Publication Ethics

  1. Authorship should be limited to
    • those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study.
    • those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors.
    • others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.

  2. The corresponding author should
    • ensure that all appropriate co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper.
    • have agreed to its submission for publication.
    • manage any requests to add, delete or rearrange author names in an article published in an online issue.

  3. The authors should
    • ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
    • secured the necessary reproduction rights with the rights holder for any third party material (images, digital content, etc.) you have used prior to submission.
    • ensure that they have acknowledge any funding that have contributed to the publication.
    • provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review, and should be prepared to provide public access and retain such data for a reasonable time after publication.
    • NOT in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication.
    • NOT submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
    • include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.
    • promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
    • ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them.
    • include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects.
    • obtain appropriate consents, permissions and releases where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals.

  4. The Editors and/or Editorial Board should
    • keep information pertaining to submitted manuscripts confidential.
    • disclose any conflicts of interest.
    • evaluate manuscripts only for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors.
    • be responsible for making publication decisions for submitted manuscripts.
    • review suspected incidents of plagiarism.

  5. Reviewers should
    • notify the journal of any conflicts of interest.
    • keep information pertaining to the manuscript confidential.
    • bring to the attention of the Editors any information that may be reason to reject publication of a manuscript.
    • evaluate manuscripts only for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors

Report on Ethics and Malpractice Issues

Editors (in conjunction with the publisher and/or society) will take responsive measures when ethical concerns are raised with regards to the submitted manuscript or published paper. Every reported act of unethical publishing behaviour will be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication. If after investigation, the ethical concern is well-founded, a correction, retraction, expression of concern or other note as may be relevant, will be informed to the relevant parties. This may include a formal notice published in the Journal; a formal notice to the employer/institution/organisation of the concerned individual; and a formal notice to relevant professional bodies of the misconduct committed.