Duties and Responsibilities

Publication ethics of Informative Journals is mainly based on the Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (Committee on Publication Ethics, 2011) and Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (Updated April 2025)
Duties and Responsibilities
Author Responsibilities:
The submitted work must be original, free from plagiarism, and not previously published elsewhere. An author’s complete disclosure demonstrates a commitment to transparency and helps to maintain trust in the scientific process. Authors will bear full responsibility for the work they submit and that which is published.
When authors submit a manuscript of any type or format, they are responsible for disclosing all relationships and activities that might bias or be seen to bias their work. The authorship of research publications should accurately represent the contributions of individuals to the work and its reporting
At submission, the journal should require authors to disclose whether they used Artificial Intelligence (AI)–assisted technologies (such as Large Language Models [LLMs], chatbots, or image creators) in the production of submitted work. Authors who use such technology should describe, in both the cover letter and the submitted work in the appropriate section if applicable, how they used it.
Authors should be able to assert that there is no plagiarism in their paper, including in text and images produced by the AI.
The methodologies and procedures used in research should be described with clarity and precision, allowing for the verification of findings by others. Researchers are obligated to present their results transparently and honestly, avoiding any form of false or inappropriate data manipulation. Disclosure of funding sources and any relevant conflicts of interest is necessary.
Authors should provide direct references to original research sources whenever possible. References should be made to published articles rather than to abstracts whenever possible. References should not be used by authors, editors, or peer reviewers to promote self-interests. Authors should avoid citing articles from predatory or pseudo-journals. Authors are responsible for citing references accurately and should be able to attest that the references cited support the associated statement.
Authors are responsible for checking that none of the references cite retracted articles except in the context of referring to the retraction.
Editor Roles and Responsibilities:
It is essential for editors to make decisions that are fair, correct, and unbiased, without any commercial considerations, to facilitate a fair and appropriate peer review process. It is the responsibility of the editor to ensure that reviewers have access to all materials that may be relevant to the evaluation of the manuscript, including supplementary material for e-only publication, and to ensure that reviewer comments are properly assessed and interpreted in the context of their declared relationships and activities.
Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts should recuse themselves from editorial decisions if they have relationships or activities that pose potential conflicts related to articles under consideration.
If authors request removal or addition of an author after manuscript submission or publication, journal editors should seek an explanation and signed statement of agreement for the requested change from all listed authors and from the author to be removed or added. Editors are responsible for maintaining full transparency and accurate reporting. They must protect the integrity of the published record by proposing corrections when required and rejecting any suspected or alleged misconduct in research and publication.
Editors therefore must not share information about manuscripts, including whether they have been received and are under review, their content and status in the review process, criticism by reviewers, and their ultimate fate, to anyone other than the authors and reviewers. The editor of Journal is responsible for editorial content and managing content-related processes. Editors must also make clear that reviewers should keep manuscripts, associated material, and the information they contain strictly confidential.
The editor of a journal is ultimately responsible for the selection of all its content, and editorial decisions may be informed by issues unrelated to the quality of a manuscript, such as suitability for the journal.
Editors are encouraged to share reviewers’ comments with co-reviewers of the same paper, so reviewers can learn from each other in the review process.
Editorial decisions should be based on the relevance of a manuscript to the journal and on the manuscript’s originality, quality, and contribution to evidence about important questions. Editors should defend the confidentiality of authors and peer reviewers (names and reviewer comments) in accordance with ICMJE policy.
Additionally, editors should carefully consider the ethical implications of studies involving human and animal subjects. They must be aware of conflicts of interest during the review process and have effective policies in place to address any editorial conflicts of interest.
Reviewers Responsibilities:
Reviewers therefore should keep manuscripts and the information they contain strictly confidential. Reviewers must not publicly discuss authors’ work and must not appropriate authors’ ideas before the manuscript is published. Reviewers must not retain the manuscript for their personal use and should destroy copies of manuscripts after submitting their reviews. Any detected conflict of interest throughout the review process must be reported to the Editor. Any details that could potentially lead to the rejection of a manuscript's publication must be communicated to the Editor.
Reviewers should be asked at the time they are asked to critique a manuscript if they have relationships or activities that could complicate their review. Reviewers must disclose to editors any relationships or activities that could bias their opinions of the manuscript, and should recuse themselves from reviewing specific manuscripts if the potential for bias exists. Reviewers must not use knowledge of the work they’re reviewing before its publication to further their own interests.
Reviewers are expected to respond promptly to requests to review and to submit reviews within the time agreed. Reviewers’ comments should be constructive, honest, and polite. Reviewers must maintain the confidentiality of the manuscript as outlined above, which may prohibit the uploading of the manuscript to software or other AI technologies where confidentiality cannot be assured. Reviewers must request permission from the journal prior to using AI technology to facilitate their review.
Publisher’s Responsibilities:
It is the publisher’s responsibility to immediately issue corrections or retractions after the detection of a significant error or scientific inaccuracy in a published work.
Permanent preservation of a journal’s total content is the responsibility of the journal publisher, who in the event of journal termination should be certain the journal files are transferred to a responsible third party who can make the content available.
References:
1. Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals Updated April 2025
2. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (2011, March 7). Code of Conduct and Best-Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors. Retrieved from http://publicationethics.org/files/Code_of_conduct_for_journal_editors_Mar11.pdf