Publication Ethics Policy

Principles and scope

  • Integrity and accuracy: Research reports must be complete, accurate, and reproducible; analyses and images must not be manipulated to mislead.
  • Respect and welfare: Human participants, patients, communities, and animals must be protected through ethical review, consent, privacy safeguards, and humane care.
  • Fair evaluation: Editorial decisions are independent of funding, seniority, nationality, or institutional reputation.
  • Transparency and accountability: Disclose methods, data constraints, funding, and competing interests; accept responsibility for the published record.

This policy applies to all manuscript types (research, reviews, QI, education, case reports/series, protocols, commentaries) and to all participants (authors, editors, reviewers, editorial staff).

Roles and obligations

Authors

  • Submit original work not under review elsewhere; cite and discuss related work transparently.
  • Secure approvals (IRB/IEC, animal care) and informed consent where applicable; provide approval/waiver numbers.
  • Provide complete and accurate methods, including devices/software (maker, model, version, settings), and data handling.
  • Disclose conflicts and funding; provide a Data Availability Statement; retain raw data and original images for audit.

Reviewers

  • Offer objective, evidence-based critique; avoid personal or institutional bias.
  • Maintain confidentiality; do not use or share privileged information for personal gain.
  • Declare conflicts and decline review if biased or unqualified; avoid undisclosed AI tools to generate reviews.
  • Report suspected ethical issues discreetly to editors.

Editors

  • Ensure fair peer review by qualified experts; manage conflicts (including their own) with recusal when appropriate.
  • Respond proportionately to ethical concerns; document decisions; protect participants and the record.
  • Guard the independence of editorial judgment from commercial or institutional pressures.

Authorship and contributorship

Authorship requires substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; and drafting the work or revising it critically; and final approval; and accountability for all aspects of the work. List contributions using a clear taxonomy (e.g., conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, software, visualization, writing–original draft, writing–review & editing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition). Acknowledge those who contributed but do not meet authorship criteria (e.g., clinical nursing staff, statisticians) with permission.

Changes to authorship

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors require signed confirmation from all authors explaining the reason and attesting to the accuracy of the revised contributions. Changes may delay decisions or production.

Conflicts of interest (COI)

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose financial and non-financial relationships that could influence judgment (e.g., employment, consultancies, equity, honoraria, travel, paid expert witness activity, patient advocacy roles, equipment loans). Authors must state funder names and award numbers and describe the funder’s role in study design, data collection, analysis, decision to publish, and manuscript preparation. Where a potential COI is material, editors may commission additional independent review, request clarifying statements, or decline a paper.

Human participants, patient consent, and animal welfare

Human research & clinical activities

  • Provide IRB/IEC approval or a documented waiver, with protocol numbers and dates.
  • Obtain informed consent for identifiable individuals (text, images, audio/video). Use clear, culturally sensitive language.
  • For QI activities, explain the oversight approach and safeguards; clarify whether the activity constitutes research.
  • Protect privacy through robust de-identification; avoid publishing rare-condition details that permit re-identification.

Animal care and use

  • Provide institutional approval; describe species/strain, housing, anesthesia/analgesia, humane endpoints, and post-procedural care.
  • Report measures to reduce pain and distress; justify sample sizes and endpoints.

Data integrity, sharing, and reproducibility

  • Integrity: Do not fabricate, falsify, or selectively report data. Maintain audit trails for data transformations and analysis scripts.
  • Availability: Provide a Data Availability Statement. Deposit de-identified datasets, instruments (e.g., nursing assessment tools), and code in reputable repositories where feasible. If restrictions apply (privacy, law, third-party rights), describe conditions for access.
  • Reproducibility: Specify software and versions; report device models/settings common in nursing practice (infusion pumps, monitors, EHR extraction tools).
  • Retention: Retain raw data and original images for a reasonable period consistent with institutional policy and law.

Preprints, prior dissemination, and overlapping publications

  • Preprints are welcome; disclose the server and DOI in the cover letter and manuscript. Update the preprint with the published DOI after acceptance.
  • Clearly identify related submissions or overlapping manuscripts and explain the distinct contribution to avoid duplicate publication.
  • Conference abstracts and theses are acceptable prior dissemination when fully cited and when overlapping text is kept to the minimum necessary.

Plagiarism, redundant publication, and image manipulation

Policies and checks

  • Plagiarism & self-plagiarism: Submissions undergo similarity screening; editors evaluate context to distinguish acceptable quotation from improper reuse. Provide quotation marks and citations for verbatim text; paraphrase carefully with attribution.
  • Redundant publication: Do not republish substantially similar content across venues without transparency and editorial consent.
  • Images & figures: Do not add, remove, move, or enhance features in a way that misleads. Uniform brightness/contrast adjustments are allowed if applied to the entire image and disclosed. Keep original, unprocessed images for audit.

Use of language, statistical, and AI tools

  • Disclose any tools used for language editing, statistics, image processing, or code generation in the manuscript (Methods or Acknowledgments).
  • Authors are fully responsible for verifying accuracy, originality, and appropriate citations; AI-generated text must be checked for factual correctness and absence of fabricated references.
  • Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts or excerpts to external tools that could compromise confidentiality; if internal tools are used, they must preserve privacy and security.

Peer review integrity

CJNCP uses external peer review for research articles. Authors may suggest or oppose reviewers with justification; editors retain sole discretion. Reviewers are selected for expertise and absence of conflicts. We require respectful tone and professional conduct in reports.

Confidentiality and conduct

  • Reviewers must keep manuscripts confidential and not reuse content or ideas prior to publication.
  • Undisclosed delegation of reviews (e.g., to trainees) is not permitted; co-reviewing requires prior editor approval and naming of the co-reviewer.
  • Reviewers must not use AI systems to draft reviews unless explicitly permitted by the editor and with disclosure; raw manuscript text must never be shared with external systems that store data.

Timeliness and transparency

  • Accept reviews only when qualified and available; inform editors promptly if delays arise.
  • Disclose conflicts that become apparent during review; recuse when appropriate.

Handling concerns, complaints, and allegations

CJNCP investigates ethical concerns raised by readers, reviewers, editors, or institutions. Our approach is proportionate, fair, and documented.

Stage What we do Typical outcomes
Receipt & triage Log concern; assess plausibility and immediate risk to patients or the record. No action; request clarification; proceed to preliminary assessment.
Preliminary assessment Review manuscript/files; run targeted checks (similarity, image integrity); seek internal advice. Close with note; contact authors for explanation/data; escalate to formal inquiry.
Author contact Request raw data, approvals, or explanations; set timelines; maintain confidentiality. Satisfactory resolution; further inquiry; temporary Expression of Concern.
Independent input Consult subject/ethics/statistical advisers or institutions when appropriate. Correction; Retraction/Replacement; no action; referral to institution/funder.
Decision & record Issue outcome letter; document rationale and evidence; update article status. Linked notice on HTML/PDF; metadata updated; parties notified.

Protecting patients and readers

If readers could be misled or patient harm might occur while an investigation is ongoing, CJNCP may post an Expression of Concern to alert the community.

Corrections, retractions, replacements, and legal takedowns

  • Corrections: Address honest errors that do not invalidate overall findings; issued promptly and linked bi-directionally.
  • Retractions: For unreliable findings or serious ethical breaches (e.g., fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, lack of approvals/consent). The notice states who is responsible (authors/editors/institution) and the reason.
  • Replacement: When retraction is necessary but a verified, corrected version can be published; original remains retracted with a link to the replacement.
  • Legal takedown: Where law or court orders require removal (e.g., privacy breach). We maintain a bibliographic stub and explanatory notice when legally permissible.

Sanctions and restorative actions

Issue Examples Typical actions
Minor ethical lapse Omitted funding statement; unclear consent note Request correction; require improved documentation on future submissions
Significant breach (no harm) Undeclared conflict; overlapping publication Correction or editorial note; require training; monitor future submissions
Serious breach (potential harm) Plagiarism; undisclosed human research without approval Retraction; inform institution/funder; restriction on future submissions
Fraudulent conduct Fabrication; falsification; image manipulation to mislead Retraction; long-term submission ban; institutional notification

Our aim is protective and educational. Where appropriate, CJNCP may recommend remedial training (e.g., research ethics, data stewardship) and support transparent correction of the record.

Open access, licensing, and repository alignment

CJNCP publishes open access. Authors retain key rights to share accepted manuscripts and versions of record consistent with our Repository Policy and license. Cite the article DOI and include the license statement on repository pages and files. If the record changes (correction, retraction), authors must update repository deposits to prevent outdated versions from circulating without context.

Governance, versioning, and review cycles

  • Independence: The Editor-in-Chief has final responsibility for the integrity of editorial decisions, with oversight by the publisher regarding policy compliance and legal matters.
  • Versioning: This policy is versioned; the current version and date of effect are shown on this page. Submissions are processed under the version in effect at initial submission unless otherwise noted.
  • Review: CJNCP reviews this policy regularly and updates processes to reflect evolving best practices in nursing and clinical research publishing.

Education & outreach

We provide guidance materials for authors (templates, checklists), reviewers (good-practice primers), and editors (decision aids). Feedback from nurses, allied health professionals, patients, and institutions informs continual improvement.

Contact

Questions or concerns about this policy can be directed to the editorial office via the journal’s official contact page. Include the manuscript ID (if applicable), article title, and a brief description of your inquiry. For urgent ethical concerns, flag the subject line so we can prioritize a response.