COPE Guidelines: Publication Ethics and Best Practices

ACDM Journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and follows its core practices and guidelines to ensure the highest standards of publication ethics.

1. Ethical Oversight

All research involving human subjects, animals, or sensitive data must have been conducted in accordance with relevant ethical standards. Authors should include a statement of ethical approval (including approval number and name of the ethics committee) in the manuscript.

2. Conflicts of Interest

All authors, reviewers, and editors must declare any financial, personal, or professional relationships that could be perceived as influencing the research or publication process. A conflicts of interest statement is required for all submitted manuscripts.

If a conflict is identified, the involved party will be recused from the decision-making process, and an alternative editor/reviewer will be assigned.

3. Data and Reproducibility

Authors are encouraged to share the data, code, and materials underlying their research in a trusted public repository. The journal supports transparency and reproducibility by recommending that authors include a data availability statement.

4. Handling Allegations of Misconduct

ACDM Journal has clear policies for handling allegations of unethical behavior. Suspected misconduct (including plagiarism, data fabrication, citation manipulation, and duplicate submission) will be investigated promptly following COPE guidelines. Authors may be required to provide original data, and institutions may be contacted. If misconduct is confirmed, the journal reserves the right to reject, retract, or issue an expression of concern.

5. Corrections and Retractions

The journal is committed to maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record. When errors are identified, the journal will issue a correction notice. In cases of serious misconduct, retraction will be considered following COPE retraction guidelines.

6. Editorial Independence

Editorial decisions are made solely based on scholarly merit and relevance to the journal's scope, free from commercial influence or bias related to authors’ institutional affiliation, nationality, or personal characteristics. The Editor-in-Chief has full authority over all publication decisions.

More information: https://publicationethics.org/

Last updated: May 2026. ACDM follows COPE Core Practices.