We investigate all instances of alleged scientific misconduct identified in submitted manuscripts and published papers, including, but not limited to, plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, and duplicate publication. We follow the Committee on Publication Ethics’ Core Practices (https://publicationethics.org/core-practices) as well as The University of New Mexico’s Research Misconduct Protocol (https://handbook.unm.edu/e40/) in the management of investigations of possible misconduct.
A) Publication Decisions
The editorial board ensures that each manuscript submitted for publication undergoes review by a three-person editorial board and peer review by at least two reviewers with expertise in the field of research. The Editor in Chief is responsible for deciding which of the manuscripts submitted to the journal will be accepted for publication based on the relevance of the research, its importance to readers and researchers, the reviewers’ comments, and such publication requirements on plagiarism and copyright infringement set forth by The University of New Mexico’s Research Misconduct Protocol.
B) Fair PlayThe editorial board evaluates submitted manuscripts based on their intellectual merit and relevance to the scope of the journal, without regard to the authors’ race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic origin, spiritual belief, citizenship, institutional affiliation, or political philosophy.
C) Confidentiality
The editors will not disclose any information about submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other members of the editorial board, and publisher, as appropriate.
D) Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest
The editors and editorial board will not use any unpublished or published materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript without express, written cosent of the authors. Editors shall recuse themselves from considering the publication of a manuscript if it causes conflicts of interest resulting from collaborative, competitive, or other associations/relationships with any authors, companies, or institutions connected to the manuscript; editors will instead defer to another member of the editorial board to handle the manuscript in these cases.
E) Cooperation and Participation in Investigations
The editors will take responsive measures when ethical concerns have been raised with regard to a submitted manuscript or published paper. Every submitted report of unethical publication will be evaluated. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, the editors may reject the manuscript, ask the author to retract the manuscript or publish a correction. In instances of rejection or retraction due to misconduct, the corresponding author’s institution and funding agency will be notified.
F) Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The editorial board will take extra care to ensure that all instances of AI-usage are accurately reported and disclsoed. If AI has been used by authors, it is the responsibility of the editorial board to guarantee that AI has not been used so extensively as to call into question the integrity of the scientific material being published.
Authors of manuscripts of original research should present an accurate history of the work completed, followed by an objective discussion of its meaning and relevance. The manuscript should contain adequate information and references to allow others to replicate the work. Knowingly presenting inaccurate statements constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable.
B) Data Access and Retention
Authors may be asked to provide raw data with their manuscript for editorial review, and should be prepared to retain and make the data available for a reasonable amount of time after publication.
C) Plagiarism and Originality
The authors should ensure that they have written and submitted only original work, and if they use and/or reference work from other authors, that it has been cited or quoted appropriately. Plagiarism takes many forms, from publishing another author’s work as their own, copying or substantially paraphrasing another author’s work without citing that author’s work, or claiming research from another author as their own. Plagiarism in all forms is considered unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable.
D) Duplicate, Redundant, or Concurrent Publishing
Authors should not publish essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Authors should not submit a manuscript that has already been published in another journal; all manuscript submissions must be novel and relevant to the scope of the journal. Concurrently submitting the same manuscript to several journals is considering unethical publishing and is unacceptable. Additionally, authors should not submit a previously published paper for consideration in another journal.
E) Disclosure of Conflicts of InterestAt the earliest stage possible, authors should disclose any conflicts of interest that may be presumed to influence the results or their interpretation in the manuscript. The author may do so by submitting a disclosure form along with their manuscript submission and including a statement in the manuscript. Potential conflicts of interest include: financial, such as educational grants, as well as nonfinancial, such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge, or beliefs in the material or subject matter being discussed. All sources of financial support should be disclosed.
F) Authorship of the Manuscript
Authorship should be limited to those who have made significant contributions to the design, conception, data analysis, execution, or analysis and interpretation of the study. Others who contributed to the manuscript, such as in writing and editing support should not be listed as authors, but instead acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section after written permission to include their name is obtained. The corresponding author should ensure that all co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the manuscript, and that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and have agreed to proceed with its entry for publication.
G) Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Authorship
Authors must fully outline the use of AI in authorship of their submitted articles. Authors will disclose if and how AI has been used in data analysis, generation, or manuscript structure. AI methodologies used during the authorship process must be clearly outlined to guarantee reproducibility and verification of presented results.
H) Acknowledgement of Sources
Authors should ensure that proper acknowledgement of the work of others is always made. Authors should cite publications that have been instrumental in the completion of reported study. Information obtained privately (through correspondence or discussion with third parties) must not be used or reported without explicit written consent from the source. Data obtained from confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, may not be used without the explicit written consent from the author(s) of the work involved in these services.
I) Fundamental Errors in Publishing
When authors discover significant errors or inaccuracies in their own published work, they must promptly notify the journal’s editorial board or publisher and cooperate with the editors to retract or correct the work. If the editorial board or publisher learns of significant errors or inaccuracies from a third party, it is the authors’ obligation to promptly correct or retract the paper or offer evidence to the editorial board of the correctness of the original composition.
J) Human or Animal Subjects
If the work involves use of human or animal subjects, the authors must ensure that the manuscript contains a statement explaining that all procedures were performed in compliance with all relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that appropriate institutional committees have approved them. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation in human cases. Privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.
K) Peer Review
Authors are required to participate in the peer review process an cooperate fully by promptly responding to reviewers’ requests for clarification, proof of ethics approval, and copyright permissions. If a first decision of “revisions necessary” is made, authors must thoroughly respond to the reviewers’ comments in a timely manner, revising and returning their manuscript by the deadline given.
A) Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Through their review, reviewers will assist the editorial board in making editorial and publication decisions through communication with the editors.
B) Promptness
Any invited reviewer who is unable to complete their review of a submitted manuscript in a timely manner should immediately notify the editors and decline the invitation to review to allow enough time to contact other reviewers.
C) Confidentiality
Reviews should be conducted objectively with the reviewers only considering the quality of the work submitted. All manuscripts received for review are confidential and should be treated as such. Reviewers must not discuss or show any aspect of the manuscript with anyone without the authorization from the editorial board; this also applies to reviewers who have declined the invitation for review. Reviewer misconduct (confidentiality breach, delay in review, and plagiarism) will not be tolerated.
D) Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Any reviewer who has conflicts on interest resulting from collaborative, competitive, or other associations/relationships with any authors, companies, or institutions connected to the manuscript should immediately notify the editorial board of their conflict of interest and decline invitation to review.
E) Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
The reviewers will not use artificial intelligence (AI) in their review of submitted articles. Use of such tools compromises the integrity and confidentiality of the peer-review process. The potential prejudices and constraints of AI have the potential to compromise a fair evaluation of submitted articles.
A) Handling of Unethical Behavior
In cases of unethical publishing behavior, Starline Printing, in cooperation with the editorial board, will take all necessary measures to clarify the issue and amend the article in question. The publisher, along with the editorial board, will take appropriate steps to identify and prevent the publication of papers when unethical conduct has occurred.
B) Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Publication
Starline Printing is committed to publishing original work, and will report any instances of extensive AI-usage where the work is no longer the authors’ own ideas and data to the editorial board, and will take reasonable action to prevent publication of articles when unethical AI-usage has occurred.
C) Access to Journal Content
Starline Printing is committed to providing access to the scholarly work produced by the Western Journal of Orthopaedics by handling and printing physical copies of each volume of the journal.