Publication Ethics and Editorial Policy

The Editorial Board of the journal "Oncology" adheres to international standards of publication ethics and takes all necessary measures to prevent any misconduct. In our work, we are guided by the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), WAME (World Association of Medical Editors), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles, and the provisions of current copyright legislation.

The publication ethics and editorial policy of the edition include the definition of the duties of the editorial board, authors, and reviewers, as well as policies regarding plagiarism, the use of artificial intelligence, and conflict resolution procedures.

Duties of the Editorial Board

  1. The Editor-in-Chief and members of the Editorial Board are responsible for making decisions regarding the publication of articles. The Editorial Board is guided by the journal's editorial policy and operates within the framework of current legislation on publishing and copyright.
  2. Decisions to accept an article for publication are based exclusively on its scientific value, relevance, and alignment with the journal's scope. During the review process, the editorial office reserves the right to refuse publication to an author.
  3. The Editorial Board appoints reviewers from among specialists in the relevant field of research. The journal employs a double-blind peer review process.
  4. Editors shall not disclose information regarding submitted manuscripts to anyone other than the authors and the assigned reviewers.
  5. In the event of ethical breaches (discovered either after publication or during the review process), the editorial office will conduct an investigation and reserves the right to publish a rebuttal, a correction, or to retract the article.

Responsibilities of Authors

  1. Authors must guarantee that the submitted manuscript is an original work that has not been previously published and is not currently under consideration by any other publication.
  2. Any form of plagiarism is unacceptable. The use of ideas, texts, or results from other authors without proper citation of the primary source is prohibited. The journal screens all manuscripts for plagiarism prior to the peer-review process.
  3. Co-authors should include only those individuals who have made a significant intellectual contribution to the work. All co-authors must be familiar with the text of the article and approve its final version.
  4. Authors must adhere to ethical standards for conducting research. When performing studies involving humans or animals, authors must confirm that they have obtained approval from an ethics committee or secured informed consent from the participants.
  5. Authors are required to disclose any financial or personal conflicts of interest that could influence the research findings.
  6. Upon request from a reviewer or the Editorial Board (to resolve disputes), authors must provide accurate reports or raw data from the study. The intentional use of false or falsified data is strictly unacceptable.

Responsibilities of Reviewers

  1. Reviewers must adhere to the confidentiality policy. A manuscript received for review is a confidential document. Reviewers are strictly prohibited from discussing the article with third parties or uploading the text into open AI models.
  2. If a selected reviewer feels that their qualifications do not match the topic of the article or that they will be unable to complete the review within the specified timeframe, they must immediately notify the editorial office and decline the assignment.
  3. Reviewers are not permitted to evaluate manuscripts if a conflict of interest exists. A specialist who serves as the author's supervisor, subordinate, or direct colleague cannot be appointed as a reviewer.
  4. Reviewers must remain objective when evaluating a manuscript. The assessment should be unbiased, and all comments must be supported by scientific facts or statistical calculations.
  5. Reviewers should bring to the editor's attention any substantial similarity between the submitted manuscript and already published works, as well as any suspicions regarding data manipulation.
  6. Reviewers must adhere to the designated review period. For the journal "Oncology," this period is 2 weeks.

 

Plagiarism Policy

The Editorial Board of the journal adheres to COPE standards, according to which plagiarism is a violation of intellectual property and is strictly unacceptable.

When preparing a manuscript, the author is obligated to provide proper citations for any used ideas, text, or results belonging to other persons.

Plagiarism screening is conducted during the preliminary review stage by an editorial staff member using the StrikePlagiarism.com service. A corresponding report on the manuscript's originality is generated. Based on the results of the report, a final decision is made to either send the manuscript for peer review or to reject it (in cases involving a significant percentage of borrowed text or complete duplication of existing publications)

Conflict of Interest

All participants in the publishing process (authors, editorial board, and reviewers) must guarantee the absence of, or disclose the existence of, any conflict of interest. The editorial office adheres to COPE and ICMJE standards, operating on the principle of full transparency.

Authors. When submitting an article, authors are required to declare any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived as bias. If no conflict exists, the text of the article should state: "The authors declare no conflict of interest."

Reviewers. A specialist cannot participate in the review of a manuscript if they have joint projects, are colleagues, or are in direct competition with the author. The reviewer is obliged to notify the editor of any potential conflict and decline the review assignment.

Editorial Board. Members of the editorial board do not make decisions regarding their own works or the works of close colleagues. Such manuscripts are reassigned to an independent editor.

Article Retraction

In the event that significant errors or violations of ethical standards are discovered in an already published article, the editorial office acts in accordance with COPE recommendations. Reasons for retracting articles may include: proven falsification of data; plagiarism; redundant (duplicate) publication; violation of ethical standards; inappropriate authorship; breach of the peer-review process; unspecified conflict of interest.  The formal retraction procedure is described in the corresponding section of the journal's guidelines.

Conflict Resolution Procedure

Any complaints regarding violations of publication ethics are reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief. In the event of disputes, the Editorial Board refers to the COPE flowcharts (standard schemes) to ensure an objective decision is reached.

Ethical Aspects of Research Involving Humans and Animals

The editorial office of the journal upholds high standards of bioethics. All research involving human participants (patients) or experiments on animals must comply with international and national ethical norms. Comprehensive data confirming compliance with bioethical requirements must be provided in the "Materials and Methods" section of the article.

Research Involving Human Participants (Patients)

When publishing articles on medical topics, the editorial board adheres to the principles of WAME (World Association of Medical Editors) and ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors).

All clinical and other studies involving humans must be conducted in accordance with the principles of the WMA Declaration of Helsinki.

Authors must obtain permission to conduct the study from the ethics commission (local ethics committee) of the institution where the work was performed. The protocol number and the date of the meeting must be specified in the text of the article.

Authors must confirm that written voluntary informed consent was obtained from all adult participants (or from parents/guardians in the case of children or incapacitated persons) for participation in the study and the publication of its results.

Patients have a right to privacy, anonymity, and inviolability. Information that allows for the identification of an individual must not be published.

Experimental Research Involving Animals

Studies involving experiments on animals must be performed in compliance with the principles of humane treatment and bioethics.

Legal Compliance: Research must comply with the provisions of the European Convention for the Protection of Vertebrate Animals used for Experimental and other Scientific Purposes (Strasbourg, 1986) and the Law of Ukraine "On the Protection of Animals from Cruelty."

Standard Operating Procedures: The article must state that the study was approved by the institution’s bioethics commission and that all manipulations (anesthesia, euthanasia, etc.) were conducted according to established standards.

Refusal of Publication

The editorial office reserves the right to reject an article if there are reasonable doubts regarding the ethics of the conducted research, even if the authors have obtained permission from an ethics committee. If signs of animal cruelty or violations of patient rights are detected during the peer-review process, the article will be rejected without the right to appeal.