Last updated: September 9, 2024
Publication Ethics
The key features of the open access (OA) publishing model, namely free access to articles supported by a one-time author payment, have brought about many new challenges to publishers. Our publishing philosophy at the Baishideng Publishing Group (Baishideng) is to discover and disseminate salient and timely knowledge. We handle ethical issues in accordance with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines, which are continuously applied to the development and revision of our own codes of conduct, policies, and processes.
All manuscripts submitted to Baishideng journals will pass strict single-blind peer review. Moreover, in order to avoid authors’ academic misconduct, we do not allow authors to recommend reviewers for their papers, and instead we select reviewers with expertise in the relevant field from our database of Editorial Board Members and highly influential scientists.
As a publisher of OA journals, it is our duty and responsibility to: (1) Follow the core practices for publishers; (2) Publish articles in a standardized, open and transparent manner; (3) Disclose important publishing information; (4) Establish and implement a reasonable publishing expenditure and pricing system as well as a comprehensive academic quality management system and an efficient management system to avoid plagiarism and citation manipulation; and (5) Proclaim and demonstrate our determination and dedication to controlling the highest quality in editing and publishing.
1 CORE PRACTICES FOR PUBLISHERS
1.1 Following the COPE Core Practices for publishers: The manuscript publishing process of the Baishideng is founded upon a clear definition of the relationship between authors, peer reviewers and our staff. That foundation is strengthened by consistent respect for the privacy of the authors and peer reviewers, protection of intellectual property and copyright, and fostering of editorial independence.
1.2 Following the COPE Core Practices for journal editors: The manuscript editing process of the Baishideng begins with ensuring that editors understand their general duties and responsibilities, so that they may efficiently and effectively recognize manuscripts that fit the views and scope of the journal that they represent. This knowledge will also promote their activities and motivations to meet the needs of readers and authors, to constantly improve the journal they represent. The manuscript editing process has systematic steps in place to assure the quality of the material selected for publication. Each step is rooted in the core values of championing freedom of expression, maintaining integrity of the academic record, ensuring the business needs do not compromise intellectual and ethical standards, and publishing corrections, clarifications, retractions and apologies when needed.
1.3 Following the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA) Best Practices: All of our journals are published according to the basic guide to best practices in licensing and attribution in open access publishing developed by the OASPA.
1.4 Following the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations: All of our 46 English-language journals are edited according to the recommendations for conduct, reporting, editing and publication of scholarly work in medical journals developed by the ICMJE.
1.5 Following academic rules and norms: All of our 46 English-language journals follow the academic rules and norms. Authors must provide human/animal rights statement(s) as appropriate, including institutional review board statement and institutional animal care and use committee statement, informed consent statement, clinical trial registration statement, biostatistics statement, conflict-of-interest statement, and data sharing statement. These statements (and confirmatory documents, where applicable) are published online together with the manuscript. For information on the academic rules and norms, please visit our website at http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/GerInfo/243.
2 TRANSPARENCY OF ACADEMIC PUBLISHING
2.1 Peer review process: All of our 46 English-language journals use single-blind peer review. In order to standardize the manuscript peer-review activity of Editorial Board Members and Peer Reviewers, Baishideng has adopted a registration system for Editorial Board Members and Peer Reviewers to ensure that only credible, high-quality studies will be published. Peer review is the process by which an academic manuscript is reviewed by experts in the relevant field, i.e. external reviewers, before a decision is made on whether to publish the manuscript or not. For more information on the manuscript peer review process, please visit our website at http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/GerInfo/241.
2.2 Manuscript decision: The manuscript decision process of Baishideng’s 46 English-language journals includes the following three major steps: First review, second review, and final review. For more information on the academic integrity, persons responsible for manuscript decision, and the decision process, please visit our website at https://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/Gerinfo/316.
2.3 Editorial team/contact: Baishideng possesses a professional editing and publishing team. For more information on Baishideng staff, please visit our website at http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/members.htm. For contact details, please visit our website at http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/contact.htm.
2.4 Appeals and Complaints: Baishideng takes each appeal and complaint seriously. To better respond to people when appeals and complaints are raised, Baishideng handles these appeals and complaints in consultation with all relevant guidelines published by COPE and in alignment with Baishideng’s Policies on Handling Appeals and Complaints.
2.5 Article processing charge: Information on the article processing charge (APC) for articles published by Baishideng and on waiving of the APC are provided on the journal’s home page. For information about the APC, please visit our website at https://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/242.
2.6 Copyright: For all articles published by Baishideng, the copyright is owned by the article’s authors. All HTML or PDF articles published by Baishideng specifically state the following copyright information: “©The Author(s). Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.”
2.7 Publication misconduct: Publication misconduct includes plagiarism, citation manipulation, and data falsification. Immediately upon identification of any form of publication misconduct, Baishideng directly addresses it according to our policy of dealing with publication misconduct. For more information on our policy of dealing with publication misconduct, please visit our website at http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/208.
2.8 Ownership and management: All 47 journals published by Baishideng, including 1 Chinese-language journal and 46 English-language journals, are owned by Baishideng. All of these journals are now published in the United States and registered in the United States National Library of Medicine. The editing and publishing of the 47 journals are managed by Baishideng.
2.9 Journal website: The website home pages of the 47 Baishideng journals display important information on copyright license agreement, editorial board members, publication misconduct, publication ethics, the current issue, E-bound journals, E-journals, high impact articles, journal scope and aims (i.e. ‘about the journal’), all issues, open access, the peer-review process, guidelines for authors, article processing charge, permissions, and how to submit a manuscript.
2.10 Journal name: The names of the 47 journals published by Baishideng are registered at issn.org [website of the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) International Centre], with ISSN numbers obtained.
2.11 Conflict-of-interest: Baishideng has formulated a policy for managing conflicts of interest for authors, editorial board members, peer reviewers, and our staff. A conflict-of-interest statement is required for all article and study types. Once any undeclared conflict of interest is found by reviewers, the manuscript is required to be sent back to the editorial office immediately. For more information on the conflict-of-interest statement, please visit our website at http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/GerInfo/236.
2.12 Online access to articles: All of the 47 journals published by Baishideng are published as OA Journals. Readers can read and download all of the published articles for free.
2.13 Revenue sources: All of the 47 journals published by Baishideng adopt the OA publishing model. The revenue sources are the APC, exclusive journal database cooperation agreement, copyright permission, and reprints. For more information on the revenue sources, please visit our website at http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/gerinfo/265.
2.14 Advertising: The business identifier (trademark, logo, and/or unique name) of the advertiser must be prominently displayed in all advertisements appearing in publications of the Baishideng. The content of all advertisements must be clearly germane to the practice of medicine. The advertiser warrants that all information and representations in advertisements, as well as the pharmaceutical products being advertised, are in compliance with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in the country where the advertisement will be seen. Advertisements for pharmaceutical products, including drug products under new drug application review, that are subject to US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight must comply with FDA regulations regarding advertising and promotion.
2.15 Publication frequency: All of the 47 journals published by Baishideng indicate the publication frequency on the respective journal’s website home page. For information on publication frequency, please visit our website at https://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/GerInfo/271.
2.16 Archiving: All of the 47 journals published by Baishideng are archived by Baishideng itself, and 23 are also archived in PubMed Central.
2.17 Direct marketing: All of the 47 journals published by Baishideng propagandize themselves or invite manuscripts through important international congresses in the relevant field or the Baishideng highly influential scientists database.
3 DISCLOSURE OF IMPORTANT PUBLISHING INFORMATION
3.1 Peer Review Report: All Peer Review Reports, including the Journal Editor-in-Chief’s Review Report, are released online together with the manuscript. The names of peer reviewers and the peer review report’s classifications for academic quality and language quality are released as footnotes in the HTML version.
3.2 Response to Reviewer’s Comments: The authors’ Response to Reviewers is released online together with the manuscript.
3.3 Study approval report for studies involving human participants or animals: The documents confirming the Institutional Review Board statement, and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee statement provided by the authors’ institution are released online together with the manuscript.
3.4 Clinical trial registration: The clinical trial registration statement provided by the authors is released online together with the manuscript.
3.5 Biostatistics statement: The biostatistics review certificate provided by the authors is released online together with the manuscript.
3.6 Source of funding: The documentation confirming the funding source provided by the authors’ institution is released online together with the manuscript.
3.7 Conflict-of-interest statement: The conflict-of-interest statement provided by the authors is indicated in the article.
3.8 Author contributions statement: The author contributions statement provided by authors is indicated in the article.
3.9 Copyright License Agreement: The Copyright License Agreement signed by all of the authors is released online together with the manuscript.
3.10 Language editing certificate: The language editing certificate provided by non-native speakers of English authors is released online together with the manuscript.
3.11 Academic misconduct detection report: The iThenticate detection reports are released online together with the manuscript.
4 PUBLISHING EXPENDITURE AND PRICING SYSTEM
Reasonable APC can be calculated based on the following expenditures:
4.1 Renting an office.
4.2 Purchasing server and broadband service.
4.3 Employing the general manager, editors-in-chief, assistant editors, science editors, language editors, and production editors.
4.4 Training of all staff.
4.5 Creating all edited and published documents, including guidelines for authors and guidelines for manuscript preparation and the editing and publishing process.
4.6 Developing and maintaining the electronic system for manuscript submission, peer review, and production.
4.7 Developing and maintaining the journal website and the publication release system.
4.8 Creating the editorial board members database.
4.9 Creating the highly influential scientists database.
4.10 Costs for science editors to attend important international academic conferences and publishing industry conferences.
5 ACADEMIC PUBLISHING QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
5.1 Academic quality management by the assistant editor: The publisher’s assistant editor controls the academic quality according to the work flow of the manuscript’s registration set forth for the assistant editor. The work flow of this manuscript registration for the assistant editor includes manuscript submission, retrieval of the authors’ submission histories, detection of duplicate publication, manuscript check, check of the registered manuscript information, and confirmation of manuscript receipt.
5.2 Academic quality management by the peer reviewers: The external peer reviewers control academic quality through their participation in and adherence to the manuscript peer review process.
5.3 Academic quality and editing quality management by the science editor: The science editor from the publisher’s Science Editor Development Department controls the academic quality and editing quality according to the manuscript scientific editing process. The manuscript scientific editing process includes the following steps: The science editor conducts the iThenticate screening for detection of plagiarism in the manuscript; the science editor checks whether the language of the manuscript meets the standard; the science editor sequentially checks the title, author information, author contributions, funding information, corresponding author information, academic rules and norms, abstract, key words, core tip, main headings of the text, references, line drawings, images, tables, abbreviations, and units and statistical expressions in the manuscript; the science editor checks all the files authors have submitted; the science editor edits the revised manuscript and sends the edited manuscript and all related documents to the Science Editor Development Department’s director for further review.
5.4 Academic quality and editing quality management by the Science Editor Development Department’s director: The publisher’s Science Editor Development Department’s director controls academic quality and editing quality according to the manuscript finalization process. The manuscript finalization process includes the following steps: The Science Editor Development Department’s director checks and reviews the edited manuscript and all its related documents submitted by the science editor; the Science Editor Development Department’s director assigns the manuscript to the journal editor-in-chief for evaluation of the academic quality and language quality and then to the publisher’s executive editor-in-chief for evaluation of the editing quality and publishing quality.
5.5 Academic quality management by the journal editor-in-chief: The journal editor-in-chief controls the academic quality according to the work flow set forth for the journal editor-in-chief. The work flow for the journal editor-in-chief includes the following steps: The journal editor-in-chief reviews all the documents relevant to the academic rules and norms; the journal editor-in-chief reviews the Peer Review Report and the authors’ comments in the Response to Reviewers; the journal editor-in-chief reviews the academic misconduct detection report; the journal editor-in-chief checks the language editing certificate provided by non-native speakers of English; the journal editor-in-chief evaluates the academic and language quality of the manuscript and completes the review report to be delivered to the publisher’s executive editor-in-chief.
5.6 Publishing quality management by the executive editor-in-chief: The publisher’s executive editor-in-chief controls the publishing quality according to the work flow set forth for the executive editor-in-chief. The work flow for the executive editor-in-chief includes the following steps: The executive editor-in-chief reviews all the documents relevant to the academic rules and norms; the executive editor-in-chief reviews the Peer Review Report; the executive editor-in-chief reviews the authors’ comments in their Response to Reviewers; the executive editor-in-chief reviews the academic misconduct detection report; the executive editor-in-chief checks the language editing certificate provided by non-native speakers of English; the executive editor-in-chief checks whether the manuscript’s editing meets the quality standard and completes the task list to approve the manuscript’s final acceptance.
5.7 Publishing quality management by the language editor: The language editor conducts language editing and controls the manuscript’s language quality according to the work flow set forth for the manuscript language editing. The work flow for the manuscript language editing includes the following steps: The language editor confirms the manuscript’s language quality classification that has been made by peer reviewers; the language editor confirms the manuscript’s language quality classification that has been made by the journal editor-in-chief; the language editor checks the language editing certificate; the language editor edits the entire text. In general, the Baishideng expects manuscripts submitted by non-native English-speaking authors (for example, Chinese authors) should be edited by a native English-speaking editor and then confirmed by an editor with knowledge of the original language (for example, a Chinese-speaking English-language editor) to ensure the language quality.
5.8 Publishing quality management by the production editor: The production editor controls the publishing quality according to the work flow set forth for the production editor. The work flow for the production editor includes the following steps: The production editor receives the manuscript; the production editor prepares the manuscript layout, including the figures and tables; the production editor proofreads and revises the manuscript; the authors check the PDF proof; the production editor revises the manuscript according to the authors’ comments on the PDF proof; the responsible production editor prepares and proofreads the complete electronic version of the manuscript; the Production Department’s director proofreads the electronic version of the manuscript; the responsible production editor prepares the online version; the responsible production editor releases the online version; the responsible production editor prepares the online version for PubMed Central/Web of Science; the article is prepared for archiving.
5.9 Publishing quality management by the Production Department’s director: The Production Department’s director controls the publishing quality according to the work flow set forth for the Production Department’s director. The work flow for the production department director includes the following steps: The Production Department’s director checks the journal cover, journal table of contents, and the text, tables, figures, references, documents relevant to the academic rules and norms, and page numbers/article numbers of the electronic version of each manuscript. Particularly, it is checked whether the PDF and HTML versions of the article meet the publishing quality standard.
5.10 Post-publication debate: All of Baishideng journals allow debate post publication through Letters to the Editor. Baishideng handles post-publication debate in consultation with all relevant guidelines published by COPE and in alignment with our Guidelines on Methods of Post-Publication Debate. If a Letter to the Editor stimulates any amendments to a published article, the original authors of the critiqued article will be notified immediately after the Letter to the Editor is published, and the original authors of the critiqued article will be invited to write their own reply to the published Letter to the Editor and to submit it as another Letter to the Editor.
5.11 Errata and retractions for published articles: All of our journals allow authors to correct and retract their published articles when necessary. Baishideng follows the Errata, Retraction, Duplicate Publication and Comment Policy by National Library of Medicine®.
6 MANAGEMENT OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT
For all of the 46 English-language journals edited and published by Baishideng, we strictly control academic misconduct from the time of manuscript submission. Academic misconduct includes plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate submission/multiple submissions, overlapping publication, and inappropriate authorship. We take the following measures to control academic misconduct:
6.1 Academic rules and norms: All manuscripts submitted to our journals must follow Baishideng’s academic rules and norms. For information on the academic rules and norms, please visit our website at http://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/GerInfo/243.
6.2 Ethics Committee of Baishideng: To better handle ethics-related affairs of Baishideng journals, Baishideng has established its own Ethics Committee, which holds the specific responsibility for all ethical issues of Baishideng journals. For information on the Ethics Committee of Baishideng, please visit our website at https://www.wjgnet.com/bpg/GerInfo/317.
6.3 Bing search of the manuscript title: The publisher’s science editor performs a Bing search of the title of the manuscript before we send the manuscript for peer review. The purpose of this is to check whether there is duplicate publication or plagiarism.
6.4 iThenticate detection of the complete manuscript: Before the manuscript is sent for further review, the publisher’s science editor performs iThenticate detection of the revised manuscript returned by the authors. The iThenticate Detection Report will be published online together with the manuscript.
6.5 Rejecting recommendation of peer reviewers by authors: In order to prevent the manipulation of peer review by a third party, we do not allow for authors to recommend peer reviewers. The peer reviewers for all manuscripts are chosen from our editorial board member/peer reviewer database.
6.6 Crossover peer review: In order to prevent potential academic misconduct that may arise from authors and peer reviewers from the same country knowing one another and/or colluding, the publisher’s science editor chooses peer reviewers from a country different from that of the authors.
6.7 Manuscript withdrawal: In our manuscript acceptance letter and Copyright Transfer document, we remind authors that the manuscript will be withdrawn and the authors will be punished immediately upon discovery of plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, duplicate submission/multiple submissions, overlapping publication, or inappropriate authorship.
6.8 Citation manipulation: In order to prevent citation manipulation, the publisher’s science editor and Science Editor Development Department’s director check whether the manuscript’s citations meet the rules and norms; for example, self-citation and citation of other journals published by Baishideng are considered. Upon discovery of citation manipulation, the manuscript will be withdrawn.
6.9 Allegations of misconduct: To better respond to people when concerns about a published article are raised, for example, concerns about the soundness of published data, plagiarism, figure manipulation, or other forms of misconduct, Baishideng handles these allegations in consultation with the relevant guidelines published by COPE and in alignment with Baishideng’s Policies on Handling Allegations from Whistleblowers.