Policies

Policies

Publication Ethics

The publication process at Computers and Electronics in Medicine is the basis of the improvement and dissemination of information objectively and respectfully. Therefore, the procedures in this process improves the quality of the studies. Peer-reviewed studies are the ones that support and materialize the scientific method. At this point, it is of utmost importance that all parties included in the publication process (authors, readers and researchers, publisher, reviewers and editors) comply with the standards of ethical considerations. Computers and Electronics in Medicine expects all parties to hold the following ethical responsibilities.

The following ethical duties and responsibilities are written in the light of the guide and policies made by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

  • The authors who submit their manuscripts to Computers and Electronics in Medicine are expected to comply with the following ethical responsibilities:
  • Author(s) must submit original studies to the journal. If they utilize or use other studies, they must make the in-text and end-text references accurately and completely.
  • People who have not contributed to the study at the intellectual level should not be indicated as author.
  • If the manuscripts submitted to be published are subject of conflicting interests or relations, these must be explained.
  • During the review process of their manuscripts, author(s) may be asked to supply raw data. In such a case, author(s) should be ready to submit such data and information to the editorial and scientific boards.
  • Author(s) should document that they have the participants' consent and the necessary permissions related with the sharing and research/analysis of the data that are used.
  • Author(s) bears the responsibility to inform the editor of the journal or publisher if they happen to notice a mistake in their study which is in early release or publication process and to cooperate with the editors during the correction or withdrawal process.
  • Authors cannot submit their studies to multiple journals simultaneously. Each submission can be made only after the previous one is completed. A study published in another journal cannot be submitted to Computers and Electronics in Medicine. Author responsibilities given in a study (e.g.: adding an author, reordering of author names) whose review process has begun cannot be changed.

Ethical Responsibilities of Editors

The editor and field editors of Computers and Electronics in Medicine should hold the following ethical responsibilities that are based on the guides COPE Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors published as open Access by Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

General Duties and Responsibilities

Editors are responsible for each study published in Computers and Electronics in Medicine. In this respect, the editors have the following roles and responsibilities:

  • Making efforts to meet the demand for knowledge from readers and authors
  • Ensuring the continuous development of the journal,
  • Managing the procedures aimed to improve the quality of the studies published in the journal,
  • Supporting freedom of expression,
  • Ensuring academic integrity,
  • Following the procedures without making concessions on intellectual property rights and ethical standards,
  • Being transparent and clear in issues that require correction or explanation.

Relationships with Readers

Editors must make decisions taking into consideration the knowledge, skills and expectations of all readers, researchers and practitioners need. They must also ensure that the published studies contribute to literature and be original. Moreover, they must take notice of the feedback received from researchers and practitioners and provide explanatory and informative feedback.

Relationships with Authors

Editors have the following duties and responsibilities in their relations with authors:

  • Editors must make positive or negative decisions about the studies' importance, originality, validity, clarity in wording and suitability with the journal's aims and objectives.
  • Editors must accept the studies that are within the scope of publication into pre review process unless there are serious problems with the study.
  • Editors must not ignore positive suggestions made by reviewers unless there are serious problems with the study.
  • New editors, unless there are serious issues, must not change the previous editor's decisions about the studies.
  • "Blind Review and Review Process" must be published and editors must prevent possible diversions in the defined processes.
  • Authors should be provided with explanatory and informative feedback.

Relationships with Reviewers

Editors have the following duties and responsibilities in their relations with reviewers:

Editors must

  • Choose reviewers according to the subject of the study.
  • Provide the information and guidance reviewers may need during the review process.
  • Observe whether there are conflicting interests between reviewers and authors.
  • Keep the identities of reviewers confidential in blind review.
  • Encourage the reviewers to review the manuscript in an unbiased, scientific and objective tone.
  • Develop practices and policies that increase the performance of reviewers.
  • Take necessary steps to update the reviewer pool dynamically.
  • Prevent unkind and unscientific reviews.
  • Make effort to ensure the reviewer pool has a wide range.

Relationships with the Editorial Board

Editors must make sure that the members of the editorial board follow the procedures in accordance with the publication policies and guidelines, and must inform the members about the publication policies and developments. Moreover, editors must

  • Ensure that the members of the editorial board review the manuscripts in an unbiased and independent manner.
  • Select the new members of the editorial board from those who can contribute to the journal and are qualified enough.
  • Send manuscripts for review based on the subject of expertise of the editorial board members.
  • Regularly communicate with the editorial board.Arrange regular meetings with the editorial board for the development of publication policies and the journal.

Relationships with the Journal's Owner and Publisher

The relationship between the editors and publisher is based on the principle of the independency of editors. All the decisions made by the editors are independent of the publisher and the owner of the journal as required by the agreement made between editors and publisher.

Editorial and Blind Review Processes

Editors are obliged to comply with the policies of "Blind Review and Review Process" stated in the journal's publication policies. Therefore, the editors ensure that each manuscript is reviewed in an unbiased, fair and timely manner.

Quality Assurance

Editors must make sure that articles in the journal are published in accordance with the publication policies of the journal and international standards.

Protection of Personal Information

Editors are supposed to protect the personal information related with the subjects or visuals in the studies being reviewed, and to reject the study if there is no documentation of the subjects' consent. Furthermore, editors are supposed to protect the personal information of the authors, reviewers and readers.

Encouraging Ethical Rules and Protection of Human, Animal or Hazards Rights

Editors are supposed to protect human and animal rights in the studies being reviewed and must reject the experimental studies which do not have ethical and related committee’s approval about the population given in such studies.

Editors will review the submitted manuscripts on animal well-being issues, and the manuscript is likely to be rejected if the research is deemed to violate accepted standards for employing both animal and human subjects. Additionally, Editors retain the right to get in touch with the approving committee for any additional explanation. All experiments involving animals must adhere to the ARRIVE guidelines.

Please be aware that researchers have a moral responsibility to treat humans and animals with compassion and to take into account their needs when planning projects. This obligation extends to both animal and human subjects. In addition, the author must clearly identify in the paper any exceptional hazards associated with the use of any chemicals, methods, or equipment used in the work.

The author should make sure the paper contains a statement that all procedures were carried out according to with applicable laws and institutional policies and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) have approved them if the work involves the use of human or animal subjects. Informed consent for experiments involving human participants should be given by the authors in their paper. Human subjects' privacy must always be respected. The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki for research involving humans should have been followed, as stated by the author, when using human subjects.

Precautions Against Possible Abuse and Malpractice

Editors are supposed to take precautions against possible abuse and malpractice. They must conduct investigations meticulously and objectively in determining and evaluating complaints about such situations. They must also share the results of the investigation.

Ensuring Academic Integrity

Editors must make sure that the mistakes, inconsistencies or misdirections in studies are corrected quickly.

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Editors are responsible for protecting the intellectual property rights of all the articles published in the journal and the rights of the journal and author(s) in cases where these rights are violated. Also, editors must take the necessary precautions in order to prevent the content of all published articles from violating the intellectual property rights of other publications.

Constructiveness and Openness to Discussion

Editors must

  • Pay attention to the convincing criticism about studies published in the journal and must have a constructive attitude towards such criticism.
  • Grant the right of reply to the author(s) of the criticized study.
  • Not ignore or exclude the study that include negative results.

Complaints

Editors must examine the complaints from authors, reviewers or readers and respond to them in an explanatory and enlightening manner.

Political and Economic Apprehensions

Neither the owner of the journal, publisher or any other political or economical factor can influence the independent decision taking of the editors.

Conflicting Interests

Editors, acknowledging that there may be conflicting interests between reviewers and other editors, guarantee that the publication process of the manuscripts will be completed in an independent and unbiased manner.

Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

The fact that all manuscripts are reviewed through "Blind Review" has a direct influence on the publication quality. This process ensures confidentiality by objective and independent review. The review process at Computers and Electronics in Medicine is carried out on the principle of double blind review. Reviewers do not contact the authors directly, and the reviews and comments are conveyed through the journal management system. In this process, the reviewer views on the evaluation forms and full texts are assigned to the author(s) by the editor. Therefore, the reviewers doing review work for Computers and Electronics in Medicine are supposed to bear the following ethical responsibilities:

Reviewers must

      • Agree to review only in their subject of expertise.
      • Review in an unbiased and confidential manner.
      • Inform the editor of the journal if they think that they encounter conflict of interests and decline to review the manuscript during the review process.
      • Dispose the manuscripts they have reviewed in accordance with the principle of confidentiality after the review process. Reviewers can use the final versions of the manuscripts they have reviewed only after publication.
      • Review the manuscript objectively and only in terms of its content and ensure that nationality, gender, religious and political beliefs, and economic apprehension do not influence the review.
      • Review the manuscript in a constructive and kind tone, avoid making personal comments including hostility, slander and insult.
      • Review the manuscript they have agreed to review on time and in accordance with the ethical rules stated above.

Ethical Responsibilities of Publisher

The Editors and the Editorial Board of Computers and Electronics in Medicine are conscious of the fact that they must observe the ethical responsibilities below and act accordingly:

        • Editors are responsible for all the processes that the manuscripts submitted to Computers and Electronics in Medicine will go through. Within this framework, ignoring the economic or political interests, the decision-makers are the editors.
        • The publisher undertakes to have an independent editorial decision made.
        • The originality of the manuscript submitted is the responsibility of the publisher. Submission, plagiarism, and self-plagiarism must be avoided by writers. Manuscript submission in the CrossCheck server (http:/www.ithenticate.com/) will be checked for plagiarism. iThenticate is a system that tests the originality of the submitted material and helps detect plagiarism. Authors can also use iThenticate to display their own credentials prior to submission.
        • The publisher protects the intellectual property rights of all the articles published in Computers and Electronics in Medicine and holds the responsibility to keep a record of each unpublished article.
        • The publisher bears all the responsibility to take the precautions against scientific abuse, fraud and plagiarism.

Unethical Behaviour

Should you encounter any unethical act or content in Computers and Electronics in Medicine apart from the ethical responsibilities listed above, please notify the journal by e-mail at akifakgul@hitit.edu.tr.