Publication Ethics

Policies on Publication Ethics

The Journal of Southeast Asian Orthopaedics (JseaOrtho) is an official journal of The Royal College of Orthopaedic Surgeons of Thailand, whose ambition is to become a qualified regional orthopaedic journal publishing valuable research articles to enrich the field of orthopaedic research.  JseaOrtho strictly follows the recommendations issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The JseaOrtho Policies on Publication Ethics are mainly drawn from the following documents:

  1. ‘Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals: Updated December 2017’ issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
  2. ‘Responsible research publication: international standards for editors’: a position statement developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, Singapore, July 22-24, 2010
  3. ‘Responsible research publication: international standards for authors’: a position statement developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, Singapore, July 22-24, 2010

A selection of important points summarized from the above-mentioned documents is included below. If there is any question, concern, or dispute on this matter, all parties should refer to and comply with the latest recommendations stated in the three primary sources at  https://www.elsevier.com/publishingethics

Editors’ Role and Responsibility

  • JseaOrtho Editors must maintain their accountability and take responsibility for everything published in The Journal of Southeast Asian Orthopaedics.
  • JseaOrtho Editors 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.
  • JseaOrtho Editors must make fair and unbiased decisions independent from commercial consideration and ensure a fair and appropriate peer review process.
  • JseaOrtho Editors must encourage maximum transparency and complete, honest reporting.
  • JseaOrtho Editors must guard the integrity of the published record by issuing corrections and retractions when needed and pursuing suspected or alleged research and publication misconduct.
  • JseaOrtho Editors must pursue peer reviewer and editorial misconduct.
  • JseaOrtho Editors must critically assess the ethical conduct of studies in humans and animals.
  • JseaOrtho Editors must inform peer reviewers and authors about what is expected of them.
  • JseaOrtho Editors who make final decisions about manuscripts must recuse themselves from editorial decisions if they have conflicts of interest or relationships that pose potential conflicts related to articles under consideration.

Authors’ Role and Responsibility

  • An author must meet all four of the following criteria:
  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
  4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
  • The articles being submitted must have been conducted in an ethical and responsible manner and must comply with all relevant legislation.
  • Authors must present their submitted articles clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification or inappropriate data manipulation.
  • Authors must strive to describe their methods clearly and unambiguously so that their findings can be confirmed by others.
  • Authors must adhere to publication requirements that submitted articles are original, are not plagiarized, and have not been published elsewhere.
  • Authors must take collective responsibility for submitted and published articles.
  • The authorship of submitted articles must accurately reflect individuals’ contributions to the work and its reporting.
  • Funding sources and relevant conflicts of interest must be disclosed in the sections of ‘Acknowledgments’ and ‘Conflicts of Interest’, respectively.

Peer Reviewers’ Role and Responsibility

  • Peer reviewers must keep manuscripts and the information they contain strictly confidential.
  • Peer reviewers must not publicly discuss authors’ work and must not appropriate authors’ ideas before the manuscript is published.
  • Peer reviewers must not retain the manuscript for their personal use and should destroy copies of manuscripts after submitting their reviews.
  • Peer reviewers are expected to respond promptly to requests to review and to submit reviews within the time agreed.
  • Peer reviewers’ comments should be constructive, honest, and polite.
  • Peer reviewers should declare their conflicts of interest and recuse themselves from the peer-review process if a conflict exists.