Policy against Misconduct and Plagiarism in Research
Declaration of Ethics and Malpractice in Publications
The Declaration of Publication Ethics and Publication Malpractice of Revista Saúde e Pesquisa is based, to a large extent, on the guidelines and standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Below are outlined the duties and expectations pertaining to authors, reviewers and editors of this journal.
- Author Responsibilities
When submitting a manuscript to Revista Saúde e Pesquisa, authors certify that the work is their original authorship and has not been previously published nor is it under consideration for publication elsewhere. They also guarantee the proper attribution of sources for ideas and/or words that are not theirs, through appropriate citations. The practice of submitting manuscripts describing essentially the same research to different journals is considered unethical and may result in the article being rejected or retracted. Authors of manuscripts presenting original research undertake to accurately report the work performed, accompanied by an objective discussion of its relevance. Accurate representation of the underlying data is essential, and sufficient details and references must be included to allow replication of the work by others. Any fabrication of fraudulent results or statements constitutes unethical behavior, subject to rejection or retraction of the manuscript. In the case of reporting software, hardware or other commercial products, authors must declare, at the beginning of the manuscript, the absence of conflict of interest or describe any potential conflict. All sources of financial support for research must be disclosed. The authors agree that, if the manuscript is accepted for publication in Revista Saúde e Pesquisa, the article will be copyrighted under the Creative Commons license "Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)". This license allows others to freely copy, distribute, and display the copyrighted work as long as they meet specified conditions. Obtaining written permission is the authors' responsibility to include images or artwork that are not copyrighted. Author names must be listed in the article according to their contribution, and only those who have made substantial contributions are considered authors. Indirect or marginal contributions should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgments" section, before the List of References.
- Responsibilities of Reviewers
Revista Saúde e Pesquisa reviewers perform their duties on a voluntary basis, recognizing that, due to their full-time commitments, reviewing for Revista Saúde e Pesquisa is not necessarily their main priority. They are free to decline invitations to review specific manuscripts at their discretion, especially if workload or other commitments make it impractical to complete the review in a timely and task-appropriate manner. Furthermore, they should not accept review assignments for which they feel inadequately qualified. Typically, reviewers are expected to complete their reviews within three weeks of accepting the assignment. If it becomes clear at any time that they do not have the necessary experience to carry out the review or that there is a potential conflict of interest, they should decline the task. This may include situations of competition, collaboration or other connections with the authors, institutions or companies associated with the manuscript. Reviewers undertake to keep privileged information or ideas obtained during the review process confidential and must not use them for personal benefit. All manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents and must not be shared or discussed without the express authorization of the Editor of Revista Saúde e Pesquisa. During reviews, reviewers are encouraged to adopt an objective approach, avoiding personal criticism of the authors. It is recommended to express opinions clearly, justifying the recommendations made and providing detailed and constructive feedback to help authors improve their work, even if the manuscript is considered unpublishable. Reviewers must identify, in their reviews, relevant published works not cited by the authors, as well as any lack of proper attribution of sources. If they notice significant similarities between the manuscript under analysis and other known articles, or have ethical concerns regarding the research reported, they should communicate this information to the responsible editor.
- Editors’ Responsibilities
The Editor of Revista Saúde e Pesquisa assumes the final responsibility for deciding on the publication of a submitted manuscript, following the journal's policies established by the editorial board and respecting legal requirements, such as defamation, copyright infringement and plagiarism. The Editor may seek guidance from the Associate Editor, editorial staff members, reviewers, and others when making publishing decisions. Manuscript evaluations are carried out based on intellectual content, without considering the authors' race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnic origin, citizenship or political philosophy. Confidentiality is maintained, and editors do not disclose information about a manuscript beyond the authors, reviewers and potential reviewers, and, when appropriate, members of the Revista Saúde e Pesquisa editorial board. Furthermore, the integrity of the blind review process is preserved, avoiding revealing the identity of authors to reviewers and vice versa. When evaluating a manuscript, editors consider standard criteria such as rigor, quality of presentation, and contribution to knowledge. They also look for evidence that the research was conducted ethically, asking whether the benefits outweigh the harms. Given the acceptance of submissions from any country, they recognize the variation in global ethical laws and regulations and may request clarifications from the authors and the presentation of a letter from the relevant ethics committee or institutional board. Editors follow the CORE Guidelines for retraction, expression of concern and corrections in articles published in Revista Saúde e Pesquisa. Commit to collaborating closely with research organizations and institutions, as guided by CORE, to effectively address research integrity issues.
Plagiarism
One of the most frequent ethical transgressions is plagiarism, which occurs when an author knowingly uses another person's work without permission, credit or knowledge. Plagiarism can manifest itself in several ways, from literal reproduction to rewriting another author's work. In the context of publications, the exact reproduction of excerpts is acceptable only if the source is properly cited and quotation marks are used in accordance with editorial standards. However, substantial copying of materials such as research, processes, tables and equipment is prohibited unless there is adequate reference. If one article incorporates the essence of another, this should also be duly mentioned. Paraphrasing is permitted, as long as the source is properly cited and the author's original meaning is not altered. However, recycling of text is strictly prohibited, requiring that each work be original and not reused in an unauthorized manner.
The editors and reviewers of Revista Saúde e Pesquisa will carry out similarity checks on the manuscript at any time, using specialized tools, aiming to guarantee the academic integrity, originality and ethical compliance of the content submitted for evaluation. If evidence of plagiarism is found before/after acceptance or after publication of the article, the author will be offered a chance to rebut. If the arguments are not considered satisfactory, the manuscript will be retracted and the author will be sanctioned for publication of the work for a period to be determined by the responsible Editor(s).
Reporting Plagiarism and Misconduct
If you have identified texts with plagiarism or inappropriate ethical and scientific conduct, please send an email to: naep@unicesumar.edu.br, clearly indicating which material or author is being reported. Communicating these concerns is crucial to maintaining the integrity and quality of published research. We thank you for your collaboration and diligence in upholding ethical standards in scientific production.
Search Fraud
Research fraud occurs when invented or manipulated data or conclusions are published without having been generated by real experiments or observations. Authors may be asked to submit research-related raw data for editorial review, and it is crucial that all such data is retained for a specific period after publication. It is important to note that manipulation of images is only permitted for the purpose of improving clarity. However, any specific changes within an image, such as enhancing, darkening, moving, removing or adding features, are strictly prohibited. Making adjustments to the brightness, contrast or color of images is acceptable, as long as these modifications do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original version of the image. These guidelines aim to ensure the integrity and transparency of data and visual representations in research.
Conflict of interests
When a researcher, author, editor or reviewer has personal, financial interests or beliefs that may compromise their objectivity or unduly influence their actions, a conflict of interest arises. These relationships are also known as double commitments, conflicting interests, or divergent loyalties. When submitting an article, it is imperative to explicitly declare the presence or absence of potential conflicts of interest, either with research participants or with agencies that have provided resources for the study. This statement must be included in the manuscript, on a notification page designated for this purpose. If there are extensive details about the possible existence of conflicts, it is recommended to send a supplementary document in letter format, through the magazine system, for a more comprehensive and transparent dissemination. These measures aim to ensure the integrity and reliability of the review and publication process.
Simultaneous Submissions, Multiple and/or Duplicate Publications
Authors have an obligation to certify that their articles are based on original research and have never been published before. Intentionally submitting or resubmitting duplicate work for publication is considered a breach of publishing ethics.
- Avoid submitting an article for publication in more than one journal at a time;
- Even if the article is under review, wait until you receive the response and then submit it to another journal;
- Avoid submitting articles published in other journals for consideration by a new journal;• Avoid submitting different articles that describe essentially the same research in different journals;
- Always inform about any previous article submission (including presentations, abstracts and postings of results or records) that could be considered a duplicate submission;
- If you want to publish the article in a journal in another country or language, contact the editorial team;
- Reveal any details of the publication of the article in other languages or countries.
Retraction or correction of the document
If, after publication, a significant error is identified in the quantitative or qualitative data, it is recommended to immediately notify the editor so that the necessary measures can be taken, such as retraction or correction of the document. Transparency and timely correction of errors are essential to maintain the integrity of the research and guarantee the quality of the information conveyed in the publication. Please contact the editor via the designated communication channel to report this type of situation and provide detailed information about the identified error. This practice contributes to maintaining the high ethical and scientific standards of the publication.
Therefore, in order to maintain the moral standards of a rising scientific journal, Revista Saúde e Pesquisa recommends that readers, authors, evaluators and area editors read the document on Good Practices in Scientific Publication (https://publicationethics.org /files/u7141/1999pdf13.pdf). Furthermore, they are expected to check the journal's instructions for contributors before submission and any resources relating to the aforementioned ethical standards.
