PUBLICATION ETHICS

1. Publication Ethics and COPE Principles

The Journal is committed to maintaining high standards of publication ethics and scientific integrity. Its ethical policies are informed by the principles and guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The Journal expects authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher to act responsibly throughout submission, peer review, publication, and post-publication evaluation.

The Journal’s ethical oversight includes research ethics, informed consent, confidentiality, authorship, conflicts of interest, plagiarism, corrections, retractions, and the handling of concerns regarding published research.

Further information about COPE is available at: https://publicationethics.org/

2. Research Involving Human Participants and Declaration of Helsinki

Research involving human participants must comply with applicable ethical standards and relevant national and international regulations.

Authors must ensure that research involving human participants is conducted in accordance with the applicable version of the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki.

Official source: https://www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki/

Manuscripts reporting research involving human participants must include an ethics statement identifying the approving research ethics committee or institutional review board and the institution concerned, together with the approval reference or number where available.

If formal ethical review was not required, authors must provide an appropriate explanation and supporting information regarding the applicable exemption or determination.

Informed consent must be obtained and reported as applicable to the study design, the nature of participation, and the relevant ethical and regulatory requirements. Where consent cannot be obtained or a recognized exception applies, the ethical acceptability must be determined in accordance with applicable requirements by the appropriate authority.

Authors should describe the study population appropriately, including relevant demographic characteristics such as age and sex, and other characteristics when scientifically relevant.

3. Research Involving Children and Vulnerable Participants

Research involving children or other individuals who may be vulnerable or have limited capacity to provide informed consent must comply with applicable ethical standards and relevant national regulations.

Authors must describe the safeguards used to protect participants’ rights, dignity, privacy, and welfare. The manuscript must include the relevant ethics committee approval and informed-consent information.

For research involving children who cannot legally provide independent informed consent, permission must be obtained from a parent or legally authorized representative, as required by applicable regulations. The child’s assent should also be obtained when appropriate, taking into account the child’s age, maturity, and capacity to understand the research.

For other participants who cannot independently provide informed consent, the applicable requirements for legally authorized representatives and participant protection must be followed.

Identifying information, photographs, clinical images, and other potentially identifiable material must not be published without the required consent and appropriate protection of confidentiality.

Any exception to the usual consent or ethical-review requirements must be explained and justified by the authors.

4. Research Involving Animals

Research involving animals must comply with applicable national legislation and recognized standards for the ethical treatment and welfare of research animals.

Authors must identify the relevant ethics committee or institutional authority responsible for approving the study and provide approval details where required.

Manuscripts should describe the measures taken to minimize animal suffering and to ensure that the use of animals was scientifically justified and ethically acceptable.

5. Clinical Trial Registration and Research Involving New Therapeutic Products

The Journal supports clinical trial registration as a means of promoting research transparency, accountability, and the reliability of published findings. Clinical trial registration is encouraged whenever appropriate; however, registration is not a universal prerequisite for the submission or consideration of every clinical research manuscript.

Registration of studies involving new or not yet widely established therapeutic products

Prospective registration is strongly required for interventional clinical studies designed to evaluate the safety or efficacy of new, investigational, or not yet widely established medicinal products, biological agents, or other therapeutic preparations in human participants, where applicable under relevant ethical and regulatory requirements.

Authors submitting such studies must provide the name of the public clinical trial registry, the registration identification number, and a direct link to the registration record. Registration should be completed before the first participant is enrolled.

Studies involving established therapeutic products and other clinical research

For studies involving approved and established therapeutic products, the need for clinical trial registration will be assessed according to the study design, the nature of the intervention, and applicable ethical and regulatory requirements. Registration is encouraged for prospective interventional studies but is not automatically required for every manuscript.

Observational studies, retrospective analyses, laboratory investigations, case reports, case series, and other study designs that do not meet the definition of a clinical trial are not subject to mandatory clinical trial registration solely because they investigate a therapeutic product or clinical outcome.

Editorial assessment

The Editor-in-Chief may request additional information regarding the study design, ethical approval, informed consent, regulatory authorization where applicable, and trial registration status. If a study that would ordinarily require prospective registration has not been registered, the authors must explain the circumstances. The editorial decision will take into account the nature of the intervention, the applicable requirements, participant safety, research integrity, and the transparency of the reported methods.

Clinical trial registration does not replace research ethics committee approval, informed consent, or compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

The Journal encourages authors to provide a registration number and a direct registry link in the manuscript whenever registration has been completed.

6. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to the Journal are responsible for ensuring that:

The work is original and has not been published previously, except where prior dissemination has been appropriately disclosed and is permitted by the Journal.

The manuscript is not simultaneously under consideration by another journal.

The data and results are accurately reported and have not been fabricated, falsified, or inappropriately manipulated.

All sources are properly acknowledged and cited.

All authors meet the Journal’s authorship criteria and have approved the final manuscript.

Research ethics approval and informed consent have been obtained where applicable.

Relevant financial and non-financial conflicts of interest are disclosed.

Any use of previously published material complies with applicable copyright and permission requirements.

Limitations, methodological weaknesses, and relevant sources of uncertainty are reported transparently.

Authors must cooperate with reasonable editorial inquiries concerning the accuracy, integrity, ethics, and originality of their work.

7. Authorship Criteria and Contributions

All individuals listed as authors must have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the research or manuscript, participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final version for publication, and agreed to be accountable for the integrity and accuracy of the work.

All authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission to the Bulletin of Stomatology and Maxillofacial Surgery. Contributions that do not meet the criteria for authorship should be appropriately acknowledged, with the consent of the individuals concerned.

The Journal does not accept guest, honorary, gift, or ghost authorship. Any changes to the author list after submission must be justified and approved by all authors concerned, including those being added or removed.

The Journal may suspend editorial processing while authorship disputes are being resolved. Where necessary, the Journal may seek clarification from the authors’ institutions or other relevant bodies.

8. Plagiarism, Duplicate Publication, and Research Misconduct

The Journal does not accept plagiarism, data fabrication, data falsification, inappropriate image manipulation, duplicate publication, or other forms of research and publication misconduct.

Submitted manuscripts may be screened using plagiarism-detection software before peer review. Similarity reports are evaluated by the editorial team in context; a similarity percentage alone does not establish plagiarism or determine the editorial outcome.

As a screening guideline, manuscripts with similarity of up to 25% may be returned to the authors for revision when substantial overlap requires correction. Manuscripts with similarity exceeding 25% may be rejected without peer review when the overlap is extensive or unacceptable. The Journal reserves the right to reject a manuscript at any similarity level if serious plagiarism or other misconduct is identified.

Authors may be invited to revise and resubmit where appropriate. If plagiarism, unreliable data, or other serious misconduct is identified before or after acceptance or publication, the Journal may take appropriate action, including rejection, correction, an expression of concern, or retraction.

9. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The Journal is committed to maintaining the accuracy, transparency, and integrity of the published scientific record. The Journal handles corrections, retractions, and expressions of concern in accordance with the principles and guidance of COPE.

Corrections

A correction may be published when an error is identified in a published article and the error can be corrected without invalidating the overall findings or conclusions. Corrections may address factual inaccuracies, errors in figures or tables, author information, affiliations, or other material that requires clarification.

The Editor-in-Chief evaluates the nature and significance of the error and determines whether a correction is necessary. Published corrections will clearly identify the original article, describe the correction, and be electronically linked to the original publication.

Retractions

An article may be retracted when there is reliable evidence that its findings are substantially unreliable, or when serious publication ethics violations have occurred. Grounds for retraction may include data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, duplicate publication, unethical research, compromised peer review, or other serious breaches that undermine the integrity of the publication.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final editorial decision on retraction, following an appropriate assessment of the available evidence and, where appropriate, consultation with the authors, their institutions, or other relevant parties. If the Editor-in-Chief has a conflict of interest, an independent editor will handle the case.

A retraction notice will clearly identify the original article, explain the reasons for retraction, and be linked to the original publication. The original article will remain accessible where possible and will be clearly marked as retracted to preserve the transparency and traceability of the scientific record.

Expressions of Concern

When credible concerns arise about the reliability or ethical integrity of a published article but the available evidence is inconclusive, or an investigation is ongoing or significantly delayed, the Journal may publish an Expression of Concern.

The notice will identify the article and explain the nature of the concern to the extent supported by the available evidence. Once further information becomes available, the Journal may publish a correction, a retraction, or an appropriate notice explaining the outcome.

Procedure and Editorial Independence

All cases will be assessed fairly and confidentially, with an opportunity for the authors to respond where appropriate. The Journal may seek information from the authors’ institutions or other relevant bodies when necessary.

Decisions to correct or retract an article are based on the reliability of the published record and applicable publication ethics standards, not on commercial considerations. Notices of correction, retraction, and concern will be published promptly when justified and will remain linked to the original article.

10. Conflict of Interest Policy

Authors, editors, and reviewers must disclose financial, professional, institutional, personal, or other relationships that could influence, or reasonably be perceived to influence, their work or editorial judgment.

Authors must include relevant disclosures in their manuscripts. Reviewers must inform the editorial team of potential conflicts before accepting a review assignment. Editors must not handle manuscripts where their own interests could compromise impartiality.

Where a conflict of interest exists, appropriate measures may include reassignment to an independent editor, additional review, disclosure in the published article, or other measures necessary to preserve editorial independence.

The existence of a conflict of interest does not necessarily imply misconduct, but undisclosed or improperly managed conflicts may require editorial action.

11. Confidentiality and Data Protection

The Journal treats submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and unpublished research information as confidential.

Editors and reviewers must not disclose or use confidential information obtained through the editorial process for personal, professional, or commercial advantage.

Authors must comply with applicable data-protection requirements and protect the confidentiality of research participants. Personal identifiers should be removed from manuscripts unless their inclusion is scientifically necessary and the required consent and ethical safeguards have been obtained.

12. Editorial and Publication Complaints

Concerns about editorial decisions, peer review, publication ethics, or the conduct of editors, reviewers, authors, or the publisher may be submitted to the Journal through its official contact channels.

Complaints will be assessed fairly and, where appropriate, confidentially. The Journal may request supporting documentation, seek clarification from the parties concerned, or consult independent experts or relevant institutions.

Where a complaint concerns the Editor-in-Chief or another person with a potential conflict of interest, the matter should be handled by an appropriate independent person. The Journal will take proportionate action based on the evidence and applicable publication ethics principles.