Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement, June 2018

1. Editorial Board

The editorial board of New Disease Reports comprises the Senior Editor and Technical Editors for each of the disciplines within the scope of the journal (bacteriology, mycology, nematology, phytoplasmology and virology). Each of the editors are recognised experts in the field and their names and affiliations are provided on the journal's website (https://www.ndrs.org.uk/editors.php).

Contact information for the Senior Editor of New Disease Reports is provided on the journal's website (https://www.ndrs.org.uk/submission.php) together with contact information for the charity publishing the journal (British Society for Plant Pathology).

2. Authors and Authors responsibilities

There are no fees or charges required for manuscript processing and/or publishing in New Disease Reports.

As stated on the journal's website reports must be novel and original and must not duplicate the content of previously published articles, or those being considered or accepted for publication elsewhere. Authors are forbidden to publish same research in more than one journal.

Upon submission authors are reminded that the data included in the report must be "novel and original" and have not been submitted or published elsewhere. If this is not the case, then it is the authors' duty to declare this to the Senior Editor immediately. Authors are reminded that the data must be the work of the submitting authors, i.e. all authors must have significantly contributed to the research. All authors are obliged to provide retractions and corrections of mistakes.

Authors are required to provide relevant references in their reports including details of the techniques used for identification and any previous reports of the disease in the locality. Authors must also provide details of financial support in the acknowledgements of the report.

Authors are obliged to participate in the peer review process and once reports have been reviewed by a Technical Editor the author(s) has two months to complete the revisions and return the report to the editor.

3. Peer-review process

All reports in New Disease Reports are subjected to peer review. The process for review is described on the journal's website (https://www.ndrs.org.uk/submission.php). All reports under review are treated confidentially.

Following submission, the Senior Editor reviews the report for its overall acceptability in terms of content, format and significance. After this initial review reports are rejected outright as unacceptable, returned with comments for resubmission or passed to a Technical Editor for a detailed review. The Senior Editor chooses a Technical Editor based on their technical expertise and ensuring that there is no conflict of interest.

Once a report has been assigned to Technical Editor, they are responsible for checking the authenticity of the report and its overall scientific content. It is the Technical Editor's responsibility to decide objectively whether to reject a report or recommend it for publication. Technical Editor are responsible for ensuring that reports are accurate, not plagiarized, within the scope of the journal, and that all relevant published work cited. Technical Editors are at liberty to consult additional reviewers where deemed necessary.

The entire review and editing process is handled electronically between the assigned Technical Editor and the author, with the editor corresponding with the authors directly. An author receiving reviews and editorial recommendations for revision of a manuscript has two months to complete the revision and return the manuscript to the Technical Editor.

If an acceptable version of the report is completed, this is sent by the Technical Editor to the Senior Editor with a recommendation to publish. The Senior Editor reviews and copy edits the report and makes a final decision on publication. The final report is sent to the corresponding author for proof-reading, approval of the text and their agreement with the copyright declaration, after which the report is published on-line.

4. Publication ethics

The Senior and Technical editors take all reasonable steps to identify and prevent the publication of reports where research misconduct has occurred. Where editors are made aware of any allegation of research misconduct (or have reasonable grounds to suspect that this is the case) the Senior Editor will deal with allegations appropriately, e.g. by publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies as required. The journal has internal guidelines for retracting or correcting reports when needed.

5. Copyright and Access

Copyright and licensing information are clearly described on the New Disease Reports website (https://www.ndrs.org.uk/copyright-declaration.php). The journal is on-line and open access, and no charges are made to access any reports in the journal.

6. Archiving

New Disease Reports is an on-line, open access journal. Electronic copies of all reports in the journal are maintained by the Senior Editor, the editorial office and the web server. Should the journal no longer be published, all published reports would be maintained by the charity publishing the journal (British Society for Plant Pathology, founded in 1981).

7. Ownership and management

New Disease Reports is owned and managed by the British Society for Plant Pathology (BSPP). This is clearly indicated on the journal's homepage (https://www.ndrs.org.uk/index.php) and on the BSPP's website (http://www.bspp.org.uk/publications/index.php); the journal webpage is linked clearly to that of the BSPP.

There are no organisational names that would mislead potential authors and editors about the nature of the journal's owner.

8. Website

The website of New Disease Reports (https://www.ndrs.org.uk/scope.php) is designed and reviewed regularly to ensure that its contents are accurate and provide the information required by authors, editors and readers. Every care is taken to ensure that the website reflects the journal's high ethical and professional standards.

9. Publishing schedule

The journal is a serial publication which is published in volumes biannually; this periodicity is clearly indicated in the online archive of volumes (https://www.ndrs.org.uk/volumes.php). Reports are published immediately once they have been reviewed by a Technical Editor and the Senior Editor, and they meet the requirements of the journal (https://www.ndrs.org.uk/submission.php).

10. Name of journal

The name of the journal New Disease Reports has been created to reflect its purpose, i.e. to encourage early reporting of new and significant plant disease situations. The name is unique and not easily confused with any other journal. As such there is no potential to mislead potential authors or readers about the journal's identity, or association with other journals.