Publication Ethics & Malpractice Statement

Emerging Medical Science (EMS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical conduct in all aspects of the publishing process. We closely follow industry associations such as the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), which set standards for meeting these requirements and provide guidelines for best practices. Authors and editors have ethical responsibility regarding the publication of research results. According to our publication policy, manuscripts that do not conform to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki should not be accepted for publication.

Responsibilities of Authors

The Author(s) are required to prepare and submit their manuscript in accordance with the instructions provided by the journal’s Editorial Office. In addition, the Author(s) must submit a signed statement confirming: The originality of the work (not previously published or under consideration elsewhere), respect for the copyrights of others, disclosure of any conflicts of interest, and permission from relevant authorities to publish the article in the journal. Authors are also expected to actively participate in the peer review process.

The Author(s) are responsible for providing corrections or retractions if significant errors are identified after submission or publication, as well as for ensuring the accuracy of the references cited. They must also disclose any financial or personal relationships that could influence, or be perceived to influence, their work. Authors retain the right to withdraw their manuscript at any stage prior to acceptance, by submitting a formal withdrawal request through the journal’s editorial system.

Authorship Criteria and Contributors

Emerging Medical Science, with regard to authorship criteria and the identification of contributors, follows the standards recommended by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Detailed information on these criteria is available in the COPE Report: https://publicationethics.org/files/2003pdf12_0.pdf

Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

Articles submitted to Emerging Medical Science are evaluated through a double-blind peer review process and published under an open access system. Reviewers conduct their assessments through the electronic submission system, based on a set of questions prepared for each manuscript. In addition, reviewers may provide individual comments intended for the authors, which can be incorporated into the editorial decision-making process.

All judgments and recommendations made during the peer-review process must be objective and impartial. Reviewers must declare that they have no conflicts of interest before undertaking a review. Where appropriate, reviewers are encouraged to identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors.

All manuscripts under review must be treated with the strictest confidentiality and should not be shared, discussed, or used for any purpose prior to publication.

Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

Editors are responsible for deciding which articles are accepted for publication. Editors must act in a balanced, objective, and fair manner while carrying out their duties, without discrimination on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, or the ethnic or geographical origin of the authors.

The Publisher and Editors are always prepared to publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, in cases of proven misconduct, unethical research, or major errors, the journal follows COPE Retraction Guidelines to issue corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern as appropriate. All such notices remain permanently accessible.

In situations where there is a suspicion that an inappropriate research procedure has been described in a submitted work, the editorial office may require the authors-if not already provided-to submit documentation confirming approval of the research procedure by a properly established ethics committee authorized to conduct clinical trials.

Plagiarism Policies

Plagiarism is defined as the use of another person’s words, data, tables, graphics, or ideas without proper attribution, and presenting them as one’s own. Such conduct constitutes a form of academic fraud. Plagiarism may take many forms, ranging from the deliberate attempt to gain academic advantage by copying the work of others, to the unintentional use of material without proper acknowledgment or permission from the rights holder.

The Editorial Office will not accept any paper that involves ghostwriting or guest authorship. All such practices, along with any evidence of scientific dishonesty, breaches of ethical principles, or plagiarism, will be addressed and formally disclosed.

Authors acknowledge that every submitted manuscript may be screened for plagiarism using detection software (e.g., iThenticate plagiarism checker). Manuscripts found to contain plagiarized material will be subject to strict sanctions, including: Immediate rejection of the submission (or retraction if the article has already been published), A ban on future submissions to the journal.

Advertisements Policies

All advertisements must be approved by the journal owner, Publisher, or Editor-in-Chief prior to publication. Advertisements are presented in a section separate from the editorial content. The presence of an advertisement in the journal does not imply a guarantee, endorsement, or validation of the advertised product, service, company, or the claims made therein by the publisher, editors, or journal owner. Advertising will always be clearly distinguished from editorial material.

All advertisements must clearly identify the advertiser by trademark or signature.

The publisher assumes no responsibility for any damages arising from advertisements, including, but not limited to, actual, direct, incidental, or consequential damages.

Human Research and Vulnerable Participants Policies

Authors must adhere to the principles set out in the Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (www.wma.net). All manuscripts must include a clear statement confirming that the study received approval from the appropriate institutional review board (IRB) or ethics committee, and that informed consent was obtained from all human participants. Identifiable information such as patient names, initials, or hospital numbers must not be published.

Special care must be taken when conducting research involving vulnerable populations (e.g., children, elderly persons, or individuals with learning disabilities). Such groups require additional protection, and researchers are expected to address specific ethical concerns arising from work with these participants. In all cases, efforts must be made to obtain freely given, informed consent, either directly from the participants or, where necessary, from their legal representatives.