Research Integrity

1. Introduction

The Ghana Library Journal (GLJ) upholds the highest standards of research integrity and scholarly excellence. As a journal of the Ghana Library Association (GLA), GLJ is committed to promoting trust in academic publishing through honesty, transparency, rigor, and accountability. This document defines the principles and expectations for maintaining integrity throughout the research and publication process.

2. Core Principles of Research Integrity

The following principles form the foundation of GLJ’s expectations for authors, editors, reviewers, and all contributors to scholarly work:

• Honesty: Presenting research findings truthfully and accurately, without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.
• Accountability: Taking responsibility for all aspects of research, including its design, conduct, reporting, and ethical considerations.
• Transparency: Fully disclosing all methods, data, sources of funding, and potential conflicts of interest.
• Respect: Valuing intellectual property, collaboration, and the dignity of research participants.
• Rigor: Conducting research with appropriate methodology, attention to detail, and adherence to disciplinary standards.

3. Expectations for Authors

• Accurate Reporting: Authors must report data, findings, and methodologies precisely. Fabrication, falsification, or misrepresentation of results constitutes misconduct.
• Ethical Compliance: Research involving human subjects or sensitive data must comply with relevant ethical guidelines and obtain necessary approvals.
• Data Sharing: Authors are encouraged to share data and materials where feasible, to support transparency and reproducibility.
• Proper Attribution: All contributions must be properly acknowledged. Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and failure to credit sources are serious breaches of research integrity.
• Responsible Authorship: Only individuals who made substantial contributions should be listed as authors. Gift or ghost authorship is unethical.

4. Responsibilities of Editors and Reviewers

• Impartiality: Editorial and peer review decisions must be based on academic merit and relevance without bias.
• Integrity in Review: Reviewers must provide honest, constructive, and timely assessments, and avoid conflicts of interest.
• Confidentiality: Manuscripts must be treated as confidential documents during the review process.
• Action on Misconduct: Editors are responsible for investigating allegations of misconduct and taking corrective action where needed, including corrections, retractions, or reporting to institutions.

5. Misconduct and Breaches of Integrity

Research misconduct includes but is not limited to:

• Plagiarism or misappropriation of others’ work
• Fabrication or falsification of data
• Inappropriate authorship attribution
• Manipulation of citations to inflate metrics (citation stacking)
• Undisclosed conflicts of interest
• Duplicate or redundant publication

All reported cases of misconduct will be investigated in accordance with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) guidelines. Sanctions may include retraction of articles, reporting to authors’ institutions, and prohibition from future submissions.

6. Corrections and Retractions

GLJ will issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions when errors or misconduct are discovered post-publication. Retractions will be clearly marked and linked to the original article.

7. Training and Awareness

GLJ encourages continuous education in research ethics and integrity for authors, reviewers, and editors. New contributors are urged to familiarize themselves with best practices and relevant institutional or international guidelines.

8. Whistleblower Protection

Individuals who report suspected breaches of integrity in good faith will be protected from retaliation. GLJ ensures that all allegations are handled with confidentiality and fairness.