Publication Ethics

Submission to the Journal of Perioperative Nursing (JPN) implies full acceptance of, and adherence to, the ethical standards outlined below. These principles are informed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and international best practice.

Responsibilities of Authors

Originality and Plagiarism

  • Manuscripts must present original work. Text, data, or ideas taken from others must be clearly cited; verbatim material must appear in quotation marks or block quotes with a citation.
  • Submissions will be screened for plagiarism. Proven misconduct will result in rejection or retraction.

Authorship

  • List only those who have made substantial contributions to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the study.
  • All listed authors must approve the final manuscript and agree to its submission.

Redundant or Parallel Publication

  • Concurrent submission to more than one journal, or publication of substantially the same work elsewhere, is prohibited. Prior publication of an abstract (< 500 words) or a pre‑print must be disclosed on submission.

Acknowledgement of Sources

  • Cite all publications that have informed the work. Permission must be obtained for any material (e.g., figures) reproduced from other sources.

Conflicts of Interest and Funding

  • Declare any financial or personal relationships that could bias the work.
  • Identify all sources of funding and the role (if any) of the funder in study design, data collection, analysis, or manuscript preparation.

Data Accessibility and Retention

  • Upon request, authors should provide the dataset or other materials underpinning the results. Where ethically and legally permissible, data should be deposited in an open repository.

Responsibilities of Editors

Publication Decisions

  • Editorial decisions are based on the manuscript’s scholarly merit, originality, clarity, and relevance to JPN’s scope, independent of authors’ race, gender, institutional affiliation, or political beliefs

Fair and Impartial Review

  • Editors supervise a double‑blind peer‑review process, ensuring that author and reviewer identities remain confidential.

Confidentiality

  • Manuscripts and correspondence are treated as confidential and shared only with individuals involved in the editorial process.

Conflicts of Interest

  • Editors must recuse themselves from handling a manuscript if they have a conflict of interest. Unpublished material shall not be used for editors’ own research without written consent from the authors.

Ethical Oversight

  • Allegations of misconduct (e.g., plagiarism, data fabrication) are investigated promptly and impartially, following COPE flowcharts.

 Responsibilities of Reviewers

Confidentiality

  • Manuscripts received for review are confidential documents and may not be shared or discussed with others without the editor's permission.

Objectivity

  • Reviews should be constructive, evidence-based, and free from personal criticism.

Timeliness

  • Reviewers must submit reports within the agreed timeframe. If a delay is unavoidable, they should inform the editor immediately.

Acknowledgement of Sources

  • Reviewers should alert editors to any relevant work not cited by the authors.

Conflicts of Interest

  • Reviewers must decline to assess a manuscript if they have competing interests—financial, collaborative, or personal—that could influence their judgment.