All journals published by Afarand describe how complaints against the journal, its staff, its editorial board and the publisher are handled, following COPE guidance on complaints and appeals.
Complaints may concern the conduct of the publisher or of a journal (including editors, the editor-in-chief, the editorial board, staff and peer reviewers). Complaints about journal entities are directed to the publisher, who investigates them in accordance with its documented procedures. Complaints are acknowledged within 5 working days and answered within 30 days where possible. Authors may appeal an editorial decision once by writing to the editor-in-chief with a point-by-point justification; appeals are considered by an editor not involved in the original decision. The complainant is informed of the outcome in writing, and those who remain dissatisfied may contact COPE after the journal's process is complete.
Reporting standards. Authors of original research should give an accurate account of the work performed and an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references for others to replicate the work. Authors should follow the relevant reporting guideline listed by the EQUATOR Network (e.g., CONSORT, PRISMA 2020, STROBE, CARE, ARRIVE 2.0). Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements are unethical and unacceptable.
Data availability and retention. Every article must include a data availability statement. Authors should deposit data in a suitable public repository where feasible and cite it, or explain any restrictions. Authors should provide raw data for editorial review on request and retain it for a reasonable period after publication.
Originality and plagiarism. Authors must ensure that their work is entirely original and that the work or words of others are appropriately cited or quoted. Text recycling and undisclosed reuse of the authors' own earlier work are not acceptable.
Multiple, redundant or concurrent publication. Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal at the same time is unacceptable. Posting a preprint is permitted, provided it is declared at submission and cited.
Acknowledgment of sources. Authors must always give proper acknowledgment to the work of others and cite the publications that influenced the reported work.
Authorship of the paper. Authorship is limited to those who meet the criteria in Section 7.1. The corresponding author must ensure that all appropriate co-authors, and no inappropriate ones, are included, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version and agreed to its submission.
Ethics approval, consent and research subjects. Research involving humans must comply with the current version of the Declaration of Helsinki and national regulations, and must report ethics committee approval and informed consent. Clinical trials must be registered in a WHO-recognized registry before enrolment begins. Research involving animals must report ethical approval and follow ARRIVE 2.0. Authors should report sex and gender appropriately (e.g., following the SAGER guidelines).
Hazards. If the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment with unusual inherent hazards, the authors must identify these in the manuscript.
Research and image integrity. Images and data must not be manipulated beyond minor adjustments applied to the whole image. Journals may request original image files and raw data.
Disclosure and conflicts of interest. All authors must disclose any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be perceived to influence the results or their interpretation, and all sources of financial support for the project (see Section 7.4).
Fundamental errors in published work. When authors discover a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, they must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate to correct or retract the paper.
Manuscripts are confidential documents. Reviewers and editors must not share manuscripts or their contents with third parties, and must not upload them to generative AI tools or other services that cannot guarantee confidentiality. Reviewers must disclose conflicts of interest, decline reviews they cannot complete fairly and on time, and give constructive, courteous feedback.
This page is part of the Afarand Best Practice Statement, which contains the complete text of all sections.