Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

Publication Ethics 

The following responsibilities are based on the ethical principles set out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

What Editors Are Responsible For

Editors are accountable for the content they publish. According to COPE’s Code of Conduct for Journal Editors (2011), editors should:

1. Make decisions that are fair, unbiased, and free from commercial influence, while ensuring a proper peer-review process.
2. Establish policies that promote transparency and full, honest reporting of research.
3. Protect the integrity of the academic record by issuing corrections or retractions when necessary, and by investigating suspected misconduct in research or publication.
4. Address cases of reviewer or editorial misconduct.
5. Ensure research involving human or animal subjects meets proper ethical standards.
6. Have policies in place to manage editorial conflicts of interest.
7. Clearly communicate expectations to authors and reviewers.

What Authors Are Responsible For

Authors are expected to conduct and report their research in a responsible and ethical manner. In line with the ICMJE Recommendations (2021), authors should:

1. Present their findings accurately, without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.
2. Provide clear descriptions of their methods so that others can replicate the study.
3. Ensure their work is original, not plagiarized, and not previously published elsewhere.
4. Take shared responsibility for the entire content of the submitted and published work.
5. Ensure authorship reflects actual contributions to the research and its reporting.
6. List those who made a significant contribution to the study as co-authors and must ensure all co-authors are appropriate, included, and approve the final submission.
7. Promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper when discovering a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work.
8. Disclose funding sources and declare any conflicts of interest.

References

COPE. (2011). Code of conduct and best practice guidelines for journal editors. Committee on Publication Ethics.
ICMJE. (2021). Recommendations for the conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
Conduct Science. (n.d.). A comprehensive guide to authorship policies for academic journals. Conduct Science Academic Publishing. Retrieved August 19, 2025, from https://research.conductscience.org/a-comprehensive-guide-to-authorship-policies-for-academic-journals/

Further Reading

Council of Science Editors (CSE). (2018). White Paper on Publication Ethics.
European Association of Science Editors (EASE). (2017). EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators of Scientific Articles to be Published in English.