The set of ethical principles and guidelines that researchers and publishers must follow to ensure the accuracy, validity, and reliability of published research.
Plagiarism: The act of using someone else's work intentionally or unintentionally without attribution or consent.
Self-plagiarism: The act of reusing portions or entire work without proper citation.
Fabrication and falsification of data: Creating or altering data to suit one's needs or to deceive others.
Conflicts of interest: Issues where financial, personal or institutional interests may influence or compete with research.
Authorship: Guidelines on determining who qualifies for authorship and in what order.
Peer review process: The process by which a work is evaluated by subject experts.
Editorial independence: The ability to make unbiased and fair decisions without undue influence from authors or external parties.
Retraction and corrections: Frameworks for correcting or retracting a published work.
Access to research: Ethical considerations for making scholarly work accessible to all who may benefit from it.
Responsibilities of editors: Guidelines for editors to ensure they uphold ethical publishing practices.
Misconduct investigations and sanctions: The handling of alleged ethical violations and penalties for misconduct.
Plagiarism: Using someone else's words or ideas without proper attribution.
Data Fabrication and Falsification: Intentionally creating or manipulating data to support a particular argument, hypothesis, or conclusion.
Authorship: Ensuring that all authors who have contributed significantly to the study are credited appropriately and that all individuals who have contributed significantly but not met the criteria for authorship are acknowledged.
Conflict of Interest: Disclosing any financial or personal relationships that could be perceived as a potential conflict of interest.
Duplicate Publication: Submitting the same article to multiple journals or publishing the same article multiple times with or without acknowledging the previous publications.
Misleading Reporting: Sabotaging the validity or accuracy of a piece of research by omitting, concealing or selectively presenting data, facts or results.
Ethical Review: Seeking ethical approval from an independent review authority, as required by certain research contexts.
Respect for Research Participants: Upkeeping of the dignity and well-being of research participants, including protection of vulnerable groups.
Peer Review: Maintaining impartiality and avoiding errors, based on strict guidelines for the assessment and consistent treatment of manuscripts.
Transparency and Openness: Encouragement of openness, and cooperation, thereby allowing research to be reviewed, evaluated and verified by the public.