Editorial Ethics Policy

The British Journal of Surgical Science (BJSS) is committed to maintaining the highest standards of ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. The journal follows the principles of integrity, transparency, and accountability in accordance with international guidelines such as COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics).

  1. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors
    • Originality and Plagiarism
      • Authors must submit only original work.
      • All manuscripts are screened for plagiarism, including self-plagiarism and duplicate publication.
      • Submissions that contain copied material without proper citation or show significant overlap with previously published work will be rejected.
    • Research Integrity
      • Authors must ensure that the data they present are accurate, honest, and obtained ethically.
      • Fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate manipulation of data constitutes scientific misconduct.
    • Authorship
      • Authorship should be limited to individuals who made a significant intellectual contribution to the study.
      • All contributors must be acknowledged appropriately.
    • Conflicts of Interest
      • Authors must disclose all financial or personal relationships that may influence their work.
      • Potential conflicts must be included in the manuscript’s declaration section.
    • Ethical Approvals
      • Studies involving humans, animals, or sensitive data must include evidence of ethical approval from an appropriate institutional review board.
  2. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers
    • Confidentiality
      • Reviewers must treat manuscripts as confidential documents and may not share or discuss them with others.
    • Objectivity
      • Reviews must be fair, objective, and based solely on scholarly merit.
      • Personal criticism of authors is not permitted.
    • Conflict of Interest
      • Reviewers must decline reviews if they have competing interests, including personal, financial, or professional relationships with the authors.
    • Detection of Misconduct
      • Reviewers should alert the editors if they suspect plagiarism, data fabrication, ethical violations, or significant similarity to previously published work.
  3. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors
    • Fair and Impartial Decisions
      • Editors evaluate manuscripts based on scientific quality, originality, and relevance, without discrimination based on gender, identity, nationality, institutional affiliation, or personal connections.
    • Confidentiality
      • Editors ensure that all submitted manuscripts remain confidential and that review processes are handled securely.
    • Conflict-of-Interest Management
      • Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have any conflict of interest.
      • Manuscripts by editorial board members are processed independently to ensure fairness.
    • Handling of Misconduct
      • Editors investigate allegations of plagiarism, data manipulation, authorship disputes, duplicate publication, or other misconduct.
      • Confirmed cases result in actions such as rejection, correction, or retraction, following COPE guidelines.