Ethics Statement

Papers submitted to Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Medical Sciences) must comply with the following policies to ensure ethical publication of academic work. Publishing norms and ethics are described in four aspects：authors, editors, reviewers and publisher. Medical ethics is listed at the end. 

1.For Authors

Original content and duplicate publication: Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Medical Sciences) only publishes original content. Manuscripts submitted to the journal must not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, either in whole or in part.

Fabrication and falsification: Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Medical Sciences) opposes both fabrication of data or images (i.e., fake or made-up data and the intentional misrepresentation or deceptive manipulation of data) or falsification of data or images (i.e., the intentional misrepresentation or deceptive manipulation of data).

Redundant publication: Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Medical Sciences) considers the submission and publication of very similar articles based on the same experiment or study to be unethical.

Plagiarism: Plagiarism occurs when an author attempts to present previously published work as original content. Every manuscript submitted to Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Medical Sciences) is screened for textual overlap by the software AMLC base on CNKI database. Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Medical Sciences) checks all submitted manuscripts for plagiarism and duplication, and publishes only original content. Those manuscripts where plagiarism or duplication are found will not be considered for publication in our journal. It is required that all submitted papers consist of content that has not been published previously. In accordance with COPE guidelines, we expect that “original work taken directly from publications by other researchers should appear in quotation marks with appropriate citations.” 

Authorship: Journal of Sun Yat-sen University (Medical Sciences) follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors guidelines, which state that, in order to qualify for authorship of a manuscript, the following criteria should be observed:

    (1) The paper represents original work of the listed authors.

    (2) The manuscript as presented accurately reflects the scientific results.

    (3) All authors made significant contributions to the concept, design, execution, or interpretation of the research study.

    (4) All those who made significant contributions were offered the opportunity to be listed as authors.

    (5) All of the listed authors are aware of and agree to the submission of this manuscript.

    (6) The manuscript has not been published, and is not now and will not be under consideration by another journal while it is considered here.

    (7) All authors accept the established procedures for selecting manuscripts for publication.

    (8) All of the research data in this manuscript is true and reliable.

Contributors who do not meet these criteria, but nonetheless provided important contributions to the final manuscript, should be included in the acknowledgement section. It is the authors’ responsibility to get written approval by persons named in the acknowledgment section. Once the paper is accepted, authors should complete and provide the Authors Statement Form, in which authors contributions should be specified.

Conflicts of Interest: All authors must disclose all potential conflicts of interest, i.e., when the financing/ personal status/ affiliation of the authors (or the authors' organization/ employer) may affect the authors' decision, work or manuscript. When a product is involved, the author should also disclose whether there is a conflict of interest against competitive products. Authors should also submit the Authors Statement Form after the paper is accepted, in which competing interests should be declared.  

2.For Editors

(1) Editors should modify the paper according to the comments of the reviewers and the editorial board.

(2) Editors should not have a conflict of interest with the article under review.

(3) Editors should check the duplication of the submitted paper by software. After checking the duplication, the paper will be forwarded to two reviewers for review.

(4) Editors should keep the authenticity of the review records, and have the obligation to safekeep and keep confidential any data of the paper. Editors shall not disclose any information about the paper to any person who has a conflict of interest.

(5) Editors must ensure that every paper accepted by the journal is subject to intellectual content review, regardless of the author's gender, race, religion and nationality.

(6) When editors find papers violating academic norms, they can take appropriate measures, such as withdrawing the manuscript or initiate an investigation.

3.For Reviewers

(1) Reviewers must be objective and fair in the evaluation of papers. They should express their views through arguments. Reviewers should make clear conclusion why the manuscript should be accepted, rejected, or revised.  

(2) Reviewers should have no conflict of interest with the study, the author and/or the research sponsor.

(3) Reviewers should check the source of the data used in the paper, and inform editors immediately if plagiarism or multiple submission are found.

(4) When reviewers feel that it is not suitable to undertake the review, they should immediately inform the journal editors.

(5) Reviewers must not use information from the manuscript, before its publication for their own interests.

4. For Publisher

(1) Our journal only publishes original research work, with outstanding innovation or application value.

(2) All manuscripts are registered for submission, and all review processes do not require any fees. The journal will charge manuscript processing fees (including review fees, typesetting fees, graphics fees, color image fees, etc.) after acceptance.

(3) For accepted manuscripts, if academic misconduct is found, our journal has right to withdraw the manuscript and notify the author’s institute and journals of similar discipline.

(4) For published papers, if academic misconduct is found, this journal will retract the paper and publish a statement. 

(5) For manuscripts submitted to this journal，once accepted, the copyright should be transferred to the Editorial Office of Journal of Sun Yat-sen University.

(6) After the paper is published, the journal will pay remuneration to authors and two copies of print journals and the electronic version of the paper will be provided to authors for free.

(7) For all manuscripts submitted to the editorial office, authors are requested to save the electronic files themselves. If the manuscripts are not accepted, the editorial office will keep the full text and strictly enforce the confidentiality regulations and do not disclose the content of unaccepted manuscripts.

(8) The editorial office strives to respect the protection of intellectual property and requires editors, authors and reviewers to do so. Any potential infringement should be avoided. Third-party infringement to the intellectual property of the journal is prohibited. On the premise of intellectual property protection, the journal encourages the practice of open science. Authors are encouraged to publish or share their research data whenever appropriate.

(9) This journal does not publish any commercial advertisement for now.

Statements of Medical Ethics

1.Laboratory Animals

According to "Regulations on the Administration of Laboratory Animals" issued by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1988, the "Implementation Rules for the Administration of Medical Laboratory Animals" issued by the Ministry of Health in 1988, and standards of international medical journals, this journal requires that if a paper involved animal experiment, the following information must be provided: (1) the exact name of the variety, strain, and sub-line; (2) genetic background or its source; (3) microbiological testing status; (4) gender, age, body mass; (5) quality grade and certificate of conformity number; (6) feeding environment and experimental environment; (7) health status; (8) treatment of experimental animals; (9) medical laboratory animal ethics documents, etc. Medical laboratory animals are divided into 4 levels: Level 1 is ordinary; Level 2 is clean; Level 3 is the SPF level; Level 4 is aseptic (including sage animals). Funded projects and graduate dissertation must use laboratory animals above level 2.

2.Clinical Research

Any author involved in clinical trial research (prospective research), should register in the WHO International Clinical Trial Registration Center (https://www.who.int/ictrp/en/) or the China Clinical Trial Registration Center (http://www.chictr.org.cn/) and provide the clinical trial registration number in the paper.

Where clinical research (retrospective research) is involved, the author should indicate whether the procedures it follows comply with the approval of the ethics committee (institutional, regional or national), and whether the subject’s informed consent is obtained.