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publication ethics |
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| | Post date: 2025/04/29 | |
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Publication Ethics
We are committed to meeting and upholding standards of ethical behavior at all stages of the publication process. Our policy on suspected scientific misconduct, including plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, and redundant publication, is aligned with the guidelines on good publication practice of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). For further details, please refer to the full COPE guidelines available at www.publicationethics.org.uk.
Unethical issues will be investigated by the editors. All ethical considerations must be thoroughly addressed in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript. These include, but are not limited to, informed consent, ethical treatment of human and animal subjects, and approval from relevant ethical review boards. If an article must be retracted, the publisher is obliged to inform all indexing and abstracting databases that include the journal's contents. The author (s) should guarantee the research data availability. Any financial and non-financial support received for the research project should be acknowledged.
Conflicts of interest
Conflict of interest policy requires that each author reveal any financial or non-financial interests or connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the reported work. In addition, all editors and reviewers must disclose their conflict of interest which might influence an unbiased evaluation.
Under the principles established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Contemporary Orofacial Sciences journal is committed to upholding transparency and ethical integrity by managing conflicts of interest (COI) effectively. This policy outlines how conflicts of interest are defined, declared, and managed at each stage of the publication process.
- Definition of Conflicts of Interest (COI) / Competing Interests
A conflict of interest exists when an individual’s personal, professional, or financial relationships may bias or improperly influence their actions or decisions regarding the publication of scholarly work. Conflicts may arise in the following situations:
- Financial Conflicts: Involve direct or indirect financial benefits, such as funding, stocks, royalties, or employment, that could influence research, review, or publication.
- Personal or Professional Conflicts: Personal relationships or professional affiliations with individuals or organizations that may affect impartial judgment.
- Academic or Intellectual Conflicts: Situations involving academic rivalry, intellectual property issues, or competition that could influence the work or its assessment.
- Institutional Conflicts: Institutional affiliations that may result in a vested interest in the research's outcome.
- Declaration of Conflicts of Interest
To ensure transparency, all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, and editors, must declare any relevant conflicts of interest.
- Authors:
All authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest when submitting a manuscript. This includes financial ties, personal or professional affiliations, or other factors that could affect the research findings. The declaration of conflicts of interest should be provided in a separate section of the manuscript. If no conflicts exist, authors must state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest.
- Reviewers:
Reviewers must disclose any conflicts that could compromise their ability to provide an objective review. This includes recent collaborations, financial interests, or personal relationships with the authors. Reviewers should decline an assignment if a conflict is present. The review form includes a section for the reviewer to disclose any conflict of interest.
- Editors:
Editors handling a manuscript must declare any conflicts, such as relationships with authors or institutions involved in the research. If a conflict exists, the editor must recuse themselves from the process, and another editor will be assigned.
- Journal and Publisher:
The journal and its publisher will disclose any relationships that could influence editorial decisions, such as financial sponsorships or institutional partnerships. Transparency in these matters is key to maintaining the integrity of the editorial process.
Plagiarism
Our journal is committed to upholding high standards of academic integrity and ethical conduct in publishing. Plagiarism, which involves the unauthorized use or close imitation of another's work or ideas without proper acknowledgment, is a serious violation of these standards. This includes:
- Direct copying: Reproducing text, figures, or data from another source without permission and citation.
- Self-plagiarism: Republishing one’s own previously published work or portions thereof without proper citation or disclosure.
- Paraphrasing: Rephrasing substantial portions of another’s work without due acknowledgment.
- Mosaic plagiarism: Interspersing words and phrases from various sources with original text without clear attribution.
Review and Detection
We conduct similar checks on all submitted manuscripts using plagiarism detection software’s, prior to peer review. If significant plagiarism is detected, defined as over 15% similarity with existing work, the manuscript will be rejected immediately, and the author(s) will be informed of the breach. Minor instances, such as improper citation, may lead to requests for revision.
Consequences of Plagiarism
If plagiarism is detected at any stage—before or after publication—the journal will take appropriate actions as recommended by COPE, including:
- Rejection of the manuscript.
- Retraction of published papers with public notification.
- Notification to the authors’ institution or funding agencies, if deemed necessary.
- Banning authors from future submissions to the journal for a specified period.
This policy is in line with the COPE guidelines on plagiarism for submitted manuscripts, ensuring that all cases are assessed with integrity and fairness. We encourage authors to ensure originality in their work and to properly credit all sources to contribute to a culture of transparency, integrity, and respect within the academic community.
For more information, please refer to the COPE flowchart on plagiarism: COPE Plagiarism Guidelines.
Copyright
Authors retain the copyright of their published articles. Authors are free to post and distribute the links of their articles anywhere immediately upon publication. They are allowed to upload their article PDF (designed by the journal) to different sources and pages such as Research gate, linked in, Academica, etc. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This license lets others including authors distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, if they credit you for the original creation. copyright form
Human Subjects Research
- Informed Consent:
Authors must clearly state that informed consent was obtained from all adult human participants, and from the parents or legal guardians of any minors involved in the study. If the study involves vulnerable populations, special care should be taken to ensure their protection, and consent processes should be tailored accordingly. The protection of a patient's right to privacy is essential. A statement to the effect that such consent had been obtained must be included in the ‘Methods’ section of your paper. If necessary, the Editors may request a copy of any consent forms.
- Ethics Committee Approval:
The manuscript should explicitly mention the name of the appropriate institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee that approved the study. This approval must be in accordance with national and international ethical standards, including compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1975, revised 2000). A statement such as the following must be included: "This study was approved by the [name of the committee and ethical code], and all procedures conformed to the ethical guidelines outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki."
- Clinical Trial Registration:
For randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the study must be registered in a recognized clinical trial registry before enrollment of participants. Authors should report the trial registration number in both the abstract and the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript. The trial should comply with the CONSORT guidelines (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials), and the registration can be done in any of the following recognized registries:
Confidentiality and Identifiable Information:
If the manuscript includes identifiable patient information, authors must state that additional informed consent was obtained specifically for the publication of any identifiable data or images. The following sentence should be added: "Additional informed consent was obtained from all patients for whom identifying information is included in this article."
ICMJE Guidelines Compliance:
Ensure compliance with ICMJE guidelines regarding the use of patient images. This may involve explicitly stating that patients have provided consent for their images to be published, along with any relevant identifiers removed. Complete anonymity of patients is recommended.
Animal Research
- Animal Care and Use:
For studies involving animals, authors must state that the care and use of animals in research followed national and institutional guidelines for humane treatment. Approval from an animal care and use committee should also be obtained, and the manuscript must include a statement such as: "All institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals were followed, and approval was obtained from [name of the committee and ethical code]."
- ARRIVE Guidelines:
Authors are encouraged to adhere to the ARRIVE (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments) guidelines to ensure transparency and reproducibility in reporting animal research. Home | ARRIVE Guidelines
Studies Not Involving Human or Animal Subjects
For articles that do not include studies involving human or animal subjects, it is recommended (though not mandatory) that the following statement be included to avoid any confusion regarding ethical considerations:
"This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors."
Reviewer's responsibilities
Reviewers maintain the confidentiality of the research papers; they have no right to share and publish the contents of manuscripts. They must send their comments during the deadlines after accepting editors’ invitations; if they are not able to meet the deadlines due to any reason, they must contact editors as soon as possible. Reviewers are expected to review the papers unbiasedly and respect the journal's policies.
Authors’ responsibilities
All authors of every manuscript must contribute to composing the manuscript or research. Avoid adding the name of authors (Gift authorship) who do not play any role in the research process.
Authors are responsible for the veracity, originality, and accuracy of article content.
Authors must adjust their manuscript based on the journal format in Author Guide. Manuscripts that do not adhere to the format will not be sent to the peer review process.
The corresponding author is responsible for the correctness and modification of the authors’ information submitted on the website
All authors who contributed to the research work should approve the final manuscript, so it is obligatory that all authors sign the copyright letter.
Article submission in this journal means that authors are obliged not to submit this paper to other sources, or they have strongly confirmed that this article is not under consideration of other sources at the same time
Authors may contact the journal Email Office Address (cofs.j khuisf.ac.ir) if they face any issue
Authors must determine their affiliations clearly and the journal is not responsible for any errors in authors’ information, especially after publication.
The authors may check the whole manuscript after proofreading and layout before publication.
If editors or reviewers suggest any changes or revisions in the title or main body of the manuscript(s) during the peer-reviewing or proofreading process, the authors may accept or decline the changes.
Authors are obliged to present the raw data and research information to the editor-in-chief or editors if they ask, to investigate the accuracy and reliability of data and statistical analyses.
Authors, especially corresponding authors, are responsible to show adequate and on-time feedback to the journal emails, reviewers’ comments, revision submission and proofreading; otherwise, the journal is not responsible for a long peer review process, in case authors ignore the deadlines
Note: If one of the editors such as the editor-in-chief, managing editor or publisher’s staff tends to submit a paper to the journal, their paper will be managed or peer-reviewed without the authors’ interference and unbiasedly by reviewers assigned by other editors. In addition, these authors (EIC, editors, staff) must declare their (personal or professional) relations to the journal in conflict of interest.
Publisher's Responsibilities
The publisher is committed to keeping all content and history of manuscripts confidential. The publisher will back up and store the data archive of all manuscripts. The publisher must publish articles after proofreading and authors’ approval with appropriate proofreading and layout. The publisher shall solve any possible technical and non-technical problems regarding the journal management systems.
Archiving
The content of the website and article process is preserved by everyday backup which the owner of the server is committed to providing to the publisher every day.
Part of the important files is stored in INTERNET ARCHIVE and the National Library of Iran and part of the journal office document archive is saved on a Hard disk. The journal follows Sherpa/Romeo's green archiving policy.
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