PUBLICATION ETHICS

The Journal of Orthopaedi and Traumatology Surabaya (JOINTS) is committed to upholding the highest standards of ethical conduct in its publications. Our policies align with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and we adhere to the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). Furthermore, this journal supports the principles of open citation through the Initiative for Open Citations (I4OC). This statement outlines the ethical responsibilities and expected behavior of all participants in the publication process, including authors, editors, and reviewers.  

Author Responsibilities

1. Manuscript Submission

Authors are required to submit all manuscript components electronically via the JOINTS submission system. These components must include: a title page; a manuscript formatted according to the JOINTS template; a signed copyright transfer agreement; ethical clearance documentation (for original research); and written informed consent from patients (for case reports). Submissions in hard copy will not be accepted or returned. Authors should ensure their manuscripts conform to the journal's submission guidelines and are encouraged to use relevant checklists provided by the journal to promote accurate reporting. Utilizing established reporting guidelines, such as those from the EQUATOR Network, is also strongly advised.  

2. Research Involving Humans and Animals

All reported research must be conducted in an ethical and responsible manner, in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. For studies involving human participants, authors must include a statement on the title page that identifies the approving ethics committee, provides the ethical clearance number, and confirms adherence to recognized standards (e.g., the Declaration of Helsinki). Research involving animal subjects should be held to the same ethical standards as human research. Authors should follow the ARRIVE guidelines and implement the 3Rs principles (Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement). Detailed information regarding study design, statistical analysis, experimental procedures, animal care, housing, and husbandry must be provided. Authors must confirm that ethical and legal approval was obtained prior to the study's commencement and must specify the name of the approving body. Authors should also indicate whether all experiments were performed in accordance with relevant institutional and national guidelines and regulations.  

3. Standards for Reporting Manuscripts

It is mandatory to obtain informed consent before undertaking any actions that could compromise a participant's privacy. Under no circumstances should participant data be altered or falsified in an attempt to anonymize individuals. Any identifying details, whether written or photographic, should be omitted unless absolutely necessary. If anonymity is questionable, a consent form must be secured, as complete anonymity can be challenging. For instance, simply obscuring a subject's eyes in a photograph is not an acceptable method for ensuring anonymity. Once informed consent is obtained, its acquisition must be explicitly stated in the article.  

4. Standards for Manuscript Reporting

Authors are obligated to present an accurate account of their original work (research, review, or case report) and provide an objective analysis of its significance. Results should be presented clearly, honestly, and without any fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation of data. Authors should strive for clarity and precision in describing their methodologies, enabling others to replicate their findings. Any fraudulent or deliberately inaccurate statements are considered unethical and will not be tolerated.  

5. Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure that their manuscripts meet all publication requirements, that the submitted work is original, free from plagiarism, and has not been previously published. Concurrent submission of the same manuscript to multiple publications is prohibited. Proper acknowledgment and referencing of relevant prior work and publications, both from other researchers and the authors themselves, are essential. Primary literature should be cited whenever possible. Any verbatim text taken directly from other researchers' publications must be enclosed in quotation marks and accompanied by appropriate citations.  

6. Duplicate and Redundant Publication

Authors must refrain from duplicate publication, which involves reproducing verbatim content from their other publications. Submitting or publishing redundant manuscripts that describe the same research in multiple journals is unacceptable. Multiple publications derived from a single research project must be clearly identified, and the primary publication must be properly referenced.  

7. Acknowledgment of Sources

All data sources used in the research, as well as publications that significantly influenced the reported work, must be appropriately cited. Authors are responsible for providing accurate and complete acknowledgments of others' work.  

8. Authorship of Papers

Authorship of research publications should accurately reflect each individual's contribution to the work and its reporting. All listed authors must have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to their inclusion as co-authors. Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study. Those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Individuals who provided less substantial or purely technical contributions should be acknowledged in an acknowledgment section. Authors are required to complete the author contribution section on the title page.  

9. Fundamental Errors in Published Works

If an author discovers an error or inaccuracy in their submitted manuscript, they must promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the published paper.  

10. Data Access and Retention

Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study along with the manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to make the data publicly available, if feasible.  

11. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Authors are required to disclose any financial or personal relationships that could potentially bias their work. This includes affiliations such as employment, consulting roles, stock ownership, funding, and grants. These interests must be declared in two places: (1) a concise statement on the title page (e.g., "Declarations of interest: none"); and (2) a separate Copyright Transfer Agreement and Author Declaration. It is crucial that potential conflicts of interest are disclosed in both instances and that the details provided are consistent.  

12. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Authors may use AI tools to improve the language and readability of their manuscripts, provided this is done under careful human oversight. Authors are responsible for thoroughly reviewing and editing any AI-generated content, as AI can produce errors or present biased information. Any use of AI in the manuscript must be disclosed, and this disclosure should also appear in the published work. AI cannot be listed as an author; human authors are accountable for the originality of the work and adherence to copyright regulations. For more details, click here.

13. Use of AI in Figures, Images, and Artwork

AI should not be used to generate or alter images within manuscripts, except for minor adjustments that do not change the original information. Generating any form of artwork, including graphical abstracts, using AI is strictly prohibited. AI may be used to create cover art only with explicit approval from the journal editor and with proper attribution of rights and content. For further information and specific guidelines, please refer to the provided link. 

Editor Responsibilities

1. Publication Decisions

Editors are responsible for all content they publish and must maintain consistent standards throughout the publication process. They should implement procedures and policies to ensure the quality and integrity of the published material. Editors may accept, reject, or request revisions to manuscripts based on the editorial board's review. Editors are expected to ensure timely peer review and publication, avoiding unnecessary delays. Editors should be guided by the journal's editorial board policies and are subject to legal requirements concerning libel, copyright infringement, and plagiarism, promoting transparency and accurate reporting.  

2. Manuscript Review

Editors must ensure that each manuscript undergoes an initial originality check. They should critically evaluate the ethical conduct of studies involving human and animal subjects. Editors are responsible for organizing and conducting fair and judicious peer reviews. The journal's peer review process should be clearly explained in the information for authors, including which sections of the journal are peer-reviewed. Editors should select peer reviewers with appropriate expertise, avoiding those with potential conflicts of interest.  

3. Fairness

Editors must make impartial and unbiased decisions, independent of any commercial considerations, and ensure a fair and appropriate peer-review process. Manuscripts should be evaluated solely based on their intellectual merit, without regard to the authors' sex, gender, race, religion, nationality, or other personal attributes. Given the significant influence editors have on publication decisions, maintaining fairness and impartiality is crucial.  

4. Confidentiality

Editors are obligated to maintain the confidentiality of manuscripts, ensuring that no details are disclosed to anyone other than peer reviewers without the author's consent. Confidential discussions between authors, editors, and peer reviewers should remain private unless all parties provide explicit consent or in exceptional circumstances, such as to substantiate claims of intellectual property theft during the review process.  

5. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

Editors must not use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for their own research without the author's written permission. Any privileged information or ideas gained by editors during the handling of manuscripts must be kept confidential and not used for personal gain.  

6. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

All manuscripts and related communications must be treated with strict confidentiality. Editors are prohibited from uploading these materials to any AI tools. Editorial assessments must be performed exclusively by humans, as AI lacks the critical evaluation skills required. Editors are fully accountable for the entire editorial process and all final decisions. For further details, please click here.

 

Reviewer Responsibilities

The JOINTS journals employ a double-blind peer-review process for submitted manuscripts. This process ensures that the identities of both the authors and the reviewers remain confidential from one another. This anonymity is intended to foster an objective and unbiased evaluation of the manuscript.  

1. Confidentiality

Reviewers must maintain strict confidentiality regarding the manuscripts they evaluate, treating all information as privileged. These documents and their content should not be shared or discussed with anyone unless explicitly authorized by the editor.  

2. Standards of Objectivity

Manuscript evaluations must be conducted with impartiality, and reviewers should provide clear, well-supported rationales for their assessments. The work presented in the manuscript must be original and authentic, free from plagiarism, and not previously published. Experimental designs and analytical procedures should adhere to established technical norms and be described in a systematic manner. The manuscript is expected to include a statement identifying the relevant ethics committee that granted approval for the study and confirm compliance with recognized standards. The statistical analysis within the research should support robust conclusions. Detailed descriptions of methodologies, experiments, and materials are necessary. Authors are expected to present and interpret their findings in an appropriate and comprehensive manner, offering clear explanations of their study's results and implications. Manuscripts that lack a complete interpretation of results may be subject to rejection. Furthermore, the manuscript should be written in clear, direct, and grammatically correct English, with consistent formatting (see author guidelines).  

3. Timeliness

Reviewers are expected to provide their evaluations within a reasonable timeframe. If a reviewer anticipates a delay beyond the agreed-upon deadline, they should promptly inform the journal and request an extension. If completing the review within the designated time is not feasible, the reviewer must notify the editor, allowing the manuscript to be assigned to an alternative reviewer.  

4. Role in Editorial Decisions

The peer-review process aids editors in making informed publication decisions and can assist authors in enhancing their manuscripts through constructive feedback. Peer review is fundamental to scholarly research.  

5. Citation of Relevant Work

Reviewers are responsible for identifying pertinent published works that the authors have not cited. Any statement, observation, deduction, or argument previously reported in the literature should be accompanied by a proper citation. Reviewers should also alert the editors to any significant similarities or overlaps between the manuscript under review and any other manuscript, whether published or unpublished, of which they are aware.  

6. Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest

Information or ideas gained through the peer-review process must be held in confidence and not used for personal gain. Reviewers should decline to review manuscripts if they have any conflicts of interest, such as those arising from competition, collaboration, or other connections with the authors, affiliated companies, or institutions.  

7. Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

Manuscripts must be treated as confidential documents. Reviewers are prohibited from uploading manuscripts, in whole or in part, to AI tools, as this could compromise author confidentiality and data privacy. The review process necessitates human evaluation, as AI is incapable of providing the nuanced assessment required and may produce inaccurate or biased conclusions. Reviewers bear full responsibility for the content of their review reports. For more information, click here.

Screening for AI-Generated Articles

To detect manuscripts potentially generated by AI, the following procedures are proposed:

1. A review of the author's publication history in reputable databases (e.g., Google Scholar, PubMed) will be conducted.  
2. The absence of a formal institutional affiliation for the author will be taken into consideration.  
3. Manuscripts submitted without prior contact or invitation will be subject to careful scrutiny.  

This policy will be regularly assessed and revised to remain current with technological advancements and best practices, ensuring the maintenance of ethical standards in publishing. Authors are advised to consult the journal's guidelines on the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies, consistent with Elsevier and COPE recommendations.