reliability of the scholarly record.

Corrections, expressions of concern, withdrawals, or retractions may be issued when necessary to address significant errors, ethical concerns, unreliable findings, plagiarism, fabricated or falsified data, duplicate publication, or other circumstances that compromise the integrity of the published record.

When an article is retracted, the original publication remains part of the scholarly record but is clearly identified as RETRACTED, with an appropriate explanatory notice and links between the article and the retraction statement whenever technically possible.

Digital Preservation and Archiving

The journal is committed to the long-term preservation and accessibility of the scholarly record.

Published content is maintained through appropriate digital archiving and preservation mechanisms to support continued access to articles, metadata, and bibliographic information. Authors may also archive their work in accordance with the journal's copyright and open-access policies.

Open Citations and Metadata

The journal supports transparent and interoperable scholarly communication.

Bibliographic metadata and citation information are provided in structured formats where technically possible to facilitate:

• Citation tracking

• Machine readability

• Discoverability

• Research evaluation

• Bibliometric analysis

• Integration with scholarly databases

Authors are expected to provide accurate bibliographic information and persistent identifiers such as DOI information where available.

Privacy Statement

Personal information submitted through the journal's website, submission system, or editorial correspondence—including names and email addresses—will be used only for legitimate journal-related purposes, such as manuscript processing, peer review, publication, communication, and scholarly administration.

Such information will not be sold or used for unrelated commercial purposes.

Advertisements

The journal does not accept advertisements that could compromise editorial independence or influence scientific decision-making. Editorial decisions are independent of commercial interests.

All queries for advertisements are meticulously evaluated by the Journal Office on a case-by-case basis.

Revenue and Editorial Independence

The journal's editorial decisions are based on the scientific quality, originality, relevance, ethical integrity, and methodological soundness of submitted manuscripts.

Financial, institutional, commercial, or promotional considerations must not determine the acceptance or rejection of scientific work.

International and Multidisciplinary Character

Advancements in Ethnobotanical Sciences welcomes contributions from researchers, Indigenous and local knowledge holders, botanists, ecologists, pharmacognosists, anthropologists, archaeologists, pharmacologists, nutrition scientists, agricultural scientists, conservation specialists, social scientists, and other relevant disciplines.

The journal encourages research from all continents, geographical regions, ecosystems, cultures, and traditional knowledge systems.