Ethical principles for academic editors

Along with editorial staff, editors-in-chief, editorial board members, and guest editors are responsible for the integrity of the editorial process and for deciding which articles are accepted for publication. Editors act in a balanced, objective and fair manner in the performance of their duties, without discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnic or geographic origin of authors.

If the scientific editor has ethical concerns about a manuscript submitted for review, or if he has information about a possible violation of ethical standards after publication, he should contact the editors as soon as possible. Our editorial staff will then conduct an investigation in accordance with COPE guidelines.

To support academic editors, reviews are carried out by managing editors. However, editors must still report any issues on any aspect. Checks include:

- Ethical approval and approvals for research involving humans or animals.

- Plagiarism, duplication of publication and the necessary permission of the copyright holder to include already published drawings or images.

- International Clinical Trials Registry for pre-registration of clinical trials or a link to registration in the Methods section.

- Author's experience and qualifications.

When making the final decision to accept a manuscript, academic editors should consider the following:

- Any facts that may be perceived as a possible conflict of interest of the author(s) must be disclosed in the document prior to submission.

- Authors should accurately present the results of their research and include an objective discussion of the significance of their findings.

- The data and methods used in the study should be presented in the article in sufficient detail so that other researchers can repeat the work.