Who Can Submit
Anyone may submit an original article to be considered for publication in Animal Behavior and Cognition provided that he or she is or is authorized by the copyright owner or owners to submit the article. Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works (an exception might exist if the authors have, as a condition of employment, agreed to transfer copyright to their employer).
The Author agrees to hold Animal Behavior and Cognition and its editors and editorial staff harmless for any losses, claims, damages, awards, penalties, or injuries incurred, including any reasonable attorney's fees that arise from any breach of warranty or for any claim by any third party of an alleged infringement of copyright or any other intellectual property rights arising from the author’s submission of materials to the journal.
Declaration of Conflict Of Interest
Public trust in the peer review process and the credibility of published articles depend in part on how well conflict of interest is handled during writing, peer review, and editorial decision making. Conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author's institution), reviewer, or editor has financial or personal relationships that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her actions. Conflicts of interest can range from those with negligible potential to those with great potential to influence judgment. The potential for conflict of interest can exist regardless of whether an individual believes that the relationship affects his or her scientific judgment. For this reason, authors and potential reviewers are obliged to report any potential conflict of interest to the editor prior to performing a service for the journal. Through consultation with the acting editor, reviewers may be considered unable to perform a review. Editors are responsible for consulting with another editor or associate editor if they perceive any potential conflict prior to taking action on a manuscript. Financial relationships (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony) are the most easily identifiable conflicts of interest and the most likely to undermine the credibility of the journal, the authors, and of science itself. However, conflicts can occur for other reasons, such as personal relationships, academic competition, and intellectual passion.
Declaration of Financial Support
Authors of published papers in Animal Behavior and Cognition must disclose financial support for the research submitted for publication. This includes private contributions, grants from foundations, governmental organizations and companies.
Rights to Authors and Rights to Reuse
Authors are the initial owners of the copyrights to their works, but upon acceptance of an article, authors must sign the copyright agreement form for the journal. Because all articles in Animal Behavior and Cognition are made freely available on the journal’s website, authors are free to display and distribute their articles using any outlets available to them. However, the article must retain the statement that the paper is under the copyright of the journal, as indicated on the final accepted proofs of the manuscript.
In addition, any readers of the work have the right to copy, distribute, and adapt the work, as long as the original work is properly cited. That is, the person copying, distributing, transmitting or adapting the work must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests the author(s)’ or the journal’s endorsement of the use of the work).
The Author warrants as follows:
(a) that the Author has the full power and authority to make this agreement;
(b) that the Work does not infringe any copyright, nor violate any proprietary rights, nor contain any libelous matter, nor invade the privacy of any person or third party; and
(c) that no right in the Work has in any way been sold, mortgaged, or otherwise disposed of, and that the Work is free from all liens and claims.
Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement
Statement on Publication Ethics
It is critical for the reputation of Animal Behavior and Cognition that the science presented within the journal is accurate and has been conducted according to the ethical principles of the field and author(s)’ institution. This responsibility is predominantly that of the authors, and secondarily, to the extent that it can be evaluated, the responsibility of the editors, editorial board, and peer-reviewers. All parties are responsible for maintenance of the ethical standards required for publication at all stages of the process.
Editors’ responsibilities
Editors will act in an objective manner while carrying out their expected duties. They will not act in discriminatory ways on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographical origin of the authors. They will consult with other members of the board in any case where they are concerned about potential biases in their own decision-making.
The editors and editorial staff will handle submissions for special issues in the same way as other submissions, so that articles are considered and accepted solely on their academic merit and without commercial or social influence.
The editors and editorial staff will follow a standard procedure in the event of complaints of an ethical nature, which involves the opportunity for authors or reviewers to provide a written response to any complaints lodged against them. All complaints should be investigated by a senior member of the editorial team no matter when the original publication was approved. Documentation associated with any such complaints should be retained.
The editors will act to protect the identity of authors (when requested) and reviewers to provide for single-blind or double-blind peer-review of manuscripts. However, it is the responsibility of the authors to ensure that clues to their identity have been removed from any submitted documents prior to review.
The editors will act in a timely manner to find reviewers of papers and to act on those reviews with decision letters to authors. A copy of the decision letter will be sent to all reviewers who assisted with the review of the manuscript.
Reviewers' responsibilities
Reviewers will contribute to the decision-making process by providing objective, fair, and thorough reviews of submitted manuscripts.
Reviewers will act in a timely manner in providing reviews. Different submission types have different review periods, and action editors will indicate how long a potential reviewer has to complete the review. It is crucial that a reviewer who accepts a manuscript return the review within that time frame.
Reviewers will maintain the confidentiality of any information supplied by the editor or author. Reviewers will not distribute or copy the manuscript.
Reviewers will alert the editors to any published or submitted content that is substantially similar to that under review.
Reviewers will report any potential conflicts of interest (financial, institutional, collaborative or other relationships between the reviewer and author) and if necessary will withdraw their services for that manuscript.
Authors' responsibilities
Authors will maintain accurate records of data associated with their submitted manuscript, and will be obligated to supply or provide access to these data, on reasonable request, for a period of at least 7 years. Where appropriate and where allowed by employer, funding body, and others who might have an interest, authors should deposit data in a suitable repository or storage location, for sharing and further use by others.
Authors will confirm that the manuscript as submitted is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere. Where portions of the content overlap with published or submitted content, authors must acknowledge and cite those sources. Additionally, authors must provide the editor with a copy of any submitted manuscript that might contain overlapping or closely related content.
Authors will confirm that all the work in the submitted manuscript is original and acknowledge and cite content reproduced from other sources. Authors will obtain permission to reproduce any content from other sources.
Authors should ensure that any studies involving human or animal subjects conform to national, local, and institutional laws and requirements (e.g. WMA Declaration of Helsinki, NIH Policy on Use of laboratory Animals, EU Directive on Use of Animals), and they should confirm in their manuscript that approval has been sought and obtained where appropriate from institutional review boards or similar entities. Authors should obtain express permission from human subjects and protect their privacy to the extent required by law.
Authors will declare any potential conflicts of interest where the author has a competing interest (real or apparent) that could be considered or viewed as exerting an undue influence on his or her efforts and contributions at any stage during the publication process.
Authors will notify promptly the journal editor or publisher if a significant error in their publication is identified. Authors will cooperate with the publisher to publish an erratum, addendum, corrigendum notice, or to retract the paper, where this is deemed necessary.
Authors whose native language is not English should ensure that their manuscript has been edited/proofread for grammar/spelling before submission by a native English speaker.
Procedures for Dealing with Unethical Behavior
Identification of unethical behavior
Misconduct and unethical behavior may be identified and brought to the attention of the editor and publisher at any time, by anyone.
Misconduct and unethical behavior may include, but need not be limited to, violation of ethical issues outlined above.
Whoever informs the editor or publisher of such conduct should provide sufficient information and evidence in order for an investigation to be initiated. All allegations should be taken seriously and treated in the same way, until a successful decision or conclusion is reached.
Investigation
An initial decision should be taken by the editor, who should consult with or seek advice from the editorial board, if appropriate. Evidence should be gathered, while avoiding spreading any allegations beyond those who need to know.
Minor breaches
Minor misconduct might be dealt with without the need to consult more widely. In any event, the author should be given the opportunity to respond to any allegations
Serious breaches
Serious misconduct might require that the compliance officers of the institution of the accused be notified. The editors, in consultation with the editorial board of Animal Behavior and Cognition, and external advisory organizations, should make the decision whether to involve the employers, either by examining the available evidence themselves or by further consultation with a limited number of experts.
Outcomes (in increasing order of severity; may be applied separately or in conjunction)
A formal communication (letter or email) to the author or reviewer covering the misconduct and as a warning regarding the need to guard against future similar behavior.
Publication of a formal notice detailing the misconduct.
Publication of an editorial detailing the nature of the misconduct.
A formal letter to the head of the author’s or reviewer’s department, the IACUC/IRB/OLAW, or the funding agency that supported the research, depending on the ethical violation. In the case of an ethical violation by a reviewer, a formal letter will be sent to the head of the reviewer's department.
For author violations, formal retraction or withdrawal of a publication from the journal, with notification of this action in the next issue of the journal. In this case, the head of the author department would be informed of this action, as would any abstracting and indexing services.
Imposition of a formal embargo on contributions from the individual who committed the misconduct for a defined period. Reporting the case and outcome to a professional organization or higher authority for further investigation and action.