Publication Ethics

 

The Journal of Anatomical Sciences follows ethical standards for publication to ensure high-quality scientific publications trustworthy scientific findings and that authors receive proper credit for their work. 

 

The Journal of Anatomical Sciences endorses the guidelines and core practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

 

 

Article assessment

 

All manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Anatomical Sciences undergo a double-blinded peer review process to ensure standards of academic excellence. Submitted manuscripts adhering to the ‘Author Guidelines’ will be evaluated by peer reviewers with the identities of both reviewers and authors remaining anonymous to each other.

 

The editorial team may seek advice from the panel of expert advisory board members on submissions with serious ethical, security or social implications.

 

 

Plagiarism

 

Authors submitting to the Journal of Anatomical Sciences must not use the work of others in any form without proper attribution. All sources must be cited at the point they are used, and reuse of wording must be limited and be attributed or quoted in the text.

 

The Journal of Anatomical Sciences uses our own software to check for overlapping content of submitted manuscripts with other published or submitted articles. Authors submitting manuscripts which are found to be plagiarized from another work will run the risk of being rejected and sanctioned.

 

 

Duplicate submission

 

Only original content is accepted to be published in the Journal of Anatomical Sciences, i.e. articles which have not been previously published. However, articles based on content from a thesis may be considered.

 

Manuscripts under consideration at the Journal of Anatomical Sciences must not be submitted elsewhere and should be withdrawn before being submitted elsewhere. Duplicate submission by authors may incur sanctions.

 

If authors have used their own previously published work, or work that is currently under review, as the basis for a submitted manuscript, they must cite the previous articles and indicate how their submitted manuscript differs from their previous work. Reuse of the authors’ own words outside the Methods should be attributed or quoted in the text. Reuse of the authors’ own figures or substantial amounts of wording may require permission from the copyright holder and the authors are responsible for obtaining this.

 

 

Citation manipulation

 

Submitted manuscripts suggestive of including citations whose primary purpose is to increase the number of citations to a given author’s work or to articles published in a particular journal may result in the authors incurring sanctions.

 

Editors and reviewers must not ask authors to include references merely to increase citations to their own or an associate’s work, to the journal, or to another journal they are associated with.

 

 

Fabrication and falsification

 

The authors of submitted manuscripts or published articles that are found to have fabricated or falsified the results, including the manipulation of images, may incur sanctions, and published articles may be retracted.

 

 

Authorship

 

All the listed authors of a submitted manuscript must –

i. have made a significant scientific contribution to the research in the manuscript;

ii. approved its claims;

iii. and agreed to be an author.

 

It is important to list everyone who made a significant scientific contribution. The Journal of Anatomical Sciences endorses the ICMJE guidelines for authorship. Anyone who contributed to the research or manuscript preparation, but is not an author, should be acknowledged with their permission.

 

 

Conflict of Interest

 

It would be the responsibility of the authors to disclose any and all conflicts of interest associated with the publication of their manuscript. This includes the mention of an institution or product in the manuscript which is related to the outcome of the research study conducted.

 

Conflicts include the following:

i. Financial — funding and other payments, goods and services received or expected by the authors relating to the subject of the work or from an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work

ii. Affiliations — being employed by, on the advisory board for, or a member of an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work

iii. Intellectual property — patents or trademarks owned by someone or their organization

iv. Personal — friends, family, relationships, and other close personal connections

v. Ideology — beliefs or activism, for example, political or religious, relevant to the work

vi. Academic — competitors or someone whose work is critiqued

 

 

Sanctions

 

In cases of a breach in the publication ethics policies of the Journal of Anatomical Sciences, sanctions may be imposed in the form of –

i. Rejection of the manuscript and any other manuscripts submitted by the author(s).

ii. Not allowing submission for 1–3 years.

iii. Prohibition from acting as an editor or reviewer.

 

Additional sanctions may be imposed in cases of severe violations.

 

 

Investigations

 

Any suspected violations of the publication ethics policies of the Journal of Anatomical Sciences, either before or after publication, including concerns about research ethics, may be reported to the Editor-in-Chief. Such reports may be kept anonymous if required by the claimant.

 

The editorial board may commence an investigation in the form of contacting the authors for data/images or may contact the institution to raise concerns.

 

 

Corrections and retractions

 

Any errors identified in published manuscripts may be corrected by a corrigendum in case of errors by the author(s) or by an erratum in case of errors by the publisher.

 

Significant errors affecting the conclusions or cases of gross misconduct may require retraction according to the COPE retraction guidelines.

 

(The COPE guidelines for publication ethics can be downloaded from the 'Downloads' page under the 'AUTHOR GUIDELINES' link.)