Ethics of scientific publications

I. Introduction

The journal “Bulletin of the Dagestan State Medical Academy” publishes articles of scientific and practical content, reviews, lectures, clinical observations, informational materials, reviews, discussions, letters to the editor, short communications, information about the university’s scientific life, and congratulations to those celebrating anniversaries. The publisher of the journal “Bulletin of the Dagestan State Medical Academy” maintains a neutral position on all issues published in the journal.
The publishing house of the journal “Bulletin of the Dagestan State Medical Academy” strives to comply with the standards of ethical behavior at all stages of the publication process, carefully following the principles of publication in scientific journals, corresponding to the provisions of authoritative associations, such as the Committee on Publication Ethics(COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/), World Association of Medical Editors(WAME) (http://www.wame.org/), Council of Science Editors (CSE), International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (http://www.icmje.org/), European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) (https://www.emwa.org/), The European Association of Science Editors (EASE) (http://www.ease.org.uk/), Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT), Guidelines for what a Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement should adhere to (PEMS), Association of Science Editors and Publishers (ANRI) (http://rasep.ru/)
The journal’s editors and publisher adhere to the CSE Scientific Editors’ Guidelines CSE (https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/DocCSE.html) and the “Editorial Policy Statements” (https://www.isgesociety.com/publications/editorial-policy-statement/), which cover the responsibilities and rights of editors of peer-reviewed journals.
The publisher not only invests in the journal’s work but also assumes oversight of the scientific materials and is responsible for ensuring compliance with all current recommendations in published works.
The author of the publication, the journal editor, the reviewer, the scientific editors, and the publisher, who owns the journal, are obligated to adhere to ethical standards at all stages of the publication process, from article submission to its publication in the journal.

II. Editor’s Responsibilities

The editor of the journal “Bulletin of the Dagestan State Medical Academy” is responsible for making publication decisions. The validity of the work under consideration and its scientific significance should always form the basis for publication decisions.
The editor must evaluate the content of manuscripts objectively and fairly, without discrimination based on the authors’ gender, sexual orientation, religious or political beliefs, ethnicity, or geographic origin.
All submitted articles must be objectively evaluated by the editor for their scientific significance, without any commercial influence.
The Editor and Editorial Board of the journal “Bulletin of the Dagestan State Medical Academy” are obligated to refrain from disclosing information about an accepted manuscript to anyone other than the Authors, Reviewers, Scientific Advisors, and the Publisher unless necessary.
Unpublished data obtained from submitted manuscripts must not be used in personal research without the written consent of the Author. Information or ideas obtained during peer review and associated with potential benefits must be kept confidential and not used for personal gain.
Reviewers, Scientific Advisors, and the Editor must recuse themselves from considering manuscripts if they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships with the Authors, companies, and possibly other organizations associated with the manuscript. 7. An editor who has provided compelling evidence that the statements or conclusions presented in a publication are erroneous should notify the publisher so that corrections, retractions, expressions of concern, and other appropriate statements can be promptly notified.
The editor, in conjunction with the publisher, will take appropriate measures to address ethical complaints concerning reviewed manuscripts or published materials. Such measures generally include communication with the authors of the manuscript and the rationale for the relevant complaint or request, but may also involve communication with relevant organizations and research centers.
The editor should handle all complaints and controversies in accordance with the policies of the learned society. The author must be given the opportunity to respond to any complaints and substantiate any existing controversies. All complaints must be considered regardless of when publication was approved. All documentation related to the complaints must be retained.

III. Responsibilities of the Reviewer

Peer review assists the Editor in making publication decisions and, through appropriate communication with the Author, may also assist the Author in improving the paper.
To contribute to the decision-making process regarding the appropriateness of a paper for publication and to assist in improving the quality of the paper, reviewers must act objectively and in a timely manner. Personal criticism of the Author is inappropriate. Reviewers should express their opinions clearly and with reasonable arguments.
Any selected reviewer who feels unqualified to review a manuscript or who lacks sufficient time to review it promptly should notify the Editor of the journal “Bulletin of DSMA” and request to be excused from reviewing the manuscript.
Any manuscript received for review must be treated as a confidential document. This work must not be disclosed to or discussed with anyone except those authorized by the Editor.
Unpublished materials disclosed in submitted manuscripts must not be used in a reviewer’s own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. A reviewer should not retain a copy of the article.
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited in the manuscript. Any previously published statement (observation, conclusion, or argument) should be accompanied by the appropriate citation. A reviewer should also call to the editor’s attention any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published work of which they have personal knowledge.
The editor should be alerted to material previously published in this or another journal, if any. 8. The reviewer is obligated to notify the editor and, if necessary, assign the article to another reviewer if there is a potential conflict of interest (financial, organizational, or other relationship between the reviewer and the author).
The reviewer is guided by the Singapore Research Integrity Guidelines. (https://www.wcrif.org/guidance/singapore-statement)

IV. Author Responsibilities

Authors of papers reporting original research must provide accurate and complete information about the research described in the paper, as well as an objective discussion of the significance of the research. The underlying data must be presented accurately. The paper must contain sufficient detail and references to permit reproduction. False or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.
Authors may be requested to provide raw data related to the manuscript for review by the Editors. Authors should be prepared to provide public access to such information (in accordance with the ALPSP-STM Statement on Data and Databases), if feasible, and in any event be prepared to retain these data for a reasonable period after publication.
Authors may not submit a single paper to more than one journal for publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable. Acknowledgment of the contributions of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that are relevant to the completion of the reported work. Information obtained privately, such as through conversation, correspondence, or discussions with third parties, must not be used or presented without explicit written permission from the source. Information obtained from confidential sources, such as manuscript evaluation or grant applications, must not be used without explicit written permission from the Authors of the work involving confidential sources.
If previously published information is used in an article, the author must acknowledge the source and author of the cited information. Furthermore, the author must provide the editor with a copy of the cited article.
Authors must confirm that their article is original and cite the sources of the cited information, if any, to obtain permission to cite the work of others.
Plagiarism can take many forms, from presenting another author’s work as their own to copying or paraphrasing substantial portions of another’s work (without attribution) to claiming the results of another author’s research. Plagiarism in all forms constitutes unethical conduct and is unacceptable.
Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All significant contributors should be listed as co-authors. Where study participants have made a specific substantive contribution to the research project, they should be listed as significant contributors.
The author is responsible for complying with national and local laws when conducting research involving human and animal subjects (e.g., the WMA Declaration of Helsinki; NIH Policy on Animal Research; EU Animal Research Directive) (https://policymanual.nih.gov/3040-2). The author must obtain permission to publish from the individual(s) who participated in the study and maintain confidentiality.
Authors must declare any potential conflicts of interest (e.g., competing interests that they believe may directly or indirectly influence the publication process). Authors are required to disclose in their manuscripts any financial or other substantive conflicts of interest that might be perceived to influence the results or conclusions presented in the work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest that must be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, providing expert testimony, patent applications or patent registrations, grants, and other funding. Potential conflicts of interest must be disclosed as early as possible.
Upon identification of a significant error in a publication, the author is obligated to promptly notify the editor. Authors are obligated to cooperate with the editor and publisher throughout the publication process, adding, deleting, and revising the article as necessary. If the Editor or Publisher receives information from a third party that a publication contains significant errors, the Author is obligated to retract the work or correct the errors as soon as possible.
The Author assumes full responsibility for any possible plagiarism of text, figures, etc. Any copyright infringement will be reviewed according to the COPE algorithm (https://publicationethics.org/files/u7140/plagiarism%20A.pdf).

V. PROCEDURE FOR CONSIDERING DEVIATIONS FROM ESTABLISHED ETHICAL STANDARDS

Identification of Deviations from Ethical Standards

Inappropriate or unethical conduct may be identified and reported to the editor-in-chief and publisher at any stage of the publication process.
Anyone reporting deviations from ethical standards to the editor or publisher must provide sufficient information and evidence. All allegations and requests will be accepted, reviewed, and processed.

Investigation

The decision to conduct an investigation rests with the editor, who may seek assistance from the publisher if necessary.
Evidence must be gathered while avoiding any accusations.

Degree of Deviation from Ethical Standards

Minor Deviations from Ethical Standards. Reviews of minor deviations do not require extensive consultation, and in any case, the author must be given the opportunity to respond to any allegations.
Serious Deviations from Ethical Standards. In cases of serious deviations, the accused’s employer must be notified. The editor, in consultation with the publisher or scientific society, will decide whether to involve the employer, or an investigation will be conducted by reviewing the available data and consulting with a limited number of experts.

Consequences (in ascending order of deviation; may be applied alone or in combination):

Notification of deviations to the author or reviewer.
Formal letter to the author or reviewer notifying them of the deviations to prevent future deviations from ethical standards.
Publication of a formal warning detailing the deviations.
Publication of the article detailing the deviations.
Formal letter to the author’s supervisor, reviewer, and funding department.
Formal refusal of publication, as well as formal notification to the author’s supervisor, the reviewing department, the indexing and abstracting agency, and the readers of the publication.
Suspension of publication by the author for a specified period.
Transfer of investigation results to higher organizations for making further decisions on these deviations.

VI. ARTICLE RETRACTION

Retraction of an already published article is an extreme measure and is applied when facts are discovered that were not known during the peer review process:

violations of the law or defamation;
discovery of false or inaccurate data, especially those whose use may pose a health risk.
submission or publication of the same manuscript simultaneously in more than one journal.

Article Retraction Mechanism

Authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers may initiate the retraction of an article by submitting a written request to the journal’s editorial board.
The journal’s Conflict Resolution Committee reviews the request.
The decision to retract a published article is made by the journal’s Conflict Resolution Committee if there are sufficient facts in favor of retraction.
The Conflict Resolution Committee notifies the initiator of the retraction of the article in writing of the results of its review of the request. 5. If the committee decides to retract an article, the journal publishes a statement confirming the article’s retraction, along with the article’s metadata.
If the journal’s articles indexed by any databases, a letter is sent to these databases stating the article’s retraction, along with the reasons for the retraction.

VII. Borrowing and plagiarism

Upon receipt of an article, the journal’s editorial board checks the material using the Antiplagiat system (Антиплагиат). If multiple instances of plagiarism detected, the editors act in accordance with COPE guidelines (https://publicationethics.org/files/u7140/plagiarism%20A.pdf). Papers with less than 70% originality will not be accepted for publication.

VIII. Publisher’s Responsibilities

The publisher of the journal “Bulletin of the Dagestan State Medical Academy” – Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Dagestan State Medical University” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation—adheres to principles and procedures that facilitate the fulfillment of ethical responsibilities by the journal’s editors, reviewers, and authors in accordance with these requirements.
The publisher must support the editor of the journal “Bulletin of the Dagestan State Medical Academy” in reviewing complaints regarding the ethical aspects of published materials and facilitate interactions with other journals and/or publishers if this facilitates the fulfillment of the editor’s responsibilities.
The publisher must promote good research practice and implement industry standards to improve ethical guidelines, retraction procedures, and error correction.
The publisher must provide appropriate specialized legal support (opinion or consultation) when necessary.