Ethics for Authors

Duties of Authors

Authors have a responsibility to report accurate and objective information about their research work, maintaining transparency about the methods and results. It is essential to avoid fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements. Reports of original research should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective, and editorial ‘opinion’ works should be clearly identified as such.

Data Access and Retention

Authors may be required to provide the research data supporting their paper for editorial review and/or to comply with the open data requirements of the journal. Authors should be willing to provide public access to such data if practicable, and should be prepared to retain such data for a reasonable number of years after publication. Authors can refer to the journal’s Guide for Authors for further details.

Originality and Acknowledgement of Sources

Authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works. If the authors have used the work and/or words of others, they must cite or quote them appropriately, with permission where necessary. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable.

Multiple, Redundant or Concurrent Publication

Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal of primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical behavior and is unacceptable. In general, authors should not submit for consideration in another journal a paper that has been published previously, except in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis or as an electronic preprint. Publication of some kinds of articles (e.g., clinical guidelines, translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document.

Confidentiality

Authors must not use information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services.

Authorship of the Paper

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made substantial contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where others have participated in certain substantive aspects of the paper (e.g., language editing or medical writing), they should be recognized in the acknowledgements section. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider (at their discretion) the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been submitted and the author must clearly flag any such request to the Editor. All authors must agree with any such addition, removal, or rearrangement.

The Use of AI and AI-assisted Technologies in Scientific Writing

Authors must use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies only to improve the readability and language of their work. The application of these technologies should be done with human oversight and control. Authors should carefully review and edit that an individual has made a significant intellectual contribution to the work, which is not the case with AI and AI-assisted technologies.

In conclusion, authors should adhere to the highest ethical standards when submitting papers to the clinical psychology journal, including ensuring accuracy and originality, respecting confidentiality, properly acknowledging sources, and following guidelines related to authorship and the use of AI and AI-assisted technologies.

These guidelines are intended to promote transparency, integrity, and trust in the scientific publishing process.