Publication Ethics

Acta Pharmacy and Health Science adheres to the guidelines from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for addressing all aspects of publication ethics, especially in handling research and publication misconduct cases. This journal implements COPE principles to ensure high ethical standards for publishers, editors, authors, and reviewers. Given its significance, publication ethics must be clearly explained to enhance research quality globally. This section outlines the ethical responsibilities for authors, editors, and reviewers.

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors must follow the ethical guidelines of the Acta Pharmacy and Health Science when writing and submitting their reports. Unethical practices can lead to severe consequences, such as retraction of published articles or being banned from future submissions to the journal. Authors must be fully aware of the content of their submitted manuscripts, ensuring that the data presented is accurate and free from fabrication or fraud. Authors must guarantee the originality of their work, as the journal does not accept manuscripts or parts thereof that have been previously published or are under consideration elsewhere. For details, refer to the journal’s policy on reproducing published material from other publishers. Authors must ensure their work is free from plagiarism, with a recommended similarity index of no more than 15%. Authors should strive to make underlying data available, as editors or reviewers may request raw data during the evaluation process. Authors are encouraged to make data publicly accessible through institutional or subject-based repositories, except for confidential private data. Authors must disclose any conflicts of interest and funding sources in separate sections (see Instructions to Authors). Funders should not influence the design or interpretation of the experiments. Authors must inform editors of any inaccuracies or errors in their manuscripts before publication for correction and report significant post-publication errors to the journal or Editor-in-Chief. The journal will issue errata or retract articles as necessary, following consultations with relevant parties.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

Editors must follow COPE practices when evaluating and making decisions on submitted manuscripts. Editors should assess manuscripts based on academic merit (such as novelty, originality, scientific accuracy, and readability) and relevance to the journal’s scope. Discriminatory practices based on race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion, political beliefs, or institutional affiliation are prohibited during the editorial process. Editorial decisions should not be influenced by external policies from governments or other agencies. Acceptance decisions should be supported by reviewers' recommendations. Editors are responsible for notifying authors about the acceptance or rejection of manuscripts. Editors must treat submitted manuscripts with confidentiality and prevent information disclosure to unauthorized parties. Editors must respect authors' requests to exclude certain reviewers from the evaluation process based on objective considerations.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play a crucial role in maintaining the quality of papers published in the journal. Each manuscript undergoes peer review by at least two independent reviewers selected based on their expertise and professional track record. Reviewers must adhere to the following ethical responsibilities:

Reviewers should objectively evaluate manuscripts based on scientific merit and publication standards. Manuscripts sent for review must be treated as confidential. Reviewers must adhere to the journal’s single-blind review policy, maintaining anonymity from authors. Reviewers should provide detailed, point-by-point feedback in their review reports. Reviewers are expected to submit their reports on time and notify the handling editor if additional time is needed. Reviewers must alert editors to any scientific or ethical misconduct detected in the manuscript, including plagiarism and data fabrication or manipulation.

Conflicts of Interest

Authors must disclose any financial relationships with organizations sponsoring their research in a separate section before the reference list. If no conflict exists, authors should state this (see Instructions to Authors). During manuscript evaluation, editors and reviewers must avoid conflicts of interest that could affect fairness. Editors should not handle manuscripts from their own institution, collaborators, co-authors, or competitors. Similarly, reviewers should recuse themselves from evaluating manuscripts involving these parties and notify the handling editor of potential conflicts.

Reproducing Published Material from Other Publishers

Authors must obtain permission to reproduce any published material not in the public domain or for which they do not hold copyright. Permission should be requested from the copyright holder, typically the publisher.

Permission is required for:

  • Your own works published elsewhere without retained copyright.
  • Substantial extracts from others’ works.
  • Use of unaltered or slightly modified tables, graphs, charts, schemes, and artworks.
  • Photographs not owned by the authors.

Permission is not required for:

  • Reconstructing your own tables with previously published data (with proper citation).
  • Reasonably short quotes considered fair use.
  • Completely redrawn and significantly altered graphs, charts, schemes, and artworks.

Obtaining Permission

Start obtaining permissions early to avoid delays in publication. Manuscripts containing unpermitted materials cannot be published. Follow the copyright holder’s acknowledgement instructions, or use the style: "Reproduced with permission from [author], [book/journal title]; published by [publisher], [year]."

Publication Misconducts

Publication misconduct includes data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and improper authorship. These are defined as:

  • Fabrication: Creating false information about non-existent data or findings.
  • Falsification: Manipulating research materials, equipment, processes, or data to mislead.
  • Plagiarism: Using others' ideas, research, or results without proper credit.
  • Improper authorship: Including individuals as authors who have not significantly contributed to the research or writing.

Handling Research and Publication Misconducts

Editors, with reviewers' assistance, ensure the accuracy and integrity of published content. Allegations of misconduct are investigated following COPE guidelines. Manuscripts proven to involve misconduct will be rejected or retracted, and sanctions may include banning the authors from future submissions. Allegations will be investigated for validity and potential conflicts of interest from the accuser. Authors will be asked for a detailed response, and further review may be conducted if necessary. In cases of proven misconduct, actions such as corrections, retractions, or bans will be taken to uphold scientific integrity.