Publication ethics for editorial board members
Publication ethics for editorial board members
Editor Center > Publication ethics for editorial board members
This guidance outlines how publication ethics and research integrity are supported across our journals and explains your role as an editorial board member. We highlight common ethical concerns you may encounter during manuscript assessment and what to do when they arise.
Research integrity and publication ethics
We have a dedicated Publication Ethics team with specialized expertise in research integrity. In collaboration with the journal teams, they:
- Develop ethics-related policies and workflows.
- Address concerns raised about content.
- Help to protect our journals from large-scale integrity issues such as paper mills and peer review and citation rings.
We are also a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and our journals abide by COPE’s Code of Conduct and aim to adhere to its Best Practice Guidelines.
Read more about our commitment to research integrity and publication ethics.
Your role in publication ethics as an editorial board member
Our Publication Ethics Team handles ethics issues directly, so you are not expected to follow-up yourself.
However, we do expect you to uphold our Code of Conduct for editorial board members, be familiar with our policies, and notify your journal office of any publication ethics concerns.
Additionally, we appreciate your contributions to specific cases when consulted by a member of our Publication Ethics team.
What to look out for
To support you in identifying potential publication ethics concerns, this section outlines the most common types of ethical issues that may arise during manuscript assessment.
Each category includes a brief definition and indicates who may be responsible, helping you understand when to pause review and contact your journal office.
Please refer to the Authorship Changes Policy for full details.
Who this may involve: authors.
Behaviors intended to inflate citation counts for personal gain, such as excessive self and/or collaborators’ citations.
Who this may involve: authors; reviewers; editorial board members.
The whole manuscript, or substantial parts of it, have already been published elsewhere.
Who this may involve: authors.
There is a risk that the study could be misused for harmful purposes. For full details, please refer to our Biosecurity and Dual Use Research of Concern Policy.
Who this may involve: authors.
The manuscript is simultaneously under consideration at another journal.
Who this may involve: authors.
Impersonation of reviewers or otherwise fraudulent accounts.
Who this may involve: reviewers; editorial board members.
Misrepresentation of or fraudulent experimental data or findings.
Who this may involve: authors.
Manipulation, duplication, or altering of images.
Who this may involve: authors.
Dividing data or research findings to increase publication output, or replicating previously published research without sufficient justification.
Who this may involve: authors.
Please read our Animal Research Policy for full details.
Who this may involve: authors.
- Please read the AI Tools and Technologies Policy and
Artificial intelligence (AI) tools in peer review Policy for full details. - Editorial board members and reviewers should not upload submissions to web platforms, databases, generative AI tools, or other services. Any use of AI tools in peer review must be clearly disclosed in the review form or decision letter.
Who this may involve: authors; reviewers; editorial board members.
Please read our Competing Interests Policy for full details.
- It is your responsibility to:
- Check reviewers for competing interests before inviting them to evaluate a manuscript.
- Declare your own competing interests, and if necessary, disqualify yourself from involvement in the assessment of a manuscript.
- Consider authors’ competing interests when assessing the strength of the methodology and conclusions.
Who this may involve: authors; reviewers; editorial board members.
Please read our Human Subjects Research Policy for full details.
Who this may involve: authors.
Also referred to as “paper mill” activity. Please read our Manipulation of the Publication Process Policy for full details.
Who this may involve: authors; reviewers; editorial board members.
- Please read our Plagiarism Policy for full details.
- We use Crossref Similarity Check, powered by iThenticate, to screen submitted content for originality. Plagiarism is checked for by your journal office, but if you notice something of concern please contact your journal office.
Who this may involve: authors; reviewers.
Artificial intelligence
Use by authors
While we do not prohibit use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, we do require that any use of AI tools must be fully declared and described. Please see our Artificial Intelligence Tools and Technologies Policy for full details.
If you suspect undeclared AI tools were used to generate submission content, contact your journal office as soon as possible.
Use by reviewers and editorial board members
We do not approve or condone the use of AI tools to generate peer review reports or write decision letters. AI tools can be used as a supplement to original content, for example in language editing or translation, and to help find reviewers by entering general search terms. However, no whole or parts of submissions should be uploaded to AI tools as noted in our Ethical Peer Review Policy.
The use of AI tools in peer review must be clearly disclosed in your decision letter. Below is a disclosure statement that you may insert into a decision letter:
“AI tools were used in this decision letter for language editing. In accordance with journal policies on Artificial intelligence tools in peer review, no AI tool has been used for editorial evaluation of the submission content and no submission content has been uploaded to an AI tool by the handling editor.”
Contact your journal
Find direct email contacts for your journal’s editorial office, links to journal information and article types pages, and support details for editorial board members.
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