Ethical principles of the EJHR

The EJHR, published and disseminated by the Editorial of Universidad Autónoma de Chile, aims to disseminate and publish empirical works - research and /or theorists from any field related to Health, on its broadest side, extending its coverage to professionals from other related disciplines. That is why good practices are promoted based on ethical standards of publication among all employees. Each article submitted for review for publication must meet the following requirements:

  1. Consent: all authors give their consent for the submission and publication of the article submitted for evaluation.
  2. Contribution of the authors: all the authors contributed to the article without omission of any author, indicating the contribution of each author. It must be at the end of every article that is sent.
  3. Originality of the work: the article submitted for review is original, has not been previously published and has not been sent simultaneously for evaluation in another journal.
  4. Consent to reproduce a work: the article does not include original material copied from other authors without their consent. If the article contains material from other authors, their consent must be clearly indicated for its printed and electronic reproduction.
  5. Previous research: all the information included in the article submitted for review, which comes from previous studies, has been referred. If the submitted article is an analysis of a previously published proposal, it must always be cited (see the Authors Guidelines).
  6. Journal archives: the article submitted for review will be kept in the archives of the EJHR and will be considered a valid publication if it meets each of the above criteria.
  7. Reviewer Committee: the members of the Reviewing Committee have no relation or any labor, academic, or personal link with the authors.

If the article does not adhere to all the criteria, the authors should notify the EJHR to withdraw the publication.

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES OF PUBLICATION

1. Institutional authorization
In studies where institutional authorization is required, researchers must provide information on the approval of their work proposals, with the corresponding authorization from the institution before the start of the study. The investigation must follow the protocol authorized by the institution and its ethics committee.

2. Informed consent
Investigators must explicitly state whether or not they have the written consent of the participants involved in the investigation.
a) For the investigation
The consent must inform the participant about the following: (1) the purpose of the investigation, the procedures, as well as the expected duration; (2) your right to decline your participation in the investigation and to be able to withdraw even after the application has begun; (3) the possible consequences of declining to participate or withdraw from the investigation; (4) foreseeable factors that may affect your willingness to participate, such as potential risks, discomfort or adverse effects; (5) the possible benefits and incentives of their participation in the research; (6) the limits of confidentiality; and (7) the contact information of the study leader (s) who can / answer questions about the research and about the rights of the participants in the study. Participants should have the opportunity to ask questions before giving their consent.
When conducting studies involving the use of experimental treatments, health professionals must inform the participants at the beginning of the investigation about: (a) the experimental nature of the treatment; (b) the services that will or will not be available to the control group (s), if any; (c) the means from which the designations of the treatment (s) and of the control groups will be made; (d) alternative treatments available if a participant does not agree to participate in the study or if they wish to withdraw once the application has begun; and (e) compensation for participation.
b) For the taking of images in the investigation
Researchers must obtain the informed consent of the participants before taking photographs with the precise explanation that they will not reveal in any way the identity of the same.
c) Withdrawal of informed consent for research:
Researchers can dispense with informed consent only when:
Reasonably it would not be feasible for the investigation to cause discomfort or harm, and imply: the study of current educational practices, the curriculum, or supervisory methods within the classroom applied in educational settings; the use of only anonymous questionnaires, field observations, or archival studies for which the importance of the answers would not put the participants at risk of civil or criminal liability or any other type of damage; the study of factors related to the work or effectiveness of the organization conducted in an organizational environment, where there is no risk that the employment capacity of the participants will be affected.
When legally authorized or by institutional or federal regulations.

  1. Client / patient, students and subordinate participants of the investigation
    When researchers conduct studies with clients / patients, students, or subordinates as participants, they should take precautions to defend potential participants from the consequences of declining or withdrawing their participation. Likewise, when participation in an investigation is a requirement of a course or leads to the possibility of obtaining additional credits, the participant must be given the possibility to choose between equivalent alternatives.

    4. Offer of incentives for participation in the study
    a) Researchers must make all the necessary efforts to avoid offering excessive or inadequate incentives, financial or otherwise, to achieve participation in studies when such incentives could influence their participation.
    b) When professional services are offered as an incentive for participation, researchers must clarify the nature of the services, as well as the risks, limitations and obligations.

    5. Deception in research
    a) Researchers can only use deception when it is justified by the expected scientific, educational or practical value, and the use of non-deceptive techniques is not possible.
    b) Investigators should not use deceptive slogans if the investigations could cause physical pain or severe emotional distress.
    c) As an integral part of the design, the researchers should inform the participants of the deceptive techniques as soon as possible, preferably once their participation is concluded and never before the completion of the data collection. Furthermore, participants should be allowed to decline their participation in the research if they consider it necessary.

    6. Closure of Investigation (Debriefing)
    a) Researchers should offer participants the opportunity to obtain adequate information about the nature, results and conclusions of the study, taking the necessary measures to avoid misunderstandings.
    b) If the scientific or humanitarian value of the investigation justifies the delay or retention of the information, the investigators should try to reduce the risk of harm.
    c) When investigators realize that the procedures used in the investigation have damaged a participant, they must implement the necessary measures to minimize the damage.

    7. Ethical principles in scientific articles
    a) Human rights, privacy and confidentiality: when necessary, authors should specify that they adhere to recognized standards, in order to minimize potential harm to participants, avoid using coercion or exploitation, and protecting the confidentiality according to the Declaration of Helsinki, the Federal Policy of the United States for the Protection of Human Rights and the Guidelines of the European Agency for Medicines for Good Clinical Practice. Similarly, when appropriate, researchers should openly communicate any information that may influence the participant's will, such as: sponsorship, the purpose of the study, expected results, and the possible consequences of the publication of the research. .
    b) Cultures and patrimonies: authors should not include any image of objects that may have a cultural meaning or that may be interpreted as offensive, such as religious texts or historical events. Also, researchers should be careful not to include names or photographs of deceased people when this is contraindicated in the culture.
    c) Clinical trial registration: clinical trials should be recorded in a database accessible to the public before the participants are registered, as agreed by the World Health Organization and the Declaration of Helsinki. The registration numbers of the clinical trials must be provided at the end of the summary. If the clinical trial has not been registered, or recorded retrospectively, an explanation should be provided.
    d) Animal research: Research involving animals must adhere to the following standards: Replacement -the use of alternative methods to the involvement of animals-, Reduction -methods that reduce the number of animals to be used-, and Refinement- methods that improve the welfare of animals. The authors should report the study design, the statistical analyzes, the applied experimental procedures and the experimental animals used, the steps followed in the experimentation with the animals, the characteristics of the housing of the animals, as well as the mating techniques used. Additionally, researchers should report how discomfort and pain were avoided and minimized, as well as confirm that the animals did not experience unnecessary suffering during the study. The evidence of ethical and legal approval obtained by the institution that supports the research should be included in the manuscript. The authors must declare if the experiments were developed in accordance with institutional and national ethical norms and regulations. Researchers from US institutions must adhere to the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the US National Research Council, the Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the US Public Health Service. Researchers from British institutions must adhere to the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 Amendment Regulations (S1 2012/3039). European authors should cite Directive 2010/63 / EU.
    e) Biosecurity: the authors should indicate if the study is considered as a double-use investigation, which would imply that the results of such research have a potential for application that may be benevolent or malicious. In this way, researchers must adhere to the guidelines for the Dual Use of the Research Life Sciences (Dual Use Life Sciences Research) presented by the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity / NSABB. .
    f) Format for Reports: Researchers must follow the latest edition of the Harvard editorial format (with the editorial modifications and adjustments stated in the instructions to the authors) to accurately report the results of the study, allowing readers to assess them, replicate them and use them.

    8. Report of the results of the investigations
    a) Researchers should not create data.
    b) If researchers discover significant errors in the published data, the necessary measures should be taken to publicly correct said errors.

  2. Integrity of the Investigation
    a) Misconduct: the misconduct in the investigation refers to the fabrication, falsification or plagiarism at the time of proposing, carrying out or reviewing the investigation, or when the results of the investigation are reported, according to the definition of the Federal State Policy. United for the Investigation of Misconduct (US Federal Policy on Research Misconduct). If the editorial committee suspects misconduct, it will request an investigation, the institution that supports the investigation, the employer, sponsor, or the competent national agency.
    b) Complaints of irregularities: the allegations of irregularities in the investigation, carried out by identified persons or anonymously, will be investigated only if they are accompanied by the respective evidence.
    c) Manufacturing / falsification and manipulation of images: sometimes it is necessary to edit the images to reveal certain characteristics; however, inappropriate image manipulation creates deceptive results. Researchers must inform when they edit images. In addition, they should follow the following recommendations:
  1. The specific characteristics should not be altered.
  2. The original unpublished images must also be presented when a modification is made in the image destined to be published.
  3. Adjustments in brightness or contrast can only be used when applied equally to the entire image and do not distort the meaning of the image.
  4. Excessive editing to emphasize an image size is not appropriate.
  5. If any part of a recording or non-linear settings is deleted, it must be indicated in the legend of the figure.
  6. The figures should not be constructed from different components; however, if the author considers it necessary, then it must be clearly indicated by dividing lines in the figure and in the legend.
    d) Plagiarism: plagiarism is the copy or misuse of the intellectual property of another person. Researchers should not present their own parts of other works or data from others. The manuscripts will be analyzed to detect plagiarism.
    e) Duplicate and redundant publication of data: researchers should avoid publishing data that has been previously published, such as originals. This does not prevent reissuing or republishing data if they are accompanied by proper recognition. The following previous publications are not considered as duplicate publications: abstracts and posters presented at conferences, results presented at scientific meetings, results in databases and clinical trial records that have not been interpreted, as well as dissertations and theses in university archives.
    Recycling of texts: the partial results of a previous publication that are directed to a different audience are allowed when the discussion and conclusion are different.
    Double presentation: authors cannot submit a manuscript to more than one journal simultaneously. If the Editorial Committee is aware of a situation of this type, the manuscript will not be considered for publication.
    Duplicate information published in other languages: translations of previously published manuscripts will not be considered for publication.
    f) Sanctions: sanctions are applied consistently after careful consideration. First, a retraction will be issued. In the most serious circumstances, the institution from which the author (s) come will be notified, and the EJHR will refuse to receive future manuscript from the author / s involved.

    IMPORTANT    : All procedures for dealing with research misconduct will be developed by the publisher or editor shall follow COPE’s guidelines in dealing with allegations.

  1. Standards and Editorial Processes
    a) Authorship: the list of authors and the sequential order of the same should appropriately reflect the scientific or professional contributions of the researchers involved. All authors of the manuscript must sign an authorization form, indicating their level of participation in the study. In addition, additional contributions that do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in a thank-you section with the permission of the authors. All required administrative requirements must be completed (e.g. approval of the Institutional Ethics Committee and registration of clinical documentation). All correspondence should be copied to all authors who contribute to the article.
    b) Authorship disputes: if the Editorial Board suspects authorship problems, it will contact the corresponding author to request more information. In case you need more information, other authors will be contacted.
    c) Financing: all funding sources, as well as their specific roles, should be listed in the acknowledgments section. If there is no funding source, this must be explicitly indicated. Other sources of funding, such as editorial assistance, should also be specified.
    d) Peer Review: the EJHR uses the review of articles submitted by double-blind peers. All submitted articles are treated with the confidentiality of the case. In this way, peer reviewers must disclose any conflict of interest when they respond to an invitation to review a manuscript, as well as when they present the results of the review of the manuscript. In cases where there is a conflict of interest, such as when the reviewer has recently collaborated with the author in the same institution, or when he is in direct competition with the author, the reviewers will not be able to review the author's manuscript.
    e) Times of the publication: the EJHR strives to guarantee a timely peer review, avoiding unnecessary delays in the publication process. In the same way, we provide information about the process in which each research is being visible by the author / s in the automated Open Journal System (OJS) editorial management system.
    f) The editors and the staff of the Journal as authors: the editor and the members of the Editorial Committee and the Advisory Committee are not involved in any decision on the articles submitted to the EJHR. Accordingly, a brief statement will be provided detailing the process that will be used to make the editorial decision in cases where the editor or members of the Editorial Committee or the Advisory Committee are authors of a publication.
    g) Conflict of interest: publishers, authors and reviewers must disclose any conflict of interest that may affect their ability to present or revise a manuscript objectively. Conflicts of interest include, but are not limited to, financial, personal, political or religious interests. The authors must describe the relevant financing, including the purposes of such financing, as well as the corresponding patents, the shares and holdings they hold.
    h) Slander and defamation: The Advisory Committee monitors manuscripts and peer review reports to identify expressions that may be considered defamatory or misrepresented negligently, which may lead to legal action. Such language should not be used, so the author of these expressions will assume full responsibility.
    i) Editorial independence and commercial issues: the EJHR is sponsored by the Universidad Autónoma de Chile. However, this does not imply that this institution influences editorial decisions in any way.
    j) Academic Debate: the EJHR promotes correspondence and constructive criticism of published works. When some correspondence discusses a specific article, the author will be invited to respond before publishing the correspondence. When possible, the correspondence and the author's response will be published together. The authors can indicate if they consider that some correspondence is constructive, but they are not authorized to veto the comments.
    k) Appeals: authors who do not agree with the editorial feedback may submit an appeal against the decision made by the Editorial Committee. Appeals will override previous decisions only when new information becomes available, so reversals of decisions will not be made without further testing. The Editorial Committee may seek the comments of the additional reviewers to make a decision.
    l) Corrections: readers and authors should notify the EJHR if there are errors in a publication, especially those that could affect the interpretation of the data. Corrections will be published and, when important errors are found that could invalidate the work, a retraction will be considered.
    m) Retractions and expressions of concern: retractions are published when the errors reported may affect the interpretation of the data, as well as when the information presented by the work is fraudulent, or in cases of serious ethical errors. Expressions of concern will be published when there are serious concerns or suspicions that should be notified to readers.
    n) Withdrawal of articles: the elimination, suppression or concealment of an article is only allowed when there is a case involving legal infractions, defamation, or other limitations of a legal nature, as well as when there is false or inaccurate information. In such cases, a withdrawal statement will be published.
    o) Data Protection Legislation: the EJHR complies with data protection legislation.

    11. Copyright and intellectual property
    a) The authors retain all rights of the publication.
    b) the original source of publication must be acknowledged.
    The EJHR is subject to the Attribution 4.0 International License.

    12. Socialization of the data for verification
    a) Researchers should share their database with other competent professionals who seek to verify their results after publication. The data provided will keep the participants confidential and will protect the legal rights of authorship regarding the study.
    b) When researchers are asked to share their data to be re-analyzed, the use of this data will be exclusive for the declared purpose. Researchers must receive written agreement from the authors for the use of the data for any other purpose.
  2. Reviewing Pairs
    Professionals who review the material submitted for research publications must respect the confidentiality and property rights of those who submitted the information.

    References
    Wiley, J. (2014). Best Practice Guidelines on Publishing Ethics: A Publisher´s Perspective. Second Edition. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1002/adma.201403933
    COPE. (2022). Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.1.12