The Journal of Marine Engineering and Aquatic Sciences (JMEAS) is committed to ensuring that citations are used solely for legitimate scholarly purposes. References should be relevant to the research and included only when they contribute meaningfully to the scientific context, methodology, interpretation, or discussion of the work.
JMEAS does not permit any form of citation manipulation, including:
- adding unnecessary or irrelevant references solely to increase citation counts;
- excessive self-citation by authors without clear scholarly justification;
- coercing or pressuring authors to cite particular articles, authors, journals, or publications for purposes unrelated to improving the scientific quality of the manuscript;
- reviewers requesting citations to their own work without valid scientific justification; and
- editors encouraging or requiring citations primarily to increase citations to JMEAS, themselves, or associated publications.
Authors should ensure that references accurately and fairly represent the relevant literature. Reviewers and editors may recommend additional references only when they are scientifically relevant and necessary to improve the manuscript.
Suspected citation manipulation will be assessed in accordance with the journal’s Publication Ethics and Research Misconduct policies. Where inappropriate citation practices are identified, JMEAS may request removal or correction of the citations and take further editorial action when warranted.
