Ethical Guidelines

Core Practice Guidelines For The Editors And Journal Publishers​

We follow the latest Core Practice Guidelines for Editors and Journal publishers as outlined by the COPE.

Allegations of misconduct
Authorship and contributorship
Complaints and appeals
Conflicts of interest / Competing interests
Data and reproducibility
Ethical oversight
Intellectual property
Journal management
Peer review processes
Post-publication discussions and corrections

Editorial Policies

Scientific Scholar journals rely on the integrity and honesty of their Editors to publish the best manuscript that conforms to the ethical standards and meets all the requirements as per the mission of the journal for publication. Scientific Scholar encourages its editors to follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) “Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors”.

Plagiarism

“To steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one’s own,” “use another’s production without crediting the source,” or “present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.” The Scientific Scholar also considers “self-plagiarism” as a form of plagiarism. An example of self-plagiarism would be when an author borrows from his or her own previously published work without the proper citation within the newly submitted manuscript. We provide plagiarism check software to our editors and reviewers as a part of our manuscript management system.

Peer Review

Scientific Scholar journals rely on the peer review process to assess the quality of the manuscript to be published. Scientific Scholar journals follow the peer review process for all manuscripts published in its journals. Most journals usually follow a double-blind review process, in which the author identities are concealed from the reviewers, and vice versa, throughout the review process. However, some journals may follow Single-blind or Open review process. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines on the peer review process can be found here and Guidelines for the reviewers can be found here.

Retraction Policy

Scientific Scholar journals abide by COPE Retraction Guidelines.

Conflicts of Interest

Scientific Scholar journals require to sign a disclosure form at the time of manuscript submission. The author is expected to disclose any conflicts or financial interests impacting the outcome of the study in which he or she are involved. If the manuscript is accepted, the Conflict of Interest information will be communicated in a published statement. COPE guidelines on conflict of interest can be found here.

Journal policy on In-House Submissions 

In-house submissions- submissions that contain the work of any editorial board member, are not allowed to be reviewed by that editorial board member and all decisions regarding this manuscript are made by an independent editor. In addition, these manuscripts are reviewed by the two external reviewers.

Permissions To Reproduce Previously Published Material

Permission is required to reproduce material (such as illustrations) from the copyright holder. Articles cannot be published without these permissions.

Patient Consent Forms

Potential participants should make their own decision about whether they want to participate or continue participating in research. This should be done through a process of informed consent in which individuals (1) are accurately informed of the purpose, methods, risks, benefits, and alternatives to the research, (2) understand this information and how it relates to their own clinical situation or interests, and (3) make a voluntary decision about whether to participate. A statement to the effect that such consent had been obtained must be included in the ‘Methods’ section of your manuscript. If necessary the Editors may request a copy of consent forms.

Ethics committee approval

All studies that involve the humans need to have approval for the study from the respective Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the human studies. These guidelines may vary from country to country and country-specific guidelines need to be followed. The IRB number and protocol number should be stated in the manuscript.

If World Medical Association (WMA) the Declaration of Helsinki ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects were followed, they should be stated in the method section of the manuscript. (See here for more information.)

If the study involves a Drug under investigation such as in clinical trial, its approval by the FDA or equivalent authority is obtained and stated in the manuscript. (See here for more information.)

Any study involving the animals for research should have the approval of the protocol from the Institutional Committee on animal resources.