The Van Journal of Dentistry Guidelines on Scientific Research and Publication Ethics of Higher Education Institutions, the recommendations of the ICMJE (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors) and the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) 'International Standards for Editors and Authors' should be observed.
Plagiarism, falsification or misrepresentation of data, repetition of publications, splitting of publications, and inclusion as authors of persons who did not contribute to the research are unacceptable practices under the ethical rules.
a) Plagiarism: It is considered plagiarism to present the original ideas, methods, data or work of others as one's own, in whole or in part, without proper attribution according to the rules of scholarship. To avoid plagiarism, authors should cite according to scientific rules and be careful to cite all scientific articles in their research.
b) Falsification of data: The use of non-existent or altered data in scientific research is considered as data falsification. Authors should collect and analyse their data in accordance with ethical rules, without altering it in any way that could affect its validity and reliability.
c) Bias: Altering the records or data obtained from the research, presenting equipment or materials not used in the research as if they had been used, altering or shaping the results of the research in accordance with the interests of the people and organisations supported are considered to be in the realm of falsification. Authors should be honest, objective and transparent in the information they provide about the research process. They should avoid breaching ethical rules.
d) Repetition of publication: The presentation of the same publication as separate publications without reference to previous publications is considered to be repetition of publication. The responsibility for the fact that publications submitted for evaluation have already been published elsewhere or are under evaluation rests entirely with the authors. Authors should avoid repetition and take care to submit original research.
e) Divisional publication: Dividing the results of research into parts in a way that compromises the integrity of the research and is inappropriate, and publishing them in more than one issue and presenting these publications as separate publications is considered to be divisional publication. Authors should be mindful of the integrity of the research and should avoid splitting which may compromise the results.
f) Authorship: Including or not including people who have not made an active contribution as authors, changing the order of authorship in an unjustified and inappropriate way, removing the names of people who have made an active contribution from the work in subsequent editions, using influence to have their names included as authors when they have not made an active contribution are considered to be within the scope of unfair authorship. All authors must have contributed appropriately to the planning, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation, preparation for publication, and finalisation of the research.
g) Ethical responsibility: Van Journal of Dentistry accepts the principle of adherence to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/ index.html) in all studies involving the 'human' element. In the case of such studies, the authors are obliged to state in the 'Materials and methods' section of the article that they have conducted the study in accordance with these principles and that they have obtained 'informed consent' from the ethics committees of their institutions and from the people who participated in the study.
If the study involves 'animals', the authors must state in the 'Materials and methods' section of the article that they have protected the rights of the animals in their studies in accordance with the principles of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (www.nap. edu/catalog/5140.html) and that they have obtained approval from the ethics committees of their institutions.
For case presentations, informed consent must be obtained from patients, regardless of their identity.