Publication Ethics Policy

As an internationally active open access journal, our paramount objective is to foster best practices within the academic community and uphold integrity in all aspects of our publishing endeavors. We diligently adhere to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), as well as the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Our publishing activities are guided by a set of core ethical principles, which are as follows:

  • Authorship and Contributorship:All authors and co-authors must meet specific criteria for authorship, ensuring that appropriate credit is attributed to each contributor in their manuscript. Authors are encouraged to explicitly state their individual contributions to the work.
  • Originality:Authors must guarantee that the submitted manuscript represents their own original work. It should not have been previously published elsewhere, nor should it be under consideration for publication elsewhere. When incorporating the work and ideas of others, proper citation and quotation must be employed.
  • Data Access and Citation:Authors may be asked to provide the raw data related to their paper for editorial review, and they should be willing to make such data publicly accessible. Data must be cited in the same manner as other scholarly references, and authors are required to include data citations in their reference list.
  • Acknowledgment of Sources:Proper acknowledgment should be given to any work contributed by others in the manuscript.
  • Declaration and Conflicts of Interest:All submissions must include a disclosure of any relationships or affiliations that could potentially be viewed as presenting a conflict of interest.
  • Reporting Standards:Authors of original research papers must present an accurate account of their work and provide an objective discussion of its significance.
  • Human and Animal Rights:Research involving experiments on human subjects must include a statement of compliance, demonstrating that ethical standards were followed as per the guidelines of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national). For research involving animal experiments, authors should indicate whether they followed institutional and/or national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals.
  • Research Ethics:The research we publish must have received approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and when applicable, informed consent must have been obtained. Clinical trials must be registered in clinical trial registries, adhering to both local and international standards.
  • Authors' Ethical Statement:Authors are responsible for all aspects of their work, including data access, data integrity, and the accuracy of data analysis. Any concerns regarding the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work must be appropriately investigated and resolved by the authors.

By adhering to these ethical principles, we strive to maintain the highest standards of academic integrity and contribute to the advancement of knowledge within the scholarly community.