Research Ethics Guidelines

Publication Ethics Guidelines

Research Ethics Guidelines

Manuscripts submitted to LIDSEN journals should follow the guidelines listed below. Editors will check each manuscript. Lack of the following statement or failure to meet the requirements may result in rejection. Even after publication, any concerns associated with ethics are still subjects to further investigation and action.

Research Involving Human Subjects

Research involving human subjects, human material, human tissues or human data should comply with the Declaration of Helsinki. Prior to initializing research, an appropriate approval, licensing or registration must be obtained from an institutional review board or equivalent ethics committee(s).

LIDSEN journals require authors to include a section (Ethics Statement), describing how the ethical principles were considered when the experiment was designed and ensured when conducted. The description should contain, at least:

  • The name of the ethics committee;
  • The approval identification code;
  • The date of approval;
  • The national legislation followed.

Relevant documents showing that research received the appropriate approval and was carried out ethically should be provided if requested by the editors.

Identifying information of participants should not be shared or disclosed unless strictly necessary for the submission. Written consent for the use of that information should be obtained from participants in that case. Where the participants are unable to provide full informed consent themselves, such as in the case of participants who are not adults or who are deceased, the written Informed Consent must be obtained from their legal guardians or relatives. The process of obtaining consent should include sharing the article's contents to be published with the individuals. Authors may use this Consent Form template or use an adapted one but should confirm in writing that it adheres to the same terms outlined in the template. This form should be completed in full, hand-signed, and saved securely, and if requested, authors should share this with the journal Editorial Office. After the authors obtain the written Informed Consent, a statement to confirm its receipt must be included within the manuscript.

In the case of reported studies involving vulnerable populations, authors should be fully aware of and manage the potential risks that may arise and should be prepared to provide any documentary evidence to the journal, if needed, such as written Informed Consent and any relevant discussion documents from the Ethics Committee.

Research Involving Animal Subjects

If there were animals used in an experiment, the authors are required to comply with the internationally-accepted "3Rs" principles and get approval first from the ethics committee in their institutes.

"3Rs" principles are summarized below:

  • Replacement of animals by alternatives wherever possible;
  • Reduction in number of animals used;
  • Refinement of experimental conditions and procedures to minimize the harm to animals.

LIDSEN journals require authors to include a section (Ethics Statement), describing how ethical principles were considered when the experiment was designed and ensured when conducted. The description should contain, at least:

  • The name of the ethics committee;
  • The approval identification code;
  • The date of approval;
  • The national legislation followed.

LIDSEN journals endorse the NC3Rs ARRIVE Guidelines (Animal Research: Reporting of In Vivo Experiments). Authors and reviewers are strongly recommended to use the ARRIVE Guidelines Checklist.

Research Involving Plant Subjects

Experimental research using plants (either cultivated or wild) including collection of plant material, must comply with institutional, national, or international guidelines. LIDSEN journals recommend the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Voucher specimens must be deposited in a public herbarium or other public collection providing access to deposited material. LIDSEN journals ask authors to include a section (Ethics Statement), detailing the populations sampled on the site of collection (GPS coordinates), date of collection, and document the part(s) used in the study where appropriate.

Research Involving Cell Lines

Authors must describe what cell lines were used and their origin so that the research can be reproduced.

For de novo cell lines derived from human tissue, an appropriate approval from an institutional review board or equivalent ethics committee and consent from the donor or next of kin should be obtained.

Clinical Trials Registration

Authors are strongly encouraged to register their clinical trials in suitable publicly available databases, including those listed on the ICMJE website, as well as any of the primary registries that participate in the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform or ClinicalTrials.gov.

Publication Ethics Guidelines

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship confers credit on the author and, in the academic field, it forms the basis for rewards and career advancement. Authorship also implies responsibility for published work. A discussion document from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) discusses Authorship, stating that different disciplines adopt their own criteria for authorship, however, the minimum recognized requirement for authorship is making a significant contribution to the work reported and being accountable for the work undertaken.

A manuscript submitted to a LIDSEN journal in which you are listed as an author means that you fulfill the following four authorship criteria. Authors are also advised to be aware that no other individuals deserving of authorship have been omitted.

  • (1) Made a substantial and significant contribution to the work reported, which may be in the conception, or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; AND
  • (2) Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  • (3) Reviewed and agreed on all versions of the article from submission to final publication; AND
  • (4) Agree to be accountable for the content of the article and share responsibility for the appropriate resolutions of questions related to the accuracy or completeness of the published work.

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) defines the Role of Authors and Contributors, and every article submitted to our medical journals should comply with this guideline.

Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is the one individual who takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer-review, and publication process, or when issues arise regarding the paper after publication. It is also the responsibility of the corresponding author to keep the co-authors informed of the status of the manuscript and to involve them in any revisions and decisions on the article.

Group Authorship

If members of a consortium or group meet the criteria for authorship, they can be designated authorship by a group name. Individuals in a consortium or group will be listed in the article through the addition of a note. All named authors will be accountable for all aspects of the published work, including its accuracy and integrity. If the consortium or group is involved in this work as a collaborator, the consortium/group members will be listed in the Acknowledgments section.

Deceased Author

If a paper is submitted with a deceased author included in the authorship, or if an author passes away while the paper is under peer review, a note will be added to the published article to indicate this. The corresponding author should notify the Editorial Office if such a situation exists, and co-authors have the responsibility to confirm the contributions made by the deceased author and any potential conflicts of interest. If the deceased author was a corresponding author, a co-author should be nominated for this role.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-Assisted Tools for Content Generation

LIDSEN follows the COPE position statement on "Authorship and AI tools" which states that artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT or others based on Large Language Models (LLMs), cannot be listed as an author of a paper.

If such an AI or AI-assisted tool is used by the author to develop any portion of the article, a declaration with sufficient details must be provided through a cover letter upon submission. Furthermore, authors are required to transparently disclose which AI or AI-assisted tool was used and how it was used in the “Materials and Methods” section or the "Acknowledgements" section of the article. Authors are fully responsible for the content of their article, even those parts produced by an AI or AI-assisted tool, and must carefully review the result to ensure its accuracy or integrity.

Authors are also advised to adhere to the following terms when using AI or AI-assisted tools in:

  • The Writing of an Article

Where authors use AI or AI-assisted tools in the writing process, it is essential to be aware that these tools should only be used to improve the readability and language of the work.

  • The Production of Images

The use of AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in an article, including graphic abstracts, is not permitted. Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable provided that such adjustments do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original.

  • The Collection and Analysis of Data

If the use of AI or AI-assisted tools is part of the research design or research methods, such as in AI-assisted imaging approaches to generate or interpret the underlying research data, the AI tool’s product details, including name, version, and manufacturer, and how it was used must be described in a reproducible manner in the “Methods” section.

Changes in Authorship

Changes in authorship, including the addition of authors, the removal of authors, or the reordering of authors, must comply with our authorship criteria. In case of any change of authorship, the corresponding author has the responsibility of obtaining the consent of all authors.

Any request for the change to authorship, after an article has been accepted, may be rejected if clear reasons and evidence of author contribution are not provided. If a change of authorship is necessary after the article has been published, this will be addressed by publishing a correction.

Author Name Changes on Published Articles

Name changes may occur in the course of an author's career for various reasons, including marriage, divorce, and similar, and they may wish to update the published articles to reflect this change.

In cases where an author requests a name change, LIDSEN will update the metadata associated with the article and redeliver it to the indexing service. Please be aware that third-party websites and services may have their own bibliographic policies regarding author name changes, and LIDSEN has no authority to control their updates.

In consideration of the author's privacy, we will neither post a correction notice to the paper nor notify co-authors of the change.

Acknowledgments

Any individual who does not meet the criteria of authorship but has contributed to the article, such as the acquisition of funding; general supervision of a research group or general administrative support; writing assistance; or language editing, should be listed in the “Acknowledgments” section of the article, and their contributions should be specified. Authors have the responsibility to notify those acknowledged individuals and obtain their permission to be acknowledged in the article.

Author Contributions

In order to increase the transparency of author contributions, for articles with multiple authors, a short paragraph on their individual contributions is required. The LIDSEN journals encourage authors to have knowledge of and to follow CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy).

Authorship Disputes

LIDSEN follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in the management of authorship disputes. In the COPE authorship discussion document, COPE clearly states the journals are not in a position to adjudicate authorship disputes.

It is the responsibility of all individuals engaged in this work to determine who should be listed as an author and in which order the authors should be listed. In situations where disputes are raised and cannot be settled between authors, journals will refer them to the institution where the work was performed for an investigation and final adjudication.

Potential Competing Interests

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, in its Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly work in Medical Journals, gives the following guidance: “The potential for conflict of interest and bias exists when professional judgment concerning a primary interest (such as patients' welfare or the validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain).” Competing interests can be financial or non-financial interests in nature. Authors, peer reviewers, and editors should disclose the potential competing interests when fulfilling their roles in the process of article review and publication. Complete disclosure demonstrates a commitment to transparency and helps to maintain trust in the scientific process, and does not necessarily indicate a bias.

Some Examples of Financial Competing Interests

  • Grants from an entity, such as commercial sources of funding by companies that sell drugs or medical devices.
  • Collaborations with advocacy groups relating to the content of the article.
  • Authors that are employed by companies that sell drugs or medical devices, or other organizations which sponsor clinical trials. LIDSEN journals will not publish articles advertising commercial products.
  • Honoraria or personal benefits, such as consulting fees, lecture fees, testimonies, board membership, or travel grants.
  • Stock or share ownership.
  • Patents planned, issued, or pending (the related information, including patent numbers and titles, should be disclosed).
  • Royalties, and Copyright.
  • Products in development or involved in the market.

Some Examples of Non-Financial Competing Interests

  • Receipt of equipment, materials, drugs, gifts, or other services.
  • Personal relationships with family, friends, enemies, competitors, collaborators, colleagues, mentors or mentees, for example, a reviewer may find it difficult to be unbiased when reviewing the work of former colleagues or competitors.
  • Political or religious beliefs.

Authors

When submitting a manuscript, authors should declare all competing interests in detail that relate to or which can be perceived to relate to the article. If there are no competing interests to declare, the authors should also include a statement in the article to confirm that there are no relevant financial or non-financial competing interests to report. Journal editors will take these disclosures fully into account when processing articles. Such disclosures will be published online as part of the article to assist readers in evaluating the article.

A statement of conflicts of interest must be included in the manuscript as a separate section, which should be placed before the reference list. Authors may also disclose potential conflicts of interest in a cover letter or via the manuscript submission system during the submission process.

Sample disclosure statements of competing interests

  • If there are competing interests,

Authors may refer to the following template: “Author A has received research sponsorship from Company A. Author B is the inventor of Patent B (Patent No. xxx, Patent Name xxx). Author C owns stock in Company C. We have fully disclosed all potential competing interests to LIDSEN.”

  • If there are no competing interests,

Authors should state "The authors have declared that no competing interests exist." in this section.

Reviewers and Editors

Reviewers or editors should declare their relationships and activities that might bias their evaluation of a manuscript.

Reviewing or making decisions on a specific manuscript should be avoided if a conflict with the content or authors of a manuscript exists and the journal will seek alternative reviewers or editors.

Reviewers and editors are not permitted to use information obtained from the work they are reviewing to further their own interests, and the entire content of the article, including the abstract, should be kept confidential.

If an editor submits a manuscript to a journal, his or her submission will be processed by another editor who does not have a conflict of interest.

Citation Policies

For scholarly publication, it is essential that appropriate and relevant literature be cited in the article so as to establish the authority and scholarly nature of any claim made in the article.

  • Authors should ensure that references cited are relevant;
  • Authors should avoid excessive and inappropriate self-citation;
  • Authors should not preferentially cite the publications of friends, peers, or institutions;
  • References being cited should not be unfairly biased toward a particular research group, organization, or journal;
  • Where editors and peer reviewers ask authors to add citations to their papers, a strong scholarly rationale for doing so must be provided.

It is recommended to read COPE's discussion document on "Citation Manipulation", which discusses the key issues and existing solutions around unethical citation practices. Authors should also read the Instructions for Authors on the LIDSEN Journal page for information on how to cite references in the main text and compose the reference list.

Copyright and License

Articles Published in LIDSEN Journals

Articles published in LIDSEN journals will be under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License, unless otherwise noted. The copyright is retained by the author(s). Under this license, authors agree to make articles, including data, graphics, and supplements, legally available for reuse, without permission or fees, for virtually any purpose. Any individual or institution is free to copy, distribute, reproduce, or reuse these publications, as long as the author and original source are properly cited.

Copyright Owned by a Third Party

Some articles (especially Reviews) may contain figures, tables, or text taken from other publications that are not in the public domain, or for which the authors do not hold the copyright. In such cases, authors need to inquire with the original copyright holder to seek and obtain permission to reproduce the original material prior to submission. Where minor cosmetic changes are made to the original material, authors still need to seek permission to use it. Where substantial modifications are made to avoid needing permission to reproduce, the original source still needs to be acknowledged.

Fair use (in the US) or fair dealing (in the UK) allows for using limited portions of a work including quotes without the need to seek permission from the rightsholder, provided it is reproduced for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, and scholarly reports. Whether a predetermined percentage or amount of a work that can be used without permission qualifies as “fair use” depends on all the circumstances, so it is best to seek permission to avoid infringement if there is any doubt as to whether the material requires permission. Please be aware that quotations of songs or poems will always require permission.

Authors are advised to read the following guidelines if permission is required to be obtained.

  • Authors should inquire with the original copyright holder (usually the original publisher or authors) to seek permission for re-use;
  • The material that the authors wish to use and how and where the authors intend to use should be clearly identified when contacting the original copyright holder;
  • Costs may be incurred in obtaining permission to reuse the copyrighted material, and it is the author’s responsibility to obtain this permission and pay any related fees;
  • Permission may be requested by completing an electronic form on the publisher's website, by using automated electronic permissions services like Rightslink®, or by sending an email to the copyright holder if the two previously mentioned options are not available;
  • All sources must be credited. If authors have obtained permission, the copyright holder may specify how to cite the source. Alternatively, we recommend title and author at minimum should be credited.

If the article contains copyrighted material that is distributed under a Creative Commons License, authors may not need to obtain permission from the copyright holder, provided that the authors re-use it in accordance with the terms and conditions of its license.

In cases of plagiarism, duplicate publication, or other intellectual property violations, LIDSEN will follow COPE's guidelines, and advice from Legal counsel may be sought if necessary.

Preprints

A preprint is the draft version of a scholarly manuscript posted by the author(s) in an openly accessible preprint server before it has been submitted to a journal for peer review. Please be aware that authors should be cautious about referencing preprints that were posted and never subsequently published in a peer-reviewed journal.

LIDSEN journals allow the submission of preprints. If your submission to a LIDSEN journal has already been presented on a preprint server, please follow the following guidelines:

  • Please notify the journal that the article has been presented to a preprint server and also provide a link to the preprint;
  • Please cite this preprint in your article;
  • As soon as your article is accepted for publication, we will ask you to update the preprint and add the following text to your preprint to inform the readers of the final published version of your article.
    This article has been published in [JOURNAL TITLE] on [date of publication], DOI: https://doi.org/[Article DOI].

We also recommend that authors read the COPE discussion document on "preprints" and the ICMJE preprint guidelines.

Reporting Guidelines

To maximize transparency and reproducibility, authors are encouraged to follow the consensus-based discipline’s guidelines to report their studies. Different study designs have developed different reporting guidelines, examples include:

  • CONSORT for randomized trials
  • STROBE for observational studies
  • STREGA for genetic association studies
  • PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses
  • STARD for studies of diagnostic accuracy
  • CARE for case reports
  • SRQR for qualitative studies
  • ARRIVE for animal studies
  • SAGER for reporting sex and gender information

Further guidelines and standards for medicine and health research are promoted on the EQUATOR network, and for bioscience research are promoted on the Minimum Information Guidelines from Diverse Bioscience Communities (MIBBI).

Designations of Territories

LIDSEN stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations and will respect the authors’ decisions regarding the designations of territories in its published material.

Ethical Guidelines for Authors, Reviewers and Editors

For Authors

  • Research should be designed and conducted in an ethical and responsible manner obeying relevant national legislation and internationally-accepted principles;
  • Research methods should be described clearly, so that the conclusions can be confirmed by reviewers and the audience, and experiments can be repeated by others;
  • Research results should be presented honestly and faithfully; fabrication, falsification or inappropriate manipulation are unacceptable;
  • All authors should significantly contributed to the study and manuscript preparation;
  • individual contribution should be specified accurately and appropriately;
  • All sources of research funding and relevant conflicts of interest should be declared;
  • Papers should be checked by authors carefully at all stages to ensure the contents of each publication are reported accurately.

For Reviewers

We strictly adhere to the criteria specified by COPE, OASPA, WAME and DOAJ for ethical scholarly publishing with maximum transparency. Therefore, we hope that reviewers who take review commitments would also follow the ethical requirements. We recommend reviewers refer to COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers when reviewing manuscripts that are submitted to LIDSEN journals.

Timeliness of Response

Prompt communication between the journal and reviewers is critical to facilitate consistent, fair, and timely review of manuscripts. We would expect reviewer candidates to:

  • Accept or Decline an invitation to peer review based on the title and abstract in a timely manner.
  • Return a review within the proposed time frame. If your circumstances change and you cannot fulfill your original agreement or if you require an extension to submit a review, please notify the journal promptly.
  • If you cannot review, suggest some relevant alternative reviewers if possible.

Potential Competing Interests

It is critical that reviewers provide unbiased review comments. Prior to reviewing, reviewers should declare all competing interests related to the manuscript. Competing interests may be personal, economic, intellectual, professional, political, or religious in nature. If you are unsure of a competing interest that may prevent you from conducting the review, please notify the journal and seek advice.

Confidentiality

Respect the confidentiality of the peer review process and information from the article should not be used or distributed in part or in whole until the article is published. Reviewers should also be careful not to reveal their identity to authors.

Reviewers are required to prepare their own reports, and they are not allowed to impersonate others during the review process. If you want to invite others to participate in the peer review process, you must seek permission in advance from the journal editorial office. The name of any individuals who have contributed to the review should be included in the signature of the review report.

Suspected Ethics Violations

Reviewers should report any suspected misconduct to the editorial office for further investigation. For example, you may notice a large number of similarities between the manuscript you are reviewing and a manuscript submitted to another journal at the same time or a published manuscript. For any ethical concerns, please contact the editorial office directly by email.

For Editors

We strictly adhere to the criteria specified by COPE, OASPA, WAME and DOAJ for an ethical scholarly publishing with maximum transparency. Therefore, at each stage of the editorial process, all editors should follow the ethical requirements:

  • Be accountable and responsible for the content they publish;
  • Protect the confidentiality of authors’ material and remind reviewers to do so as well;
  • Ensure the selected reviewers are appropriate for the submissions;
  • Protect reviewers’ identities unless they wish to disclose their names;
  • Organize a fair peer review and make unbiased decisions independently;
  • Adopt reasonable editorial policies that encourage maximum transparency and complete, honest reporting;
  • Pursue potential authors’ research and publication misconduct as well as reviewers’ and editorial misconduct; take appropriate measures once misconduct is suspected or proved;
  • Avoid potential conflicts of interest;
  • Maintain clear communication with authors and reviewers, and keep them informed of the status of each submission in a timely, honest and unambiguous manner.

We recommend editors to refer to Responsible Research Publication: International Standards for Editors when judging manuscripts and controlling the editorial process.

Scientific Misconduct

Scientific misconduct includes but is not necessarily limited to duplicate submission/publication, plagiarism, data fabrication, breaches in copyright, citation manipulation, and undisclosed competing interests. Regarding any allegations of misconduct pre-publication and post-publication, LIDSEN will take a serious and conscientious approach to take action in accordance with the COPE guidelines.

Duplicate Submission/Publication

Duplicate Submission: Authors submit the same manuscript, in the same or different languages, simultaneously to more than one journal.

Duplicate publication: Publication of a paper that overlaps substantially with one already published, without clear, visible reference to the previous publication.

Duplicate submission/publication is not acceptable for LIDSEN journals. Authors should state upon submission that the manuscript is an original work, has not been published before, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Abstract or poster displayed presented at a scientific meeting, trial results in any registry (in the form of a brief structured abstract or tables), dissertations and theses in university archives, and preprint may be an exception to this rule, but please inform us for evaluation and include a note or citation in the manuscript.

If duplicates are identified after the manuscript is submitted or after it is published, an investigation will take place and action taken in accordance with the COPE flowchart on Redundant (duplicate) publication.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism refers to presenting the work of others as if it was his/her own and without giving credit to the original source. This can include copying data, images, words, or ideas from any materials in electronic or print formats.

LIDSEN uses Crossref Similarity Check powered by iThenticate to screen for unoriginal material. iThenticate is a tool that allows a submitted manuscript to be compared against an extensive database of published content. Where overlap is found, the results of the Similarity Check will be examined by the journal to establish whether it constitutes plagiarism.

If plagiarism is identified after the manuscript is submitted or after it is published, an investigation will take place and action taken in accordance with the COPE flowchart on Plagiarism.

Text Recycling/Self-Plagiarism

Text recycling is where authors reuse portions of their own previously published works, such as text, data, and images, usually without proper citation.

If it is unavoidable for authors to refer to their own previously published work, authors must be transparent by providing appropriate citations and need to ensure that reuse is in line with copyright policy.

LIDSEN will refer to the COPE Text Recycling Guidelines when handling particular cases of text recycling.

Ways to avoid Accidental Plagiarism OR Text Recycling/Self-Plagiarism: (1) Reuse of materials from another source must be clearly marked with quotation marks, and the source of the quotation must be referenced; (2) Obtained permissions from the copyright holder when using previously published figures, tables, or other copyrighted materials.

Data Fabrication and Image Manipulation

It is considered a serious form of misconduct that deliberately takes inappropriate manipulation, adjustment, or fabrication of data for the purpose of misleading readers about scientific interpretations. This damages the integrity of the scholarly record and will have long-term consequences. When study data is collected in the form of images, changes to the images may produce misleading results.

Inappropriate image manipulation includes: (1) Enhance, obscure, move, remove, or introduce any specific feature to an image (2) Grouping of images that should obviously be presented separately (e.g., from different parts of the same sample, or from different samples). Please note that the component parts of composite images should be indicated by dividing lines clearly demarcated in the figure and described in the legend. (3) Adjust brightness, contrast, or color balance to obscure or eliminate certain information present in the original image. (4) Nonlinear adjustments or deleting portions of a recording are not disclosed in a figure legend.

In cases of suspected data fabrication and image manipulation, LIDSEN will deal with them in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Undisclosed Competing Interests

To maintain transparency in scientific research, authors, editors or reviewers are required to declare any relevant competing interests. Editors and reviewers should avoid any form of involvement in submissions in which they have significant competing interests, as this may affect their ability to provide a fair and balanced assessment. Click here to find out more about Competing Interests.

Breaches in Copyright

Misconduct that breaches copyright occurs when material containing copyright is used, but appropriate permissions as instructed by the copyright holders have not been obtained. Click here to find out more about Copyright and License.

Citation Manipulation

Manipulative citation occurs when inappropriate citations are made or recommended for some self-interest. Those may be excessive self-citation of an author’s own work, excessive citation to the journal publishing the citing article, and editors or reviewers forcing authors to cite their own previously published papers without due justification as to why those papers are necessary to cite. Click here to find out more about Citation Policy.

Authorship

Authors are required to be honest about their authorship, those who qualify for authorship must be listed as authors, and each author listed should meet the authorship criteria. However, if an author deliberately does not comply, this will be considered a form of misconduct. Of particular concern are: (1) Ghost Author: Someone who is omitted from an authorship list despite qualifying for authorship; (2) Guest or Gift Author: A guest or gift author is someone who is listed as an author despite not qualifying for authorship. Guests are generally people brought in to make the list look more impressive. Gift authorship often involves mutual professional enhancement.

The journal will follow the COPE flowchart if any authorship issues are identified. Please read our guide to defining authorship.

Updating Published Papers

LIDSEN recognizes the published article as the Final Version of Record, but it may be necessary to make changes to the published version due to some scientifically relevant errors or ethical issues. Minor errors that do not affect the reliability and the reader's understanding of scholarly content do not qualify for updates. The editor will give careful consideration to the necessity for updating published papers and will follow the COPE Guidelines in doing so.

To ensure the integrity and transparency of the scholarly record, any necessary changes will be accompanied by a post-publication notice, such as a correction, an expression of concern, a retraction and in rare circumstances a removal, that will be permanently linked back to the original article. All corrections, expressions of concern, and retraction notices will be published for free.

Corrections

The following errors may be considered necessary to publish a Correction statement, provided that the error does not affect the final conclusion and the scholarly integrity of the published article.

  • Errors that may affect the interpretation of the article, such as mislabeling of a figure, unclear figures/tables/data;
  • Missing information, such as key information on funding or competing interests of the authors.

If a decision has been taken to correct an article, the LIDSEN Journal will:

  • Publish a separate Correction statement and link it to the original online article;
  • Add a note in the original online article to inform that there is a more recent version, and link the original online version to the Correction statement;
  • Issue the Correction statement in the latest issue of the journal;
  • Notify all relevant indexed databases to ensure that the database version is also updated.

Retractions

In case, after the publication, it is recognized that there are significant errors in the article leading to potentially invalid conclusions or that research misconduct or publication misconduct has taken place, LIDSEN will follow COPE's Retraction guidelines to investigate and will issue a Retraction if the specific case meets the criteria for retraction.

Articles may be retracted if:

  • There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable;
  • Misconduct has taken place: Examples include plagiarism, duplicate publication, inappropriate authorship, containing material or data without authorisation for use, etc.;
  • There is evidence that the research is unethical;
  • There is evidence that peer review has been compromised.

If a decision has been taken to retract an article, LIDSEN will:

  • Add "retracted" watermarks to the published article and link this version to the Retraction statement (Please be aware that the article as first published is still retained online in order to maintain the scientific record);
  • Publish a separate Retraction statement and link it to the retracted article;
  • Issue the Retraction statement in the latest issue of the journal;
  • Notify all relevant indexed databases to ensure that the database version is also updated.

Article Removal

To ensure the integrity and transparency of the scientific record, LIDSEN discourages the removal of the Version of Record. Articles may be removed in cases where the problem is very serious in nature and cannot be addressed by a retraction or correction statement. This may be a very limited circumstance, for example, the violation of legal rights, or if following the findings of the article would present a significant risk to public health.

If a decision has been taken to remove an article, LIDSEN will:

  • Retain bibliographic information about the removed article as a scientific record and link this version to the Removal statement;
  • Publish a separate Removal statement and link it to the removed article;
  • Issue the Removal statement in the latest issue of the journal;
  • Notify all relevant indexed databases to ensure that the database version is also updated.

Expressions of Concern

If the investigation of issues related to an article is inconclusive or a judgment cannot be reached within a significant period of time, an Expression of Concern may be published to alert readers to potentially misleading information contained in the article. However, in such cases, there must be well-founded grounds to suggest that the concerns are valid. A Withdrawal or Correction statement may be published after the investigation has been completed.

Comments and Replies

Comment articles involve providing commentary or criticism on previously published works in the journal. If a comment is deemed appropriate, the authors of the original article may be invited to submit a reply in response to the comment. Both Comments and Replies may be subject to peer review to ensure their scientific reasonableness and will be organized in accordance with the following terms.

  • LIDSEN journals only accept the submission of Comments on articles that were published by LIDSEN, and a time limit of six months for post-publication discussions is imposed.
  • No more than one round of Comment and Reply will be facilitated where that discussion is from the same reader(s).
  • All published Comments and Replies are linked to the published article to which they relate.
  • If the reader’s complaints are substantiated, and the authors are not able to adequately respond to the concerns, a Correction of the original paper may be published, or the paper can be retracted entirely.
  • If authors do not provide a response by the deadline provided, or decide not to respond, the Comment may be published alongside a note that explains the absence of the Reply.

Appeals and Complaints

LIDSEN Journals follow the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) in handling cases of appeals and complaints.

Editor's Decision of a Paper

If an author would like to appeal a decision made by the journal's editors, please send a letter of appeal to the journal office, in which the author will need to: (1) provide a detailed explanation of why you disagree with the decision; (2) provide strong evidence and, if necessary, provide new data/information in response to editors' and reviewers' comments. Please be aware that editors will consider one appeal per article and the editor’s decision following an appeal is final.

Published Papers

Where cases are related to a published paper, the corresponding author of the article should be contacted first to attempt a resolution. If it is not appropriate to contact the author, the author does not respond, or the issue is not addressed, you may contact the Editorial Office. It would be useful for the investigation to provide: (1) details of the complaint; (2) details of any correspondence already had with the authors.

The Editorial Office will coordinate with the complainant, author/s and Editors-in-Chief or Editorial Board members for the investigation, remedy or resolution of any concerns or complaints. Other individuals and institutions involved may be consulted if necessary. If the complaint has legal implications, then legal advice will be sought. The final decision will be made by the Editor-in-Chief or a member of the Editorial Board, with the support of the Editorial Office, and final approval will be given by the Editor-in-Chief. All updates are subject to our policy on updating published papers.

Journal Management

If you would like to comment on any aspect of journal management, please contact the journal office.

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