PUBLICATION ETHICS

Current Trend in Health Sciences is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics and follows the core principles and best practices established by leading international organizations, including:

• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• ICMJE: Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals
• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, a joint statement by COPE, DOAJ, OASPA, and WAME
• WAME: Recommendations on Publication Ethics Policies for Medical Journals

These guidelines serve to ensure integrity, transparency, accountability, and high ethical standards throughout the editorial and publication process.

ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR HUMAN AND ANIMAL RESEARCH

Human Research and Ethics Approval

All studies involving human participants, identifiable data, or biological material must comply with the WMA Declaration of Helsinki (2013 revision). Ethical approval must be obtained from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee before the study begins. The name of the committee, approval number, and date must be reported in the Methods section of the manuscript. Authors may be required to submit a copy of the approval during submission.

If a study is exempt from ethical approval, a formal statement from the ethics committee explaining the exemption must be provided.

Submissions to Current Trend in Health Sciences without ethics approval will be assessed based on COPE’s Research, Audit and Service Evaluations guidelines. Manuscripts may be rejected if ethical concerns are significant.

Animal Research

Studies involving animals require prior approval from an Ethics Committee. Research must comply with internationally recognized standards, including:

Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (8th ed., 2011),

International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (2012),

Authors must detail the ethical treatment of animals, including steps taken to prevent pain and suffering, preferably using the ARRIVE checklist.

Informed Consent

For all human research, written informed consent must be obtained from participants. In the case of minors (under 18), permission must be obtained from a parent or legal guardian.

For surveys or interviews, authors must confirm that participants consented to participate and, if applicable, to having their data recorded. Any quotes or identifiable content must either be anonymized or include consent for attribution.

Information regarding informed consent should be included in the Methods section. Participant privacy and confidentiality must be protected at all times.

Photographs and Identifiable Images

If patient photographs are included, authors must obtain signed release forms granting permission for publication. Any restrictions or conditions for use must be clearly stated in the manuscript.

Current Trend in Health Sciences follows the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines for authorship. To qualify as an author, individuals must meet all four of the following criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; AND
2. Drafting or critically revising the work for important intellectual content; AND
3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4. Accountability for all aspects of the work, ensuring accuracy and integrity.

Author Contributions and Transparency

Authors should be able to identify each co-author’s contributions and ensure proper acknowledgment. The Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) may be used during submission to specify individual contributions, as agreed upon by all authors. The final article will include an authorship contribution statement reflecting these roles.

Authors must have confidence in the integrity and ethical conduct of their co-authors’ work, ensuring that the research, data, and results presented are accurate and reliable.

Acknowledgment of Non-Authors

Individuals who do not meet all four authorship criteria should not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged on the title page for their contributions to the research.

Authorship Ethics and Misconduct

The journal does not accept ghost, guest, or honorary authorship. If misconduct is suspected, the submission will be suspended, and the relevant COPE flowchart and COPE Policy on authorship and contributorship will be followed. All authors must complete the Authorship Contribution Form to confirm adherence to ICMJE criteria.

Change of Authorship

Requests for changes in authorship, including the addition, removal, or reordering of authors, must be submitted to the editorial office with a signed letter explaining the reason for the change. The letter must be signed by all listed authors, including those being removed.

The Editorial Board will review all requests in accordance with COPE flowchart guidelines, ensuring a transparent and consistent process that upholds the integrity of the research and the credibility of all contributors.

GENERATIVE AI AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) USE POLICY

Current Trends in Health Sciences supports transparency and accountability in the use of AI tools during manuscript preparation, in line with best practices recommended by international publishing standards, including COPE, ICMJE, and WAME. Authors must comply with the following principles when using AI technologies:

1. Use of AI in Manuscript Preparation
Authors must disclose any use of generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) in the preparation of their manuscripts. This includes specifying the name, version, and purpose of the AI tool in the appropriate section (e.g., Acknowledgments for language support, or Methods for data processing). Authors remain fully responsible for the integrity, accuracy, and originality of their work. AI tools cannot be listed as authors.

2. Authorship and Accountability
By COPE’s guidelines, authorship implies human responsibility and decision-making. As such, AI tools cannot fulfill authorship criteria and should never be listed as authors or co-authors.

3. AI in Figures and Visual Content
Inspired by the standards adopted by publishers such as Elsevier, AI-generated or AI-modified images and figures are not permitted, unless the use of AI is an explicit part of the research methodology (e.g., AI-based diagnostic imaging). In such cases:

• Full disclosure is required in the Methods section
• Tool name, version, parameters, and technical specifications must be provided
• All AI-generated visuals must be clearly labeled as such

4. Use of AI by Editors and Reviewers
Editors and peer reviewers are discouraged from using generative AI tools to assess or summarize manuscripts due to concerns about confidentiality, bias, and reliability. If used in any capacity, such use must be disclosed, and privacy must not be breached (COPE, 2023).

CONFLICT OF INTEREST POLICY

Current Trends in Health Sciences adheres to international editorial standards, including those set by ICMJE, COPE, WAME, and other organizations, to ensure transparency and integrity in the publication process.

A conflict of interest arises when an author, reviewer, or editor has competing interests—such as financial, personal, political, or academic—that could unduly influence their objectivity in manuscript submission, review, or editorial decisions.

Disclosure Requirements:

• All contributing authors must complete and submit the ICMJE Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form. Any conflicts, whether financial or otherwise, must also be stated at the end of the manuscript.
• Reviewers and editors must disclose any conflicts that could affect their impartiality. If a reviewer or editor has a conflict of interest, they must recuse themselves from the manuscript's evaluation.
• Editors (including the Editor-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Section Editors) may submit their manuscripts, but are excluded from the editorial decision-making process for their work. Final acceptance of such manuscripts requires approval from at least two external reviewers.
• To maintain a fair and unbiased peer-review process, authors must not contact section editors regarding their manuscripts. All inquiries should be directed to the editorial office. The journal follows a double-anonymized peer review, ensuring that authors and reviewers remain anonymous to each other.
• Any potential conflicts of interest involving editors, authors, or reviewers will be addressed following COPE flowcharts and ICMJE recommendations.

FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

Current Trends in Health Sciences requires authors to disclose any financial support received for their research. This information must be included in the funding statement when submitting the manuscript.

The funding statement should specify:

• The names of funding agencies,
• Grant numbers (if applicable),
• The role of each funder in the research,

If a funder had no involvement in the research, this must also be clearly stated. Providing this information ensures transparency and helps readers assess potential biases or conflicts of interest.

POST-PUBLICATION CORRECTIONS, RETRACTIONS, AND ARTICLE REMOVAL

All post-publication correction requests are subject to editorial review. The Editorial Board evaluates the necessity and appropriateness of corrections based on the nature of the error, its impact on the article, and the supporting evidence. If approved, the correction will be made in the journal’s archive. The journal follows the ICMJE and COPE guidelines.

Article Withdrawal (Pre-Publication)

Withdrawal applies only to articles in press, which are early versions of articles that may contain errors, accidental duplicate submissions, or ethical violations (e.g., multiple submissions, fraudulent data, or plagiarism). Withdrawn articles will have their HTML and PDF content removed, replaced by a statement indicating the withdrawal and linking to the journal’s withdrawal policy.

Article Retraction (Post-Publication)

Retractions are issued for serious ethical violations, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, authorship fraud, or publication without co-author consent.

Retraction notices include:
• A formal retraction note titled “Retraction: [Article Title],” published in a subsequent issue.
• A watermark on the PDF of the original article, marking it as "Retracted."
• A removal of the HTML version, ensuring transparency in corrections while preserving academic integrity.

Article Removal (Legal & Safety Concerns)

In rare cases, an article may need to be permanently removed from the journal’s online database due to legal issues, court orders, defamation, or significant health risks. While the metadata (title and authors) will be retained, the article content will be replaced with a legal notice explaining the removal.

Article Replacement

If an article poses a serious health risk, authors may request a replacement with a corrected version. In such cases, a retraction notice will be published with a link to the revised article, ensuring a transparent record of updates.

APPEALS AND COMPLAINT

The journal handles appeals and complaints in accordance with COPE guidelines to ensure a fair and transparent process. Authors with concerns should contact the editorial office directly. The editorial board will review each case and make decisions based on COPE recommendations.

The editor-in-chief holds the final authority in the decision-making process. In cases where internal resolution is not possible, an ombudsperson may be assigned. The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scientific record throughout the appeals and complaints process.

DISCLAIMER

The views and opinions expressed in published manuscripts belong solely to the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of the editors, editorial board, or publisher. The editors, editorial board, and publisher are not responsible for the content of published manuscripts and do not endorse the views expressed within them.