Publication Ethics

The journal follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Duties of editors

• Decide which submissions are published on the basis of academic merit and relevance alone, without regard to the authors' race, gender, religion, nationality or institution.
• Keep all information about a submitted manuscript confidential and disclose it only to those involved in its assessment.
• Not use unpublished material from a submitted manuscript in their own research without the authors' written consent.
• Withdraw from handling any manuscript in which they have a competing interest.
• Act promptly and proportionately on any credible allegation of misconduct, including publishing a correction or retraction where necessary.

Duties of reviewers

• Treat every manuscript received for review as a confidential document.
• Conduct the review objectively and support their assessment with clear argument; personal criticism of the authors is not acceptable.
• Identify relevant published work that the authors have not cited, and alert the editor to any substantial overlap with other publications.
• Decline the review, or notify the editor, where a competing interest exists or where they cannot complete the review in reasonable time.

Duties of authors

• Present an accurate account of the work performed together with an objective discussion of its significance; fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are unacceptable.
• Ensure the work is entirely original, and properly cite or quote the work and words of others.
• Not submit the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently.
• Limit authorship to those who meet the ICMJE criteria, and ensure that all co-authors have approved the final version.
• Disclose all sources of financial support and any competing interests.
• Confirm that studies involving human participants or animals received approval from the appropriate ethics committee and, where applicable, that informed consent was obtained.
• Notify the editor promptly on discovering a significant error in their own published work and cooperate in correcting or retracting it.

Publication malpractice

Allegations of plagiarism, data fabrication or falsification, redundant publication, improper authorship or undisclosed competing interests are investigated following COPE flowcharts. Where a claim is upheld, the journal will issue a correction, an expression of concern or a retraction as appropriate, and may inform the authors' institution.