Ethical Principles and Publication Policy

ETHIC

Author's Responsibilities

Precise reporting

Authors should present a precise and concise report of their research followed by an unbiased description of its significance. Manuscripts should contain sufficient detail and references to allow readers to copy the work. Review articles should be accurate, objective, and comprehensive, with editorial “opinion” or perspective pieces clearly identified as such. Fraudulent or knowingly false statements constitute unethical conduct and are unacceptable.

Data and reproducibility

Authors must collect and interpret research data honestly. Publishers, editors, and reviewers have the right to request raw data for the work from the author for the convenience of editorial review and, if possible, public access. Authors should retain such data for possible use after publication (preferably through an institutional or subject-based repository or other data center) for at least 10 years, provided that participants' confidentiality can be protected and legal rights to proprietary data apply. does not prevent their release.

Originality and plagiarism

Authors must guarantee that the works they submit are original. If the author has used the work and/or words of others, appropriate citations are required. References should also be made to publications that are effective in determining the quality of the work reported in the article. Any form of plagiarism (“passing off someone else's article as the author's own,” copying or paraphrasing significant parts of someone else's article without attribution, claiming the results of research conducted by others, etc.) constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Simultaneous delivery and secondary publication

Submitting an article to more than one journal at the same time is unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Authors should not submit simultaneous articles (or articles describing essentially the same topic) to more than one journal. Likewise, authors should not send previously published articles to journals for evaluation.

Publishing articles on certain topics, such as clinical guidelines and translations, in more than one journal may be acceptable if certain conditions are met. Authors and editors of relevant journals must agree to secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication.

Authorship and contribution

Authors must be able to assume public responsibility for the content. Only individuals who meet the following authorship criteria should be listed as authors on the manuscript: (i) who made significant contributions to the conception, design, conduct, data collection, or analysis/interpretation of the study; (ii) drafted the manuscript or revised it critically for important intellectual content; and (iii) must have seen and approved the final version of the article and agreed to submit it for publication.

Individuals who have made significant contributions to the work reported in the article (such as technical assistance, writing and editing assistance, and general support) but do not meet the criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors but should be considered “authors.” Written permission was obtained to indicate their names in the “Acknowledgments” section.

Corresponding authors must ensure that the author list is appropriately determined according to the above definition and that all co-authors have approved the final version of the manuscript and its submission for publication.

Conflicts of interest and disclosure

Authors should include a statement to disclose at the initial stage of submission of the manuscript any conflicts of interest that could be interpreted to influence the conclusions or their interpretations. Potential conflicts of interest that should be disclosed include financial ones, such as fees, educational grants, or other funds; participation in speakers' bureaus, memberships, employment, consultancies, stock ownership or other equity interests; and non-financial conflicts of interest, such as paid expert testimony or patent-license arrangements, as well as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, information, or beliefs regarding the subject matter or materials discussed in the article. All sources of financial support for the study should be clearly stated (including the grant number or other reference number, if available).

Recognition of resources

If the author has used work by others and/or words that are influential in determining the nature of the work reported, appropriate acknowledgment and citations are required. Information obtained privately (from conversations, correspondence or discussions with third parties) should not be used or reported without express and written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of providing confidential services, such as manuscripts or grant applications, should not be used without the express written permission of the author(s) of the work included in those services.

Hazards and human or animal subjects

The study examines chemicals that present unusual hazards inherent in their use,