Ethics

Ethical considerations

The Colombian Journal of Nephrology adheres to the good practices, recommendations and procedures proposed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) for the edition of scientific journals.

Also, the authors must take into account the principles of the World Medical Association on research in humans and the well-known Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/).

Likewise, the Journal endorses the recommendations of the ICMJE for the conduct, writing, edition and publication of works in medical journals, and the implications for all the roles involved in this process, that is, authors, evaluators, editors and sponsors, among others (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/).

Transparency principles

Regarding good publishing practices and transparency criteria, the 16 COPE principles have been adopted; below is how the journal reflects these principles in its day-to-day work:

1. Website: The journal works on an Open Journal Systems platform and includes all accurate and up-to-date information on its focus, scope, theme spectrum, editorial structure, policy, and procedures.
2. Journal name: The journal has been consistent in its name since its inception and does not leave room for misunderstandings with other publications.
3. Peer-review process: The journal thoroughly describes its peer-review process under the double-blind system.
4. Ownership and management: The journal is sponsored by the Colombian Association of Nephrology (Asocolnef).
5. Governing body: The journal has an editorial structure publicly available on its website and comprises a chief editor, associate scientific editors, and an editorial and scientific board. It also has an editorial and production coordinating area that supports journal management and technical and professional publication processes.
6. Editorial team/Contact information: The journal includes complete information on its editorial structure, profiles, ORCID, or information on the online CV of its members.
7. Copyright and licenses: The journal states its relationship with authors regarding the rights of approved manuscripts and the relationship with its readers through a Creative Commons license.
8. Handling fees: The journal explicitly declares that it operates under the diamond open access model; that is, it has no submission or publication costs for its authors.
9. Process to identify and deal with research misconduct reports: The journal states that it follows COPE flowcharts (procedures) to deal with potential ethical dilemmas or malpractice cases in research and scientific publication.
10. Ethics in publication: The journal has an ethics policy that encourages scientific integrity, which translates into procedures to promote and verify the quality of manuscripts.
11. Publication frequency: The frequency is mentioned in the journal’s policies.
12. Access: The journal’s editorial policy specifies how to access its contents. It has no subscription costs, and its access is open under a Creative Commons license.
13. Archiving: The journal has a preservation policy and discloses it in its guidelines.
14. Sources of income: The journal is fully funded by the Colombian Nephrology Association (Asocolnef). Moreover, its purpose is scientific; it seeks to advance knowledge of nephrology and the particularities of the Latin American context in the professional practice of nephrology.
15. Advertising: The journal has an advertising guideline, but a legal notice clarifies that none of the advertisers influences the selection or publication of the journal’s contents. The manuscript approval process is based on external peer review.
16. Direct marketing: The journal does not carry out direct marketing strategies or is for commercial purposes; it has no interest in this regard or charges handling fees to authors. It intends to create a community of collaborators (authors, reviewers, editors) and an inclusive, diverse audience of readers within the particularities of its area of expertise and theme spectrum.

Roles and management of the Journal

It is of main interest of the Journal that all its collaborators (authors, reviewers, publishing professionals, among others) work under principles that propitiate and guarantee the scientific integrity in all phases of the communication of scientific knowledge; this, in order that the manuscripts that are published in the Journal transmit a reliable and reproducible knowledge, and that help both the advancement of science and the solution of problems in the area, with a real impact on professional practice.

Likewise, the Journal will ensure that ethical practices permeate the entire operation of the Journal, under the suggestions of the COPE in one of its central practices (core practices) on the Journal management.

Ethics and evaluation process

One of the first filters that the Journal will apply upon receiving the postulation of a manuscript is to verify its originality and its probable similarity with other works already published (or gray literature), through an anti-plagiarism tool.

If an inadequate use of other works protected by copyright, reprints of works already published, fabrication or manipulation of data, or any other type of unethical behavior, the Journal can issue a categorical rejection of the submitted manuscript.

Also, if the authors involved in an incident that goes against the ethics or scientific integrity do not give a satisfactory clarification, the Journal, in the future, will no longer receive or process any submission for their part.

Treatment of cases

The Colombian Journal of Nephrology will follow the procedures suggested by the COPE and its flowcharts, when there is evidence of bad practices or ethical dilemmas in the manuscripts received or published.

Corrections and retractions

The Journal can make corrections or retractions of works already published. Corrections will proceed when minor but important errors are identified, that is, that do not compromise to a greater extent the results of a research of its contents, but that can lead to misunderstandings. There might also be errors in the information on the authors or another type of error associated with the bibliographic information of the article.

On the other hand, retractions will take place in cases in which a serious problem is identified in an article, which compromises its results, reliability or originality.

Then, each case will be studied by the editor and his team, and actions will be taken consequently, also under the recommendations of the COPE.

Ethical aspects of submission

Below, we describe some ethical aspects associated with the submission or postulation of any manuscript:

Declaration of authorship and license

Authors must send their manuscripts with a declaration of authorship, originality and conflict of interest, signed by all their authors, according to the template of the Journal.

Declaration of authorship

Also, they are requested to submit a signed license at the time of submission, which could require to be updated once the article has been approved, if any modification to the title was made as a result of the arbitration:

Publishing license

Informed consent

The authors must mention, in the methods section, that the procedures used in the patients and controls have been carried out after obtaining the informed consent. If photographs or data of patients are reproduced, the authors are responsible for obtaining the written consent, authorizing their publication, reproduction and dissemination in paper and digital support.

Informed consents must be sent to the Journal along with the postulation of the manuscript.

Petitions, denunciations complaints and claims

The collaborators of the Journal can contact the editorial coordination, through the official e-mailbox of the Journal (revasocolnef@gmail.com), to expose to the Editor in Chief any type of petition that provides clarity about some process associated with the manuscripts received or published, or to present a complaint, claim or denunciation on possible ethical issues in a work.

All petitions will be processed, offering a probable response schedule, according with their nature and complexity.