Ethical Considerations
This Journal uses the COPE's flowcharts and guidelines. It also follows the guidelines mentioned in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (http://www.icmje.org/#privacy).
Authorship Criteria and Contribution
The journal adheres to the definition of authorship set up by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The ICMJE recommends that authorship should be based on the following 4 criteria:
- Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
- Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
- Final approval of the version to be published
- 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.
All authors must sign the Toloo-e-Behdasht Authorship Form (typed or printed name is not acceptable) and include the form on initial submission.
Ethical approval
Approval of the ethical committee should be mentioned in the article, and sent to the journal office.
Conflict of interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. If you have no competing interests, please state 'I/We have no conflict of interests. Authors must acknowledge and declare any sources of funding and the potential conflicting interest, such as receiving funds or fees, or holding stocks and shares in an organization from which they may profit from or lose through publication of their paper.
At the time of submission, the corresponding author must include a disclosure statement in the body of the manuscript. All authors are required to disclose all potential conflicts of interest, including specific financial interests, relationships, and affiliations (other than those affiliations listed in the title page of the manuscript) relevant to the subject of their manuscript. This information should be provided under the heading titled ‘Conflicts of interest’, which should appear before the ‘References’ section.
Reviewers must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could bias their evaluation of a manuscript. They should recuse themselves from reviewing manuscripts where such conflicts exist, including affiliations with the authors or financial interests related to the study. Confidentiality of manuscript content must be strictly maintained to prevent misuse of privileged information.
Editors and editorial staff are required to disclose any personal, financial, or professional conflicts that may influence editorial decisions. Editors must abstain from handling manuscripts where conflicts exist, including cases involving their own work or close collaborators. Editorial decisions must be based solely on scholarly merit, free from commercial or institutional bias.
Publishers commit to transparency and integrity by enforcing conflict of interest disclosures and taking corrective actions in case of undisclosed conflicts. They ensure that conflicts are properly managed to uphold the trustworthiness of the peer review and publication process.
Confidenttiality: All data and article drafts must be treated as confidential by the editorial board members and reviewers. They must not be shared with others before the article is officially published.
Adherence to Publication Ethics and Editorial Standards:
Editorial Board Members must:
- Maintain the confidentiality of all submitted manuscripts
- Disclose any conflicts of interest
- Evaluate manuscripts solely on the basis of intellectual content
- Be responsible for final publication decisions
Reviewers must:
- Inform journal of any conflicts of interest
- Maintain confidentiality regarding the manuscript
- Report to the Editor-in-Chief any concerns that may warrant rejection
- Evaluate manuscripts fairly, without regard to the authors' race, gender, religion, ethnicity, citizenship,
sexual orientation, or political beliefs
- Inform the Editor-in-Chief if they are unqualified to review or unable to complete a timely review
- Confirm the originality of the article
- Confirm that the article has not been previously published elsewhere
Authors must:
- Certify that their manuscript is original (./files/site1/files/form2.15.6.docx)
- Confirm that the manuscript has not been previously published (see ./files/site1/files/form1cheklist.docx and ./files/site1/files/form2.15.6.docx)
- Confirm that the manuscript is not under review elsewhere. (see Adherence to Publication Ethics and Editorial Standards:
- Disclose any conflicts of interest
- Cite all sources used in preparing the manuscript
- Promptly report any discovered errors in their published or submitted work
Scientific Misconducts
Scientific misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism with the intention to deceive on the part of the authors. Honest error or differences in interpretation are not considered misconduct.
Fabrication: Fabrication is the intentional misrepresentation of research results by making up data, as reported in a journal paper. As with other forms of scientific misconduct, its intent is to deceive. This marks fabrication as highly unethical, which is different from the scientists' self-deceit. In some jurisdictions, fabrication may be illegal.
Falsification: Falsification is the changing or omission of research results (data) to support claims, hypotheses, other data, etc. Falsification can include the manipulation of research instrumentation, materials, or processes. Manipulation of images or representations in a manner that distorts the data or “reads too much between the lines” can also be considered falsification.
plagiarism:
Plagiarism is a serious violation of publication ethics. It involves using text, data, or ideas from any source—whether one's own or others'—without proper citation and acknowledgment. Quoting original text is permitted only when the source is clearly cited. Submission of false, fabricated, or stolen data is strictly prohibited. The journal follows the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines when handling suspected plagiarism in submitted or published articles. Plagiarism screening is conducted at two stages: upon initial submission and prior to publication. If plagiarism is suspected at any stage, the case is reviewed by a designated expert and referred to the editorial board for a final decision. The journal uses standard plagiarism detection software, and all suspected cases are collectively evaluated by the expert reviewer, internal manager, and editor-in-chief to determine the appropriate course of action.
Retraction PolicyThe TBJ for retraction of a published article uses the COPE guidelines: https://publicationethics.org/retraction-guidelines
The Journal Policy about Misconduct and Handling of Complaints
Report of research misconduct may be related to a published article or a manuscript under peer-review process. The procedure for the application and management of complaints of author misconduct should proceed with sensitivity, tact, in confidence, and in the following manner:
- A letter of explanation (and education) sent only to the person(s) against whom the complaint is made, where there appears to be a genuine and innocent misunderstanding of principles or procedure.
- A letter of reprimand to the person(s) against whom the complaint is made, warning of the consequences of such instances in the future, where the misunderstanding appears to be not entirely innocent.
- A letter of reprimand to all co-authors on the paper informing them of the findings of the Panel and warning of the consequences of such instances in future.
- A formal letter as mentioned above, including a written request to the supervising institution(s) that an investigation be carried out and the findings of that inquiry be reported in writing to the journal.
- Notice of redundant publication or duplicate publication or plagiarism, if they are appropriately and unequivocally documented. Such publication will not require approval of authors, and may also be reported to their institution and, if appropriate, funding agency.
- Formal withdrawal or retraction of the paper from the scientific literature, published in the journal.
When reporting on research that involves human subjects, human material, human tissues or human data, authors must declare that investigations were carried out following the rules of the Declaration of Helsinki of 1975 (http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/), revised in 2008. According to clause 23 of this declaration, approval from an ethics committee should be obtained before undertaking the research.
Research involving animal subjects
The editors demand that the potential benefits derived from any research causing harm to animals be significant in relation to any cost endured by animals, and that it should be unlikely for the procedures followed to cause offense to the majority of the readers. Authors should particularly ensure that their research complies with the commonly-accepted '3Rs':
- Replacement of animals by alternatives wherever possible,
- Reduction in the number of animals used, and
- Refinement of the experimental conditions and procedures to minimize the harm to animals.
Manuscripts containing original descriptions of research conducted in experimental animals must contain details of approval by a properly constituted research ethics committee.
Submit an Appeal:
Complaints submitted to the journal are forwarded to the Editor-in-Chief, who reviews them promptly according to COPE guidelines and provides timely responses. Regarding requests for reconsideration, upon receipt of an appeal, the letter is sent to the Editor-in-Chief. If the authors present sufficient evidence addressing the reviewers' and editorial board's suggestions, the manuscript is sent to another reviewer for evaluation. After receiving the new reviewer's comments, the manuscript is sent to the editorial board for final decision and notification.
Artificial Intelligence
The Tolooebehdasht Journal recognizes two main types of artificial intelligence (AI): autonomous AI and AI-assisted technologies. Tools such as ChatGPT and other AI-assisted applications are not considered appropriate for content creation or research design. However, AI can be employed for language editing purposes to enhance the readability of manuscripts.
The use of AI and related technologies is strictly prohibited as authorship or co-authorship, or as a cited reference within articles submitted to Tolooebehdasht. The journal adheres to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines concerning the use of AI and associated technologies.
