Publication Ethics Policy

Introduction

Wisdomgale Journals is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, scientific integrity, transparency, and responsible research communication. This policy applies to authors, editors, reviewers, and all participants in the publication process.

International Standards and Guidelines

Wisdomgale Journals follows internationally recognized publication ethics and research integrity standards, including:

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (https://publicationethics.org/ )
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (https://www.icmje.org/)
World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (Declaration of Helsinki)
EQUATOR Network (EQUATOR Network)
CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT)

Authors' Responsibilities

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their research has been conducted ethically, accurately, and transparently. Authors must ensure that:

The manuscript represents original research.
All data are accurate and reliable.
Appropriate ethical approval has been obtained.
All contributors are properly acknowledged.
Conflicts of interest are disclosed.

Authorship Policy

Wisdomgale Journals follows the authorship recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). (ICMJE Recommendations)

Authors should meet all authorship criteria including:

Substantial contribution to the work.
Drafting or critically revising the manuscript.
Approval of the final version.
Accountability for the integrity of the work.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Wisdomgale Journals requires transparency regarding any relationship, activity, or circumstance that may influence the interpretation of research findings.

Potential conflicts of interest may include:

Financial relationships.
Employment relationships.
Consultancy agreements.
Research funding.
Personal relationships.
Academic competition.

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose relevant conflicts of interest before participating in the publication process.

The existence of a conflict does not necessarily prevent publication; however, undisclosed conflicts may compromise the credibility of the scientific record.

Funding Disclosure

Authors must disclose all financial support received for the research presented in their manuscript.

Funding information should include:

Name of funding organization.
Grant number, when applicable.
Role of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation.

Authors should clearly state whether the funder had any influence on the research process or publication decision.

Example:

This research was supported by [Funding Organization]. The funder had no role in study design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or manuscript preparation.

Data Sharing and Materials Availability

Wisdomgale Journals supports responsible sharing of research data to improve transparency, reproducibility, and scientific progress.

Authors should provide a data availability statement describing:

Whether research data are available.
Where the data can be accessed.
Any restrictions on data sharing.
Ethical or legal limitations related to data access.
Availability of research materials, protocols, or analytical tools when applicable.

Data sharing must protect participant privacy and comply with applicable ethical and regulatory requirements.

Editorial Responsibilities

Editors of Wisdomgale Journals are responsible for maintaining the scientific quality, integrity, and transparency of the publication process. Editorial decisions are based solely on academic merit, originality, scientific importance, and relevance to the journal scope.

Editors must:

Ensure fair and unbiased evaluation of submitted manuscripts.
Maintain confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and reviewer reports.
Select reviewers with appropriate expertise.
Avoid handling manuscripts where conflicts of interest exist.
Investigate ethical concerns related to submitted or published articles.
Follow internationally recognized publication ethics standards, including COPE recommendations.
Ensure that corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern are published when necessary.

Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers play an essential role in maintaining the scientific quality and integrity of Wisdomgale Journals. Peer review should be conducted objectively, confidentially, and within the reviewer’s area of expertise.

Reviewers must:

Treat manuscripts as confidential documents.
Provide objective and constructive comments.
Identify methodological weaknesses and ethical concerns.
Disclose any potential conflict of interest.
Not use unpublished information for personal advantage.
Notify editors of suspected plagiarism, duplicate publication, or research misconduct.

Peer Review Manipulation

Wisdomgale Journals does not tolerate fraudulent peer review practices.

Wisdomgale Journals employs safeguards to protect the integrity of the peer review process. Any attempt to manipulate peer review, including falsified reviewer identities, fabricated reviewer reports, or inappropriate influence on editorial decisions, will be considered a serious violation of publication ethics.

Fake reviewer identities.
Reviewer recommendation abuse.
Manipulated peer review processes.

Research Misconduct and Integrity

Wisdomgale Journals is committed to protecting the integrity of the scientific record and does not tolerate research misconduct or unethical publication practices.

Research misconduct includes any action that compromises the accuracy, reliability, or transparency of scientific research.

Examples of research misconduct include:

Fabrication of research data.
Falsification or manipulation of research results.
Plagiarism.
Duplicate or redundant publication.
Improper authorship practices.
Manipulation of images or figures.
Citation manipulation.
Use of fraudulent peer review practices.

Wisdomgale Journals follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). (COPE Guidelines )

Plagiarism Policy

Wisdomgale Journals considers plagiarism a serious violation of academic and publishing ethics.

Plagiarism is the presentation of another person's ideas, words, data, images, or scientific contributions as one's own without appropriate acknowledgment.

Examples of plagiarism include:

Copying text without citation.
Using unpublished material without permission.
Presenting another researcher's ideas as original work.
Using previously published figures or tables without proper attribution.

All submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism detection software.

Similarity reports are evaluated by editors using academic judgment. A high similarity percentage alone does not automatically indicate plagiarism; however, unexplained overlap may require investigation.

Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors must not submit or publish the same research findings in more than one journal.

Duplicate publication includes:

Submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals simultaneously.
Publication of substantially identical articles.
Republishing previously published findings without appropriate disclosure.
Dividing one research project into multiple unnecessary publications ("salami publication").

Authors must disclose any related manuscripts or previous publications that may overlap with the submitted work.

Data Fabrication and Falsification

Data Fabrication

Data fabrication refers to creating research data or results that were not actually obtained.

Data Falsification

Data falsification refers to manipulating research materials, procedures, or results so that the research findings are inaccurately represented.

Examples include:

Changing experimental results.
Removing unfavorable data without scientific justification.
Manipulating statistical analyses.
Misrepresenting research findings.

Manuscripts involving fabricated or falsified data will not be considered for publication. If such issues are discovered after publication, appropriate corrective action, including retraction, may be taken.

Image Manipulation Policy

Scientific images must accurately represent the original research data.

Authors must not:

Add, remove, or alter scientific image elements.
Manipulate images to change interpretation.
Duplicate image sections.
Hide relevant information.

Minor adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance may be allowed only when they do not alter the scientific meaning of the image.

Editors may request original image files or supporting documentation during the review process.

Citation Manipulation

References should be selected based on scientific relevance and contribution to the research.

Citation manipulation includes:

Adding unnecessary citations to increase citation counts.
Coordinated citation practices between authors or journals.
Requesting irrelevant citations during peer review.

Editors and reviewers must not pressure authors to include citations that are unrelated to the scientific content of the manuscript.

Paper Mills and Fraudulent Research

Wisdomgale Journals recognizes paper mills as a serious threat to scientific integrity.

Paper mill activities may include:

Fabricated manuscripts.
Fake authorship.
Fabricated datasets.
Manipulated images.
Fake reviewer identities.
Artificial peer review processes.

The journal may use editorial screening procedures to identify suspicious submissions.

Manuscripts suspected of fraudulent origin may be rejected or investigated according to COPE recommendations.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Wisdomgale Journals recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) tools may support researchers during certain stages of manuscript preparation. However, authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and scientific validity of their submitted manuscripts.

The use of AI-generated content without appropriate disclosure may be considered a violation of publication ethics.

Authors should not upload confidential manuscript information, unpublished data, or patient-related information into publicly available AI tools.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or contributors because they cannot take responsibility for the content of a scientific publication.

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted content complies with copyright, confidentiality, and ethical requirements.

Authors must disclose the use of AI tools when they have been used for:

Generation of manuscript text.
Translation or language improvement.
Data analysis.
Image creation or modification.
Literature searching or summarization.

Authors must carefully verify all AI-assisted content, including:

Scientific accuracy.
References and citations.
Potential bias.
Compliance with ethical standards.

Corrections and Amendments

Wisdomgale Journals is committed to maintaining an accurate and reliable scientific record.

When errors are identified after publication, appropriate corrective action will be taken.

Corrections may include:

Author corrections.
Publisher corrections.
Minor amendments.

Published corrections will clearly identify:

The original article.
The nature of the correction.
The date of correction.

Retraction Policy

Retraction is used to correct the scientific record when published research contains serious ethical or scientific problems.

Articles may be retracted due to:

Fabricated or falsified data.
Major methodological errors.
Plagiarism.
Duplicate publication.
Unethical research practices.
Manipulated images.

Wisdomgale Journals follows the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) regarding retractions. (COPE Retraction Guidelines)

Retracted articles remain permanently available with a clear retraction notice explaining the reason for retraction.

Expressions of Concern

An Expression of Concern may be issued when serious questions exist about a published article but the available evidence is insufficient for immediate correction or retraction.

Expressions of Concern allow transparency while investigations are ongoing.

Appeals and Complaints

Wisdomgale Journals provides a transparent mechanism for authors and readers to raise concerns regarding editorial decisions or ethical issues.

Appeals should include:

Manuscript identification information.
Detailed explanation of the concern.
Supporting evidence where available.

Complaints regarding:

Plagiarism.
Authorship disputes.
Research misconduct.
Editorial misconduct.
Reviewer misconduct.

will be investigated confidentially according to appropriate ethical standards.

Research Involving Human Participants

Wisdomgale Journals requires that all research involving human participants is conducted according to internationally accepted ethical principles, including the ethical standards described in the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki. (Declaration of Helsinki )

Authors must ensure that research participants' rights, dignity, safety, and welfare are protected throughout the research process.

Manuscripts involving human participants will not be considered unless appropriate ethical oversight, informed consent procedures, and participant protection measures are clearly described. Studies must comply with applicable national and international regulations regarding research ethics and participant protection.

Manuscripts reporting studies involving human participants must include an Ethics Statement describing:

The name of the ethics committee or institutional review board.
Approval number or reference number.
Date of ethical approval, when applicable.
Confirmation that the study complied with relevant ethical standards.

Ethics Committee Approval

Research involving human participants must receive approval from an appropriate ethics committee, institutional review board (IRB), or equivalent regulatory authority before the research begins.

Authors must provide ethical approval information within the manuscript. For example:

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of [Institution Name] (Approval No: XXXX, Date: XXXX). The study was conducted according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

If ethical approval was not required, authors must provide a clear explanation in the manuscript. Wisdomgale Journals reserves the right to request documentation of ethical approval during editorial evaluation or after publication.

Patient Privacy and Confidentiality

Wisdomgale Journals respects the privacy rights of all research participants. Authors must remove personally identifiable information unless disclosure is scientifically necessary and appropriate consent has been obtained.

Authors should avoid including:

Names.
Initials.
Hospital record numbers.
Patient identification numbers.
Unnecessary demographic details.

Clinical images and photographs must be anonymized unless explicit permission for publication has been obtained.

Research Involving Vulnerable Populations

Wisdomgale Journals recognizes that some populations require additional ethical protections because they may have limited ability to provide voluntary informed consent or may be at increased risk of harm.

Vulnerable populations include, but are not limited to:

Children and adolescents.
Pregnant women or pregnant individuals, where applicable.
Prisoners.
Individuals with cognitive impairment.
Individuals unable to provide informed consent.
Socially or economically disadvantaged groups.
Refugees and displaced populations.

Research involving vulnerable populations must demonstrate that:

The research addresses an important scientific question.
The research cannot reasonably be conducted using non-vulnerable groups.
Additional safeguards are implemented.
Risks are minimized.

Research Involving Children and Adolescents

Studies involving children and adolescents require special ethical consideration because minors may have limited capacity to provide informed consent.

Authors must ensure that:

Ethics committee approval has been obtained.
Parent or legal guardian consent has been obtained when required.
Child assent has been obtained whenever appropriate.
The rights, safety, and welfare of children are protected.

The manuscript should clearly describe:

The age range of participants.
Consent procedures.
Assent procedures.
Ethical approval information.

Research involving children must comply with applicable national regulations and internationally accepted ethical standards.

Animal Research Ethics

Wisdomgale Journals requires that all studies involving animals are conducted according to internationally accepted ethical standards for animal welfare and responsible research.

Authors must ensure that:

Animals are treated humanely and with respect.
Unnecessary pain, suffering, or distress is avoided.
The number of animals used is scientifically justified.
Appropriate anesthesia, analgesia, and humane endpoints are applied when required.

Studies involving animals must receive approval from an appropriate institutional ethics committee, such as an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent authority.

The manuscript must include:

Name of the approving ethics committee.
Approval number or reference number.
Date of approval, when applicable.
Animal welfare guidelines followed.

Authors are encouraged to follow the ARRIVE Guidelines (ARRIVE Guidelines ) when reporting animal research.

Clinical Trial Registration

Wisdomgale Journals requires prospective clinical trials to be registered in a publicly accessible clinical trial registry before enrollment of the first participant.

Clinical trial registration improves transparency, reduces selective reporting, and supports responsible research communication.

Authors should provide:

Trial registration number.
Name of the registry.
Date of registration.

Examples of acceptable registries include:

ClinicalTrials.gov (ClinicalTrials.gov )
WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) (WHO ICTRP)
EU Clinical Trials Register (EU Clinical Trials Register )

Manuscripts reporting clinical trials must include registration details within the manuscript.

Example:

Clinical Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCTXXXXXXXX

Research Reporting Guidelines

Wisdomgale Journals encourages authors to follow internationally recognized reporting guidelines to improve transparency, completeness, and reproducibility of published research.

Authors should use the appropriate reporting guideline according to study design.

Randomized Controlled Trials

Authors reporting randomized controlled trials should follow the CONSORT Statement. (CONSORT )

Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should follow PRISMA recommendations. (PRISMA )

Observational Studies

Observational studies should follow the STROBE Statement. (STROBE )

Case Reports

Case reports should follow CARE Guidelines. (CARE Guidelines )

Diagnostic Accuracy Studies

Diagnostic accuracy studies should follow STARD recommendations. (STARD )

Animal Studies

Animal studies should follow ARRIVE Guidelines. (ARRIVE )

Authors may be requested to submit reporting checklists and flow diagrams during manuscript submission.

Author Identification and ORCID

Wisdomgale Journals encourages all authors to provide an ORCID iD to ensure accurate author identification, improve transparency, and reduce ambiguity in scholarly communication.

ORCID identifiers may be used during manuscript submission, peer review, and publication processes.

Preprints

Authors may disclose whether the submitted manuscript has previously appeared as a preprint.

Preprint availability does not prevent consideration for publication.

Authors should provide the DOI or permanent identifier of the preprint when applicable.

Sex and Gender Reporting Policy

Wisdomgale Journals encourages authors to consider sex and gender dimensions in research design, data analysis, interpretation, and reporting when scientifically relevant.

Authors should report the sex and gender characteristics of study participants clearly and explain their relevance to the research findings.

The journal encourages compliance with the recommendations of the Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER) guidelines.

Data Protection and GDPR Compliance

Wisdomgale Journals is committed to protecting personal data collected during the research and publication process.

Personal information related to authors, reviewers, and research participants will be handled according to applicable data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable.

The journal takes appropriate measures to ensure confidentiality, security, and responsible processing of personal information.

Contact

For questions regarding publication ethics, research integrity, authorship disputes, or ethical concerns, please contact:

Editorial Office
Email: info@wisdomgale.com