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Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Journal of Hypertension Research adheres to the ethics and malpractice principles stated in the Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors (Committee on Publication Ethics, 2011). More details can be found here: Committee on Publication Ethics.

Duties and Responsibilities of Editors

Publication decision

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for establishing which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal are published. After undergoing initial peer-review by reviewers that are experts in the field, the Editor-in-Chief may further confer with other editors and reviewers before making a decision. The decision is based on the paper’s relevance, clarity and suitability for the journal's scope while also taking into account current legal requirements regarding copyright infringement and plagiarism.

Fair play

Manuscripts are evaluated based on their content and academic merit, without regard to the gender, race, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, sexual orientation or political philosophy of the authors.

Confidentiality

The editor and any editorial staff will not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers and the publisher. Editors make sure that submitted articles remain confidential while under review.

Disclosure and Conflicts of interest

The editor and editorial board members will not use unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted paper for their own research unless they obtain explicit, written consent from the authors. Editors will not consider manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest that result from collaborative, competitive or other type of relationships with any of the authors or institutions connected to the paper. Editors will ask instead another member of the editorial staff to handle the manuscript.  

Involvement and cooperation in investigations

Acts of unethical publishing behavior can be brought to the attention of the editor and/or publisher by anyone and at any time. Such concerns will be taken seriously and all allegations will be thoroughly looked into. An investigation will be initiated provided that there is sufficient evidence and, should the ethical concern be found legitimate, either a retraction will be issued or a correction along with a formal notice detailing the misconduct will be published in the journal.

Duties and Responsibilities of Reviewers

Contribution to Editorial Decision

The peer-reviewing process assists the editors in making editorial decisions and may also serve the author in improving the manuscript. Authors are encouraged to do a fair share of reviewing in order to contribute to the scientific process.

Promptness

Selected reviewers who feel unqualified to consider the manuscript or believe that a prompt review is impossible should inform the editor and excuse themselves from the review process.

Confidentiality

All manuscripts received for review are confidential documents and must be treated accordingly. They must not be disclosed to or discussed with others except if authorized by the editor. This also applies to invited reviewers who decline the invitation.

Standards of Objectivity

Reviews should be conducted objectively and observations formulated clearly so that authors can use them to improve the manuscript. Personal criticism of the author is inappropriate.

Acknowledgement of Source

Cases in which relevant published work referred to in the paper has not been cited should be identified by reviewers. Statements that various observations or arguments have previously been reported should be accompanied by the relevant citations. Any substantial similarity or overlap between the paper under review and any other published manuscript should also be brought to the editor’s attention.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Unpublished materials obtained through peer-review must be kept confidential and not used in a reviewer’s own research unless they have the written consent of the authors. Referees who determine that they have conflicts of interest with any of the authors or institutions connected to the manuscript must notify the editors and decline the invitation to review.

Duties and Responsibilities of Authors

Reporting standards

Authors of original research should accurately describe the work performed along with its significance. The paper should also include sufficient detail and references so that others can replicate the work. Review articles should also be accurate and comprehensive, while editorial ‘opinion’ pieces should be clearly stated as such. Fraudulent and knowingly erroneous statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be required to make the raw data of their study publicly available. Moreover, authors should ensure accessibility of such data to other competent professionals for a reasonable amount of time after publication as long as the confidentiality of the participants can be protected.

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors will submit papers that contain original work and, when the authors have used the work of others, they will make sure that this has been appropriately cited. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication

Papers describing basically the same research should not be published in more than one journal. Submission of a manuscript to more than one journal is a mark of unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. When submitting a manuscript, the authors retain the rights to the published material under a CC-BY license, which allows them to decide about the possible republication of their text.

Acknowledgement of Sources

Authors should ensure that the work of others is properly acknowledged and that publications that have been detrimental to the paper are without fail cited. Any information acquired privately through verbal or written communication with third parties must not be used unless the authors have written permission from the source. Likewise, any information obtained while offering confidential services such as reviewing manuscripts or grant applications cannot be used without the written permission of the authors of these works.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should include those who have significantly contributed to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the study. Others who have made substantial contributions to the research project should be acknowledged as contributors. The corresponding author should make sure that all appropriate co-authors are included in the final version of the manuscript and that they agree to its submission for publication.

Hazards and Human or Animal Subjects

Should chemicals or equipment with unusual associated hazardous risks be used in the study, the authors must clearly mention these in the paper. When the use of animals or human participants is involved, the authors should confirm that all procedures were carried out in accordance with relevant laws and following the appropriate guidelines. A statement regarding the obtaining of informed consent should be provided when experimenting with human subjects.

Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Authors should include a statement disclosing any financial or other significant conflicts of interest that might influence the results or interpretation of their work. All sources of financing for the project should be revealed, as well as the role of the funders in the research.

Fundamental errors in published works

If authors discover critical errors or inaccuracies in their published works, they should promptly notify the editors and/or the publisher and collaborate in order to correct the paper. If a third party informs the editor or the publisher about a significant fault of a published work, it is the author’s responsibility to correct or retract the paper in question or to provide evidence regarding the accuracy of the work.

© 2016 Journal of Hypertension Research