Publication Ethics

Responsibilities of Authors

When submitting a manuscript for publication, authors are expected to adhere to the following ethical standards:

  1. Reporting Standards: Authors must provide an accurate account of the research conducted and an objective discussion of its significance. Results should be presented honestly, without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation. The manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to enable others to replicate the work.

  2. Originality and Plagiarism: Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original and properly cited. The manuscript should not be submitted to multiple publications simultaneously unless agreed upon by the editors. Relevant previous work should be acknowledged and referenced appropriately.

  3. Multiple, Redundant, or Concurrent Publications: Authors should not submit the same manuscript to multiple journals concurrently, or publish redundant manuscripts or descriptions of the same research in multiple journals.

  4. Acknowledgment of Sources: Authors should acknowledge all sources of data used in their research and give proper credit to the work of others.

  5. Authorship of the Paper: Authorship should accurately reflect individual contributions to the work and its reporting. Significant contributors should be listed as authors, while those who made less substantial contributions should be acknowledged in a separate section.

  6. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Authors should disclose any financial or other conflicts of interest that may affect the results or interpretation of their work. All sources of financial support for the project should also be disclosed.

  7. Fundamental Errors in Published Works: If significant errors or inaccuracies are discovered in a published manuscript, authors should promptly notify the editor or publisher and work with them to retract or correct the paper.

  8. Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects: Authors should clearly identify any hazards associated with the chemicals, procedures, or equipment used in their work, as well as any use of human or animal subjects.

Responsibilities of Editors

1. Publication Decisions: Editors are responsible for accepting, rejecting, or requesting modifications to manuscripts based on feedback from the editorial board. They must ensure that the work is validated and significant for the readers and researchers. Editors must follow the policies of the journal's editorial board and comply with legal requirements such as libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism. They can consult with other editors or reviewers before making decisions and take full responsibility for the published material's quality and integrity.

2. Manuscript Review: Editors must ensure that each manuscript is evaluated for originality and organized and reviewed fairly using peer review. They should explain their peer review process to authors and indicate which parts of the journal are peer-reviewed. Editors must select appropriate reviewers with sufficient expertise and avoid conflicts of interest.

3. Fair Play: Editors must evaluate manuscripts without considering authors' sex, gender, race, religion, citizenship, etc. They must uphold editorial independence and integrity to ensure fair and unbiased decisions.

4. Confidentiality: Editors must maintain the confidentiality of all information regarding submitted manuscripts. They must assess potential breaches of data protection and patient confidentiality critically and ensure that the research presented has obtained informed consent for publication.

5. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest: Editors must not use any unpublished material in a submitted manuscript for their research without written consent from the author. They should avoid being involved in decisions regarding papers in which they have a conflict of interest.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

As a reviewer, there are several key responsibilities that you must uphold to ensure the integrity and quality of the peer-review process. These duties include:

Confidentiality: You must keep all information related to the manuscript confidential and treat it as privileged information. Do not share the manuscript with others except as authorized by the editor.

Acknowledgment of sources: You must ensure that the authors have acknowledged all sources of data used in the research. Identify any relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. If you come across any irregularities, have concerns about ethical aspects of the work, are aware of substantial similarity between the manuscript and a concurrent submission to another journal or a published article, or suspect that misconduct may have occurred during the research or writing and submission of the manuscript, notify the journal immediately. However, keep your concerns confidential and do not personally investigate further unless the journal asks for further information or advice.

Standards of objectivity: Review the manuscript objectively and express your views clearly with supporting arguments. Follow the journal's instructions on the specific feedback required, unless there are good reasons not to. Be constructive in your reviews and provide feedback that will help the authors to improve their manuscript. Make it clear which suggested additional investigations are essential to support claims made in the manuscript under consideration and which will just strengthen or extend the work.

Disclosure and conflict of interest: Keep privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review confidential and do not use them for personal advantage. Do not consider manuscripts in which you have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the papers. If you suspect the identity of the author(s) in the case of a double-blind review, notify the journal if this knowledge raises any potential conflict of interest.

Promptness: Respond in a reasonable time frame and only agree to review a manuscript if you are fairly confident you can return a review within the proposed or mutually agreed time frame. Inform the journal promptly if you require an extension. If you feel it is not possible for you to complete the review within the stipulated time, communicate this information to the editor, so that the manuscript could be sent to another reviewer.