Eurokd
European KnowledgeDevelopment Institute
Eurokd
European KnowledgeDevelopment Institute
Management Issues in Healthcare SystemManagement Issues in Healthcare System

Publication Ethics

Science is built on trust and honesty, and the value of scientific research is also heavily dependent on integrity. Research is also governed by a set of ethical, legal and professional normative frameworks that should be adhered to. All academic misconduct in the process of publishing scientific papers violates the academic ethics of the journal. The editorial office of Management Issues in Healthcare System (MIHS) is committed to maintaining a high standard of publication quality through rigorous peer review and ethical rules. The editorial office takes any violation of professional ethics and publication ethics very seriously, such as plagiarism, fabrication of data, falsification of authorship, etc., and has zero tolerance for such behavior. MIHS conforms to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core practices (Allegations of misconduct; Authorship and contributorship; Complaints and appeals; Conflicts of interest; Data and reproducibility; Ethical oversight; Intellectual property; Journal management; Peer review processes; Post-publication discussions).

Management Issues in Healthcare System also adheres to Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct of the American Psychological Association (APA).   

1- Journal’s policies on authorship and contributorship

2- How the journal will handle complaints and appeals

3- How the journal will handle allegations of research misconduct

4- Journal’s policies on conflicts of interest

5- Journal’s policies on data sharing and reproducibility

6- Journal’s policy on ethical oversight

7- Journal’s policy on intellectual property

8- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

9- Journal’s options for post-publication discussions

11- Journal’s policies on corrections and retractions

12- Publishing malpractice

13- Systemic Manipulation of the Publication Process

 14- Actions Taken for the Violations of Ethics of Publications 

Journal’s policies on authorship and contributorship

All individuals listed as authors must have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the research and agree to be accountable for the entire content of the work. Authorship should be based on all of the following criteria:

  1. Made a significant contribution to the conception, design, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation of the study;
  2. Drafted the manuscript or critically revised it for important intellectual content;
  3. Approved the final version to be published;
  4. Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals who have contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgments" section. Any changes to authorship (e.g., addition, deletion, or change of order) must be approved in writing by all authors involved (including those being added or removed) and submitted to the editorial office before the manuscript is accepted.

How the journal will handle complaints and appeals

The Journal is committed to handling complaints and appeals against the Journal, its staff, or published articles in a prompt, fair, and constructive manner.

  1. Complaint Process: Authors, readers, or other interested parties may file a complaint with the editorial office via the official email address Editorial@eurokd.com. The complaint should be clear, specific, and supported by relevant evidence.
  2. Handling Mechanism: The editorial office will acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 5 working days and initiate an investigation. The Editor-in-Chief will oversee the investigation and may consult with editorial board members or experts in the relevant field. We will follow COPE flowcharts to guide the process.
  3. Appeal Mechanism: If an author disagrees with an academic decision made by the editorial office (e.g., rejection of a manuscript), they may submit an appeal. The appeal letter should detail the reasons and justification. The Editor-in-Chief will re-examine the decision-making process or invite new reviewers for arbitration. The outcome of the appeal will be final. 

How will the journal handle allegations of research misconduct?

The Journal has a zero-tolerance policy for research misconduct, including but not limited to fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism.

  1. Detection and Prevention: All submitted manuscripts are screened using professional plagiarism detection software iThenticate.
  2. Investigation and Handling: Upon discovery or receipt of an allegation of research misconduct, the Journal will immediately launch a serious investigation following COPE guidelines. If the allegation is proven, the Journal will take appropriate measures, including:
    • Immediate rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published article;
    • Publication of a formal statement in the Journal detailing the nature of the misconduct;
    • Notifying the authors' institution and relevant academic bodies;
    • Imposing a ban on the author(s) from submitting to the Journal for a specified period.

Journal’s policies on conflicts of interest

To ensure transparency, objectivity, and fairness in the publication process, all participants (authors, reviewers, and editors) must declare any potential conflicts of interest that could influence their judgment.

  1. Authors: Must declare all financial and non-financial relationships that could be perceived as potential conflicts of interest, such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, patents, and research grants. If there are no conflicts of interest, this should also be explicitly stated (e.g., "The authors declare no conflicts of interest.").
  2. Reviewers: Should decline to review a manuscript if they have a conflict of interest with the authors or the research content (e.g., recent collaboration, direct competition, personal relationship) and inform the editorial office immediately.
  3. Editors: Editors and editorial board members must not handle manuscripts where they have a conflict of interest and should delegate the manuscript to another editor.

Journal’s policies on data sharing and reproducibility

The Journal encourages and supports the sharing of research data to promote transparency and reproducibility in academic research.

  1. Authors should state the availability of their research data in the article. We strongly recommend that authors deposit the key data supporting their conclusions in a public, trusted repository and provide an access link and description in the paper.
  2. The editorial office reserves the right to request raw data for verification during manuscript review or after publication. Authors are obliged to comply.
  3. For research involving software, code, or specific algorithms, sufficient detail should be provided to allow others to reproduce the results.

Journal’s policy on ethical oversight

 For studies involving human participants (e.g., surveys, interviews, behavioral observations), authors must ensure that the work was conducted in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki). Authors must include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects.

  1. If ethical approval was not required for the study, a justification must be provided.
  2. For studies using datasets containing personally identifiable information, authors must provide a detailed description of the data anonymization or de-identification measures taken to protect personal privacy.
  3. All studies must comply with the laws and regulations concerning data protection and personal privacy in their country and region. Authors are responsible for ensuring that data collection and usage are compliant.

Journal’s policy on intellectual property

  1. Copyright: Submission of a manuscript implies that, if accepted for publication, the copyright will be transferred to the editorial office of "EUROKD" The Journal allows authors to share and use the article for non-commercial purposes under a specific license agreement (e.g., CC BY).
  2. Permissions: Authors must obtain written permission from the copyright holder to use any copyrighted material (e.g., figures, tables, photographs) in their manuscript and must provide clear attribution in the manuscript.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

We are committed to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in our editorial board, reviewer pool, and authorship. We encourage research that addresses organizational behavior across diverse populations and organizational contexts, and we strive to remove biases from the peer review process.

Journal’s options for post-publication discussions

  1. Readers may submit comments or different perspectives on published articles via a "Letter to the Editor."
  2. The editorial office will screen these letters, and those of academic value will be sent to the original author(s) for a response.
  3. The letter and the author's response may be published in a specific section of the Journal after peer review to ensure a transparent academic discussion.

Journal’s policies on corrections and retractions

The Journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy of the academic record. If errors affecting the conclusions or credibility of a study are discovered after publication, the following actions will be taken:

  1. Corrigendum/Erratum: For unintentional errors made by the author(s) or the Journal that do not invalidate the study's conclusions, a correction notice will be published.
  2. Retraction: For articles involving serious academic misconduct (e.g., data fabrication, plagiarism) or where the findings are entirely unreliable, the article will be retracted. The retraction notice will explain the reason for the retraction and be permanently linked to the original article.
  3. Expression of Concern: An expression of concern may be issued if there is inconclusive evidence of misconduct or if an investigation is ongoing, but there are valid concerns about the reliability of the research.

Journal’s policies for ensuring the integrity of the scholarly literature in their journals and outline their policies and procedures for handling such issues when they arise. These issues include plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification/fabrication, among others

The Journal will take all reasonable steps to ensure the integrity and credibility of the scholarly literature it publishes.

  1. We strongly oppose all forms of academic misconduct, including plagiarism, citation manipulation (e.g., coercive or inappropriate citation of the Journal's articles), and data falsification/fabrication.
  2. The editorial office is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the academic record and ensuring the review process is not influenced by commercial interests.
  3. We are committed to working with the academic community, following COPE guidelines, to actively investigate and address all issues that undermine the integrity of the scholarly record, thereby safeguarding the dignity and value of scientific research.

Publishing Malpractice

Management Issues in Healthcare System adheres to best practices to prevent publishing misconduct. We explicitly forbid:

Data Manipulation: Fabricating or falsifying data.

Simultaneous Submission: Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently.

Ghost/Gift Authorship: Excluding contributors who deserve authorship or including individuals who did not contribute.

The editorial board actively monitors for these malpractices. Any detected misconduct will be dealt with according to COPE guidelines and may result in sanctions against the author. 

Systemic Manipulation of the Publication Process

Management Issues in Healthcare System actively monitors for systemic manipulation of the publication process, including paper mills, citation cartels, and peer review rings (e.g., fake reviewer emails). Submissions suspected of being part of such manipulation will be immediately rejected, and the relevant institutions and publishers will be notified. EUROKD is processing to join the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). “COPE provides leadership in thinking on publication ethics and practical resources to educate and support members, and offers a professional voice in current debates”. MIHS takes seriously the responsibilities of enforcing peer-review so that the strict standards that have been set are followed to ensure the high quality of their journals. MIHS has a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism, inappropriate author credit, falsification of data and other unethical behaviors that may occur in the writing of a journal article. COPE has many useful tools for journal editors to use to help an editor deal with the type of situations that are listed above. Please see some of the tools that COPE offers:

COPE Core Practices: https://publicationethics.org/core-practices

COPE Code of Conduct: https://publicationethics.org/files/Code%20of%20Conduct.pdf

COPE Flowcharts: https://publicationethics.org/guidance/Flowcharts

COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers: https://publicationethics.org/files/Ethical_Guidelines_For_Peer_Reviewers_2.pdf

COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors: http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf

 

Actions Taken for the Violations of Ethics of Publications 

The following actions must be taken according to rules set by the Committee on Ethics of Publications, and in accordance with the specifics of the identified violations, if: