Ethical Principles

Scientific Responsibility 

All authors should have direct academic and/or scientific contributions to the submitted manuscript. The authors should have all of the following specifications: Should plan or execute the study in the manuscript, should write or revise the manuscript, and accept the final draft 

Ethical Rules and Plagiarism 

This Journal is committed to the standards of research and publication ethics and does not allow any form of plagiarism. The journal uses a plagiarism screening service to verify the originality of content submitted before publication. If plagiarism is detected in the articles submitted to the Journal for publication, the responsibility belongs to the authors. In case of any suspicion or claim regarding scientific shortcomings or ethical infringement, the Journal reserves the right to submit the manuscript to the supporting institutions or other authorities for investigation. The Journal accepts the responsibility of initiating action but does not undertake any responsibility for an actual investigation or any power of decision. 

This Journal uses "iThenticate" to screen all submissions for plagiarism before publication. This journal does not accept articles that indicate a similarity rate of more than 25%, according to iThenticate reports. It is essential that authors avoid all forms of plagiarism and ethical misconduct, as represented below. 

We disapprove of unethical practices and of efforts to influence the review process with such practices as gifting authorship, inappropriate acknowledgments, and references in line with the COPE flowcharts. 

Authors are obliged to acknowledge if they published study results in whole or in part in the form of abstracts. 

Correction, Retraction, Clarification Policy, and Editorial Responses 

This journal recognizes its obligation to correct errors in the work that it has published and to consider readers’ criticisms of that work. 

Corrections and Retraction 

Errors of this type will be corrected online as soon as possible, in coordination with the publisher, and will be printed in an erratum sheet that will appear in the next issue and be included in the digital version of the article. The corrected article will include a footnote stating the date of correction and the volume and issue in which the erratum will appear. In a situation where the corrections are significant in scope or quantity, they would not be corrected online, but the digital version would include a footnote signaling the publication of the erratum. 

Erratum or publisher correction: Correction of a significant error made by the journal that affects the scholarly record, the scientific integrity of the article, or the reputation of the authors or the journal. 

Corrigendum or author correction: Correction of a significant error made by the author that affects the scholarly record, the scientific integrity of the article, or the reputation of the authors or the journal. 

Editorial Responses 

Responses of this type will be peer-reviewed and, where possible, sent to the referees who reviewed the original submission; to the extent possible, all parties will remain anonymous. Responses are subject to oversight by the editors of the journal and will be published after full consultation with all interested parties. 

Editorial expression of concern: Notifies of the addition of information to an article, for example in response to a reader’s request for clarification or correction of a significant omission. Such addenda are published when the editors decide they are crucial to the reader’s understanding of a significant part of the published contribution. 

Retraction: Notifies the readership of unsound results or misconduct, following an investigation of the issue by the editor and publisher. The original article will remain available but will be marked as retracted through a published note from the editor. 

Article removal: In rare instances, this Journal may be obliged to remove an article as a consequence of legal action. Such removal will be marked on the issue table of contents, and a notice indicating removal will replace the article contents. 

For further information on professional standards in publishing, see the website of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). 

Clarification and Appeals 

If something in the editor’s decision letter or the review materials is unclear or inconsistent, authors may email questions to the editorial office to request clarification from the editor before revising their manuscript. 

Editors cannot discuss submissions or the review process directly with authors (by phone, video, in person, etc.). 

The designated corresponding author should email all correspondence about your submission to the editorial office (not the editor). 

Staff will upload your written clarification request to the peer review system where it will only be visible to the editor and the associate editor (reviewers will not see authors’ clarification requests). The editor will decide whether to consult with the associate editor, and the editor will provide a response that will be archived in the system (reviewers will not see the editor’s response). 

Requiring written requests for clarification is not meant to act as a barrier. This process ensures good record-keeping, gives the editor sufficient time to reflect on answers and allows the editor to consult before responding. 

This Journal does not provide or approve formal revision plans. The editor will consider your request and try to provide the best possible feedback. However, clarification from the editor does not guarantee a positive outcome and should not be mistaken as a signal of approval of a specific revision plan. If a revised manuscript is submitted, it will be evaluated by the entire review team. 

Plagiarism: To republish the whole or part of the content in another author's publication without attribution. 

Fabrication: To publish data and findings/results that do not exist.
Duplication: Using data from another publication; this includes republishing an article in different languages. 

Salamisation: Creating multiple publications by abnormally splitting the results of a study. 

Data Manipulation/Falsification: Manipulating or deliberately distorting research data to give a false impression. 

We disapprove of such unethical practices and of efforts to influence the review process with such practices as gifting authorship, inappropriate acknowledgments, and references in line with the COPE flowcharts. 

Submitted manuscripts are subjected to automatic software evaluation for plagiarism and duplicate publication. Authors are obliged to acknowledge if they published study results in whole or in part in the form of abstracts. 

Human and Animal Rights

For the experimental, clinical, and drug human studies, approval by the ethical committee and a statement on the adherence of the study protocol to the international agreements (World Medical Association of Helsinki "Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects," amended October 2013) are required. In experimental animal studies, the authors should indicate that the procedures followed were by animal rights (Guide for the care and use of laboratory animals), and they should obtain animal ethics committee approval. The Ethics Committee approval document should be submitted to the Surgery on Children together with the manuscript.

The approval of the ethics committee; a statement on the adherence to international guidelines mentioned above; and proof that the patient's informed consent is obtained should be indicated in the “Method” section. These items are required for case reports whenever data/media could reveal the identity of the patient.For persons under 18 years of age, please provide a consent form that includes both parents' signatures or the person's legal guardian or supervisor.