Ethical Guidelines

Overview

The Editor-in-Chief/Editor and editorial team are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and ethical practice in scholarly publishing. The South Asian Journal of Cancer follow internationally recognized publishing and ethical guidelines to ensure the quality, credibility, and integrity of the scholarly record.

The South Asian Journal of Cancer adheres to the recommendations and principles established by:

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
World Association of Medical Editors (WAME)
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
Declaration of Helsinki of the World Medical Association (WMA)

All authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and publishing staff are expected to comply with these ethical standards throughout the submission, peer-review, publication, and post-publication processes.

Editorial Responsibilities

The Editor-in-Chief and editorial team are responsible for ensuring fair, unbiased, timely, and confidential handling of all manuscripts submitted to the journal.

Editorial decisions are based exclusively on:

Scientific merit
Originality
Relevance to the journal scope
Ethical compliance
Quality and clarity of presentation

Editors evaluate manuscripts without discrimination based on race, gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, religious belief, political philosophy, or personal relationships. The editorial team retains full authority to address ethical concerns at any stage of the publication process, including pre-publication review and post-publication oversight.

The South Asian Journal of Cancer maintains complete editorial independence. Editorial decisions are not influenced by sponsors, advertisers, institutions, or the publisher.

Peer Review Ethics

All manuscripts subject to peer review undergo the journal’s double-blind peer-review process, as described in the Instructions for Authors. Editors and reviewers are expected to follow the COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

Reviewers must:

Treat manuscripts as confidential documents
Provide objective, constructive, and timely feedback
Declare any conflicts of interest
Avoid use of unpublished material for personal advantage
Decline review when conflicts or lack of expertise exist

Manuscripts submitted by editorial board members or editors are handled independently, and the submitting editor is excluded from all editorial decisions related to the manuscript.

Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship is limited to individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the work.

Authors should meet all of the following criteria:

Significant contribution to the conception, design, acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
Drafting or critically revising the manuscript
Approval of the final version of the manuscript
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work

All authors must approve the submitted and final versions of the manuscript.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately.

Authors are required to provide:

Author contribution statements
Funding disclosures
Conflict of interest disclosures
Ethical approval details where applicable
AI Declaration

Changes in Authorship

Requests for addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors after submission must be submitted by the corresponding author along with:

Detailed justification for the change
Written consent from all authors involved

Such requests are evaluated in accordance with COPE recommendations.

Manuscript Submission Policy

Manuscripts must be prepared according to the journal's Instructions for Authors and relevant reporting guidelines.

Submissions are accepted only through the journal's official online submission system. Manuscripts submitted through email or other unofficial channels will not be considered.

By submitting a manuscript, authors confirm that:

The manuscript is original
The manuscript has not been published previously
The manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere
All authors have reviewed and approved the submission
Ethical approvals and informed consents have been obtained where required
All conflicts of interest and funding sources have been disclosed

The corresponding/submitting author is responsible for all communication with the journal during the editorial and publication process.

Manuscript Withdrawal Policy

Requests for manuscript withdrawal must be submitted formally by the corresponding author through the registered email address, along with a clear reason for the withdrawal request.

Withdrawal requests made during peer review, after peer review, or following acceptance are evaluated by the editorial team on a case-by-case basis. The journal reserves the right to decline withdrawal requests where concerns related to publication ethics, authorship disputes, duplicate submission, or other unresolved issues are identified.

In certain cases, the Editorial Team may request written confirmation or consent from all listed authors before processing the withdrawal request.

Unethical or silent withdrawal of a manuscript after acceptance may be considered a breach of publication ethics.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest that could influence the work or its interpretation

Potential conflicts may include:

Employment
Consultancy
Funding support
Honoraria
Stock ownership
Patents
Institutional affiliations
Personal or academic relationships

A conflict-of-interest declaration is published with every article, including a statement that no conflicts were declared where applicable.

Similarity Check and Plagiarism Screening

All submitted manuscripts may undergo similarity screening using Crossref Similarity Check powered by iThenticate or equivalent plagiarism-detection software.

The editorial office evaluates the similarity report to identify:

Plagiarism
Self-plagiarism
Duplicate publication
Redundant publication
Inappropriate citation practices

Manuscripts with unacceptable similarity or evidence of plagiarism may be rejected, returned for clarification, or investigated further in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Research and Publication Misconduct

The journal follows COPE, WAME, and ICMJE guidelines for handling research and publication misconduct.

Research misconduct includes, but is not limited to:

Plagiarism
Data fabrication or falsification
Image manipulation
Citation manipulation
Duplicate or redundant publication
Undisclosed conflicts of interest
Ethical approval violations
Peer-review manipulation
Authorship disputes

Suspected cases of misconduct may be investigated by the editorial office and, when necessary, referred to the authors' institutions, ethics committees, or funding agencies.

Actions taken may include:

Manuscript rejection
Publication of corrections or retractions
Notification to institutions
Temporary or permanent submission restrictions

Ethics Approval and Human & Animal Research

Research involving human participants must have prior approval from an appropriate Institutional Review Board (IRB) or ethics committee

The manuscript must include:

Name of the approving ethics committee
Approval/reference number where applicable
Confirmation of ethical approval

Where ethical approval is not required or the study has been granted an exemption, the manuscript must identify the responsible ethics committee or institutional authority and provide the basis for the exemption.

Research involving human participants must comply with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Animal research must comply with institutional and national ethical standards and include approval from an institutional animal ethics committee where required.

Informed Consent

For research involving human participants, informed consent must be obtained in accordance with applicable ethical requirements. Where an ethics committee or Institutional Review Board has granted a waiver of consent, the manuscript must state this and provide the reason for the waiver.

When identifiable patient information, photographs, videos, or clinical details are included, specific written consent for publication must be obtained from the participant or the participant’s legal representative. The manuscript must include an appropriate consent statement, and the journal may request supporting documentation when necessary.

Confidentiality

All manuscripts submitted to the journal are treated as confidential documents.

Editors, reviewers, editorial staff, and publishing personnel must not:

Disclose manuscript content
Share unpublished data
Use unpublished information for personal advantage
Discuss submissions outside the editorial process

Manuscripts may be shared only with individuals directly involved in editorial evaluation, peer review, production, indexing, or ethical investigations when necessary.

Confidentiality obligations continue after the review process is completed.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In accordance with the recommendations of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE):

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors, as they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for scholarly work.
Any use of AI tools in writing, language editing, translation, literature searches, image preparation, data analysis, or other aspects of manuscript preparation must be transparently disclosed within the manuscript.
Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and validity of all submitted content, including any portions generated or assisted by AI tools.
Authors are responsible for ensuring that all references, citations, and factual statements are accurate and correspond to genuine published or publicly available sources, regardless of whether AI tools were used during manuscript preparation.
AI tools must not be used to fabricate, falsify, or manipulate research data, scientific images, patient information, or study findings.
Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscript content or peer-review materials into generative AI systems or third-party AI platforms that may compromise confidentiality, intellectual property, or the integrity of the peer-review process.
AI tools may assist editorial or administrative processes but must not replace independent editorial judgment or peer review.
Editors may request clarification or supporting information where necessary to assess the integrity of a submission or investigate concerns regarding the use of AI.
Undisclosed or unethical use of AI-generated content may be treated as publication misconduct and handled in accordance with the journal's editorial policies and COPE guidance.

Data Integrity, Availability, and Reproducibility

Authors of original research should include a data-availability statement describing whether and how the data supporting the findings can be accessed. Where data cannot be shared publicly because of ethical, legal, confidentiality, or participant-consent restrictions, the statement should explain the applicable restrictions and describe any conditions under which access may be considered.

Authors are encouraged to deposit de-identified research data, study protocols, analytical methods, and other supporting materials in an appropriate recognised repository whenever ethically and legally permissible. Where data are deposited in a repository, the manuscript should provide the repository name and a persistent link or identifier.

Where applicable, manuscripts must include clinical-trial registration details and the relevant reporting-guideline checklist.

Editors may request access to underlying data, protocols, ethics documentation, or other supporting materials when required for editorial assessment or the investigation of concerns regarding the integrity or reproducibility of the work.

NIH-funded researchers should additionally comply with the applicable NIH Data Management and Sharing Policy. given at: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-21-013.html

Acknowledgments

Acknowledgments should include individuals, institutions, organizations, or funding agencies that contributed to the work but do not qualify for authorship.

This may include:

Technical support
Statistical assistance
Editorial or writing assistance
Administrative support
Funding sources

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from acknowledged individuals prior to publication.

Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

The journal follows COPE recommendations for post-publication corrections and updates.

Corrections (Errata/Corrigenda)

Issued for errors that do not invalidate the scientific findings of the article.

Retractions

Issued when findings are unreliable due to serious error, misconduct, fabrication, plagiarism, or unethical research practices.

Expressions of Concern

Published when investigations are ongoing and significant concerns regarding the integrity or validity of the work remain unresolved.

All correction and retraction notices are linked to the original article to maintain transparency of the scholarly record.

Complaints and Appeals

Complaints regarding editorial decisions, peer review, ethical concerns, or publication processes may be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief or the publisher.

All complaints and appeals are handled confidentially and investigated in accordance with COPE guidance.

Appeals against editorial decisions should provide detailed justification and supporting evidence.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors are required to complete the applicable copyright and licensing forms before publication.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons license specified by the journal.

Authors retain copyright in accordance with the journal's open access policy unless otherwise stated.

Intellectual Property

Authors retain copyright of their work. Articles published by the journal are generally distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) license unless stated otherwise on the article webpage

Certain archived articles or content originally published under previous publishers or earlier publishing agreements may be subject to different licensing terms applicable at the time of original publication. The applicable license for each article is clearly indicated on the respective article webpage.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce any copyrighted material, including figures, tables, images, questionnaires, or substantial text excerpts, from third-party sources prior to submission.

The journal does not permit plagiarism, unauthorized reproduction, copyright infringement, or misuse of published material. Alleged violations of intellectual property rights or licensing terms will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines and applicable copyright policies.

Post-Publication Discussions

The South Asian Journal of Cancer recognizes the importance of scholarly discussion and encourages constructive academic dialogue regarding published articles.

Readers, authors, and researchers may communicate with the editorial office regarding published content, including requests for clarification, identification of potential errors, or concerns related to the scientific validity, interpretation, or integrity of a publication.

Where considered appropriate by the editorial team, the journal may publish letters to the editor, author responses, editorial comments, corrections, or other post-publication updates in order to maintain the accuracy and integrity of the scholarly record.

All post-publication communications and concerns are evaluated by the editorial team in accordance with the journal’s editorial policies and relevant COPE recommendations.

Open Access Policy

The journal supports the principles of open access publishing and dissemination of scientific knowledge.

All published content is freely accessible online immediately upon publication under the applicable Creative Commons license.

The journal does not permit editorial decisions to be influenced by commercial interests, advertising, or sponsorship arrangements.

Adherence to COPE Core Practices

We follow COPE's core practices, which include