Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement
Vital Biotech Publication's, Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice Statement is based, in large part, on the guidelines and standards developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). The relevant duties and expectations of authors, reviewers, and editors of the journal are set out below.
It includes:
1. Allegations of misconduct
Journals should have a clearly described process for handling allegations, however they are brought to the journal’s or publisher’s attention. Journals must take seriously allegations of misconduct pre-publication and post-publication. Policies should include how to handle allegations from whistleblowers.
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
2. Authorship and contributorship
Clear policies (that allow for transparency around who contributed to the work and in what capacity) should be in place for requirements for authorship and contributorship as well as processes for managing potential disputes
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
3. Complaints and appeals
Journals should have a clearly described process for handling complaints against the journal, its staff, editorial board or publisher
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
4. Conflicts of interest / Competing interests
There must be clear definitions of conflicts of interest and processes for handling conflicts of interest of authors, reviewers, editors, journals and publishers, whether identified before or after publication
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
5. Data and reproducibility
Journals should include policies on data availability and encourage the use of reporting guidelines and registration of clinical trials and other study designs according to standard practice in their discipline
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
6. Ethical oversight
Ethical oversight should include, but is not limited to, policies on consent to publication, publication on vulnerable populations, ethical conduct of research using animals, ethical conduct of research using human subjects, handling confidential data and of business/marketing practices
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
7. Intellectual property
All policies on intellectual property, including copyright and publishing licenses, should be clearly described. In addition, any costs associated with publishing should be obvious to authors and readers.
8. Journal management
A well-described and implemented infrastructure is essential, including the business model, policies, processes and software for efficient running of an editorially independent journal, as well as the efficient management and training of editorial boards and editorial and publishing staff
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
9. Peer review processes
All peer review processes must be transparently described and well managed. Journals should provide training for editors and reviewers and have policies on diverse aspects of peer review
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
10. Post-publication discussions and corrections
Journals must allow debate post publication either on their site, through letters to the editor, or on an external moderated site, such as PubPeer.
Source: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices
Ethics of Human and Animal Experimentation
Established standards and procedures should be followed in protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research whereby research participants are fully aware of the research and the impact and risk of such research on the research participant and others. Articles conducting any animal or clinical studies should contain a statement in accordance with the animal and human ethics committee. Research should be carried out in a manner that animals do not get affected unnecessarily. Registration is required for all clinical trials.
Statement of Informed Consent
All individuals have individual rights that are not to be infringed. Individual participants in studies have, for example, the right to decide what happens to the (identifiable) personal data gathered, to what they have said during a study or an interview, as well as to any photograph that was taken.
The manuscripts that include details, images, or videos relating to individual participants, written informed consent for the publication of these must be obtained from the participants (or their parent or legal guardian in the case of children under 16) and a statement to this effect should appear in the manuscript. If the participant has died, then consent for publication must be sought from the next of kin of the participant. Documentation showing consent for publication must be made available to the Editor on request. In cases where images are entirely unidentifiable and there are no details on individuals reported within the manuscript, consent for publication of images may not be required. The final decision on whether consent to publish is required lies with the Editor.