ETHICS POLICY

Ethics Policy

This statement is based on the COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

The journal is committed to ethics, good practices, and the quality of its publications. Ethical standards of conduct are expected from all parties involved in the process: authors, editors, reviewers, librarian, lawyer, journalist, layout editor, IT staff, DPO, and editor-in-chief.

Research Ethics

Research involving human subjects

Research involving human participants, human material, tissues, or data must declare that investigations were conducted in accordance with the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki. At minimum, a statement including the project identification code, date of ethics approval, and the name of the ethics committee or institutional review board must be included. (https://www.wma.net/what-we-do/medical-ethics/declaration-of-helsinki/)

For non-interventional studies (surveys, questionnaires, social media research), participants must be fully informed whether anonymity is guaranteed, the purpose of the research, how data will be used, and any associated risks. Ethical approval must be obtained prior to conducting the study.

Written informed consent for publication must be obtained from participants. Identifiable information should not be included unless essential to the research (e.g., facial photographs showing symptoms). Patient initials or personal identifiers must not appear. Authors must obtain signed consent before submission. Patient details should be anonymized whenever possible. Editors reserve the right to reject submissions that do not meet these requirements.

Studies involving vulnerable groups may undergo additional review. Documentation may be requested. When categorization by race, ethnicity, gender, disability, or disease is used, justification must be clearly stated.

Duties of Editors

Publication decision: The editor decides which manuscripts proceed to double-blind review and publication, guided by editorial policies and legal requirements.
Fair play: Manuscripts are evaluated based on intellectual content without discrimination.
Confidentiality: Editors must not disclose information about submissions.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Editors must not use unpublished material and must recuse themselves in case of conflicts.

Duties of Reviewers

Contribution to editorial decision: Peer review supports editorial decisions and improves manuscripts.
Promptness: Reviewers should decline if unqualified or unavailable.
Confidentiality: Manuscripts must be treated as confidential.
Objectivity: Reviews must be objective and supported by arguments.
Acknowledgment of sources: Reviewers should identify uncited relevant work.
Conflicts of interest: Reviewers must not use information for personal advantage and must decline if conflicts exist.

Duties of Authors

Reporting standards: Authors must present accurate accounts of research and data. Fraudulent statements are unethical.
Originality and plagiarism: Work must be original and properly cited.
Multiple publication: Simultaneous or redundant publication is unethical.
Acknowledgment of sources: Proper credit must be given.
Authorship: Only significant contributors should be listed; all coauthors must approve submission.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest: Financial support and conflicts must be declared.
Fundamental errors: Authors must notify the journal if significant errors are discovered and cooperate in corrections.