Publication ethics

The Journal of Clinical Medicine – Hue Central Hospital is committed to upholding the principles of scientific integrity, professional ethics in scientific research, and publication ethics in accordance with Decision No. 2557/QD-BKHCN of the Ministry of Science and Technology. The Journal also refers to the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and relevant national and international regulations.

The Journal promotes core values in scholarly publishing, including honesty, objectivity, transparency, fairness, respect for intellectual property, confidentiality, accountability, and protection of research participants’ rights and welfare. These principles apply to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, reviewers, editors, the Editorial Board, and relevant individuals or organizations.

1. Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to the Journal are responsible for ensuring that their work is honest, original, and has not been previously published or submitted simultaneously to another journal or conference, unless clearly approved by the Journal.

Authors must present the research process, methods, data, results, and conclusions truthfully. Fabrication, falsification, manipulation, selective reporting, or omission of data in a manner that misrepresents the nature of the research is strictly prohibited. Research data must be collected, processed, stored, and reported objectively, completely, and in a manner that allows verification when necessary.

Authors must respect intellectual property rights and must not commit plagiarism in any form. Self-plagiarism or redundant publication without transparency is not acceptable. Any ideas, data, figures, tables, text, or research results from others or from the authors’ previously published works must be properly and accurately cited.

Authorship must accurately reflect the actual contributions of individuals involved in the work. Individuals who have made substantial contributions must not be omitted, and individuals without meaningful contributions must not be listed as authors. Contributions that do not meet authorship criteria should be appropriately acknowledged.

Authors must fully disclose funding sources, technical support, writing or editorial assistance, conflicts of interest, and any financial or non-financial relationships that may affect the objectivity of the research.

For studies involving human participants, authors must comply with ethical standards in biomedical research, including ethical approval where required, informed consent, confidentiality of personal data, and protection of participants’ privacy and rights.

2. Citation and Use of References

Authors are responsible for citing references honestly, accurately, and appropriately. The Journal encourages citation of original sources. Secondary citations, when used, must be clearly indicated.

Authors must not cite sources out of context, deliberately omit important conflicting literature, include unread or irrelevant references, or participate in citation manipulation intended to distort the scholarly value of a manuscript.

The Journal does not accept coercive citation practices or any request requiring authors to cite unnecessary or irrelevant references.

3. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Manuscripts

Authors must transparently disclose the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of a manuscript, including the name of the tool, version if available, purpose, and scope of use.

AI is considered only as an assisting tool. Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and legality of all manuscript content, including content generated or edited with AI assistance.

The Journal does not accept the use of AI to create fabricated data, falsified images, non-existent references, or unverified scientific content. Confidential, unpublished, sensitive, or identifiable research data must not be uploaded to AI platforms in violation of legal or confidentiality requirements.

AI tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for scientific content, research ethics, or publication commitments.

4. Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers are responsible for evaluating manuscripts independently, objectively, honestly, and constructively. Reviewers should accept review assignments only when they have appropriate expertise and sufficient time to complete the review.

Reviewers must keep all information related to the manuscript confidential, including data, figures, research ideas, results, and unpublished content. Such information must not be used for personal purposes, research, teaching, consulting, intellectual property registration, or any other purpose without permission.

Reviewers must decline the review or inform the Journal if they have any conflict of interest, including financial, personal, academic, recent co-authorship, supervisory, institutional, or other relationships that may affect their independence and objectivity.

Reviewers must not obstruct, threaten, coerce, or improperly interfere with the peer-review or editorial decision-making process. If reviewers identify suspected violations of publication ethics, they should inform the Editorial Board for appropriate consideration.

5. Responsibilities of Editors and the Editorial Board

Editors and the Editorial Board are responsible for organizing the submission, screening, peer-review, and editorial decision-making process in a fair, objective, transparent, and unbiased manner.

Decisions to accept, request revision, or reject a manuscript are based on scientific merit, originality, relevance to the Journal’s scope, methodological quality, reliability of data, clinical significance, and compliance with research ethics and publication ethics.

The Editorial Board is responsible for managing conflicts of interest involving editors, reviewers, and related parties; maintaining confidentiality of manuscripts, authors, and reviewers; keeping peer-review records; and handling complaints, corrections, expressions of concern, and retractions in accordance with applicable regulations.

Editors and the Editorial Board must not improperly interfere with the peer-review process, manipulate citations, pressure authors to cite unnecessary references, or use unpublished information from submitted manuscripts for personal purposes.

6. Violations of Publication Ethics

The Journal considers the following acts to be violations of publication ethics and scientific integrity:

Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, copying, or using another person’s ideas, data, figures, tables, or text without proper citation.
Fabrication, falsification, or manipulation of data or research results.
Redundant publication, simultaneous submission to multiple journals or conferences, or inappropriate fragmentation of research results to increase publication output.
Inaccurate authorship, including adding individuals without substantial contributions or omitting individuals who made genuine contributions.
Failure to disclose funding sources, research support, writing or editorial assistance, conflicts of interest, or the use of AI.
Misleading citation, irrelevant citation, or citation manipulation.
Disclosure of sensitive data, violation of privacy, or failure to obtain required consent from research participants.
Obstruction, coercion, threats, or improper interference in the peer-review and editorial decision-making process.
Use of AI to generate fabricated data, falsified images, non-existent references, or unverified scientific content.

7. Manuscript Screening and Scientific Integrity Checks

The Journal conducts manuscript screening before and during the peer-review process to identify potential violations of publication ethics, including plagiarism, duplication, redundant publication, unusual data patterns, copyright infringement, inappropriate use of AI, or issues related to research ethics.

The Journal may use supporting tools to check similarity, detect AI-generated content, verify references, and identify other potential concerns. Results from such tools are used only as part of the editorial assessment. Final decisions are made by the Editorial Board after comprehensive review and expert evaluation.

8. Handling Violations of Publication Ethics

When information or evidence suggesting a violation of publication ethics is received, the Journal will conduct an appropriate review and verification process, ensuring objectivity, fairness, confidentiality, and the right of the relevant parties to provide explanations.

Depending on the nature, severity, and consequences of the violation, the Journal may apply one or more of the following measures:

Request authors to provide explanations, supplementary documents, original data, or supporting evidence.
Request revision, correction, or clarification of the manuscript.
Reject the manuscript under consideration.
Suspend manuscript processing pending further verification.
Notify the authors’ institution, funding agency, or relevant organization when necessary.
Publish a correction, erratum, expression of concern, or retraction for a published article.
Decline new submissions from authors for a specified period in cases of serious or repeated violations.

The Journal will not conclude that an individual or group of authors has committed a violation unless there is clear evidence and an appropriate review process has been completed.

9. Corrections, Errata, Retractions, and Article Replacement

After publication, if errors or violations are identified that affect the reliability, accuracy, authorship, research ethics, or publication ethics of an article, the Journal will consider appropriate actions, including correction, erratum, expression of concern, retraction, or article replacement.

Authors are responsible for cooperating with the Journal during the verification process and should proactively notify the Journal if they identify errors or ethical concerns related to their published article.

10. Journal Commitment

The Journal of Clinical Medicine – Hue Central Hospital is committed to building a responsible, transparent, and rigorous scholarly publishing environment; promoting a culture of scientific integrity; and protecting the legitimate rights and interests of authors, reviewers, research participants, and the scientific community.

The Journal encourages authors, reviewers, editors, and all relevant parties to regularly update and comply with regulations on scientific integrity, research ethics, and publication ethics, thereby contributing to the quality, credibility, and academic value of published research.