Ethical Guidelines

This document outlines the Infectious Disease Policy Journal's (IDPJ) ethical guidelines for publication as informed by best practices in research. All submitting authors are expected to adhere to these guidelines regardless of the article type they submit to ensure the highest standards of transparency, objectivity, and ethical conduct in their published work.

IDPJ Statement on Authorship & Conflicts of Interest

Authorship Criteria

IDPJ recognizes the following as sufficient contributions worthy of claiming authorship of a given publication:

• Having substantially contributed to the conception or design of the work
• Having assisted in the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
• Having aided in the creation of new software used in the work
• Having drafted the publication or substantively revised it

IDPJ requires all designated authors to have approved the final version of the submitted manuscript and to take accountability for the accuracy and integrity of their work. 

Corresponding Author

One author should be designated as the corresponding author. This individual is responsible for communication between the journal and all co-authors. The corresponding author must ensure that all listed authors have approved the manuscript before submission and that all substantive correspondence with the journal is shared with co-authors.

Publication Redundancy

IDPJ is committed to the publishing of original research and insights. To this end, authors should only submit manuscripts that have not been previously published or are under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Concurrent submission of the same manuscript to multiple journals is strictly prohibited. Authors must confirm that the submitted work has not been published, accepted for publication, or is currently under review by any other publishing organization. If any portion of the manuscript has been previously presented in a conference proceeding, abstract, or similar format, this must be disclosed at the time of submission. In such cases, the submitted manuscript should represent a substantial extension or revision of the previously published material. Submissions that are found to be redundant or duplicative will be rejected.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else's work (including ideas, words, data, or other creative expression) as one's own. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Reproducing verbatim text from another source without proper attribution (quotation marks and citation).
• Rewording someone else's ideas or text without giving credit to the original source.
• Presenting someone else's ideas, concepts, or data as one's own without proper citation.

Plagiarism is a serious ethical violation and is strictly prohibited. All submitted manuscripts are expected to be original works. If plagiarism is detected in a submitted manuscript, IDPJ will reject the submission and potentially ban authors from publishing with IDPJ in the future. If plagiarism is found in published articles, IDPJ reserves the right to announce this, remove the publication from the database, and ban authors.

Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest that could inappropriately influence or bias their work. Conflicts of interest may be financial, personal, or professional, and must be declared regardless of whether they had an impact on the research.

Regarding financial conflicts of interest, any financial relationships (e.g., employment, consultancies, stock ownership, grants, patents) must be disclosed as part of the submission process. In the same sense of transparency, IDPJ requires researchers to disclose the funding sources that made their research possible, if applicable.

For example, “The authors declare no conflicts of interest related to this study,” or “Author X received funding from [sponsor] related to this work” are example statements that can be included in the conflict declaration.

IDPJ Statement on the Use of AI in Academic Writing

In light of the increasing prevalence and sophistication of artificial intelligence (AI) in research, IDPJ wishes to clarify its stance regarding the use of AI in the preparation of academic articles.

IDPJ recognizes that AI technologies can be valuable resources for researchers, offering powerful capabilities for data analysis, automation of routine processes, and the enhancement of scientific workflows. Accordingly, IDPJ does not exclude submissions that utilize AI for these purposes, provided that such use is appropriately transparent and overseen by humans.

However, IDPJ also acknowledges the risks associated with AI-generated content, including the potential for hallucinations—the generation of inaccurate information—and other errors. To safeguard the integrity of scientific publication, it is essential that a human researcher remains actively involved in all stages of the research and writing process, exercising oversight and critical judgment over any AI-assisted outputs.

IDPJ strongly encourages authors to explicitly disclose the use of AI tools in their methodology and to describe the nature and extent of such use within their manuscripts. For example, “Portions of this manuscript were assisted by [AI tool], which was used for [e.g., summarizing literature, generating figures]. All content was reviewed and verified by the authors” could be included in the methodology.

In keeping with widely accepted publishing ethics, AI tools or systems should not be listed as authors. The responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and ethical compliance of the submitted work rests solely with the human authors. By adhering to these principles, IDPJ aims to support responsible research while upholding the highest standards of scientific integrity.

IDPJ Statement on Data Sharing

IDPJ is committed to promoting transparency, reproducibility, and the advancement of scientific knowledge. To this end, authors are encouraged to make their data available to other researchers whenever possible. Accurate and sufficient presentation of data and references allows for the replication of published work. Data should be shared in a way that is consistent with ethical standards and legal requirements, including protecting the privacy of research participants.

Researchers should consider depositing their data in a public repository. Potential databases to explore can be found on the Registry of Research Data Repositories. Authors should include a "Data Availability" statement in their manuscript, indicating where the data can be accessed and any restrictions on its use. If the data cannot be shared, the statement should explain why (e.g., due to privacy concerns).

Scenario	Statement Example
Data can be made publicly available	“Data is available at [repository] linked here [DOI/link]”
Data can be made available upon request	“ Data is available from the authors upon reasonable request”
Data cannot be shared due to privacy/confidentiality concerns	“Data sharing is restricted due to privacy concerns”

IDPJ Statement on Global Human Research Ethics

IDPJ is committed to upholding the highest ethical standards in global health research involving human participants. IDPJ recognizes the complexities and potential vulnerabilities inherent in research conducted across diverse cultural, social, and economic contexts. All research submitted to this journal must adhere to internationally recognized ethical principles and guidelines, ensuring the protection of human rights, dignity, and well-being.

International Best Practices

The ethical standards of IDPJ are aligned with the following key international guidelines and declarations:

• The World Medical Association’s Declaration of Helsinki
• The Belmont Report
• The WHO Standards and Operational Guidance for Ethics Review of Health-Related Research with Human Participants

Submission Requirements for Research Involving Human Participants

All research must be reviewed and approved by a properly constituted and independent ethics review committee (e.g., Institutional Review Board [IRB] or Research Ethics Committee [REC]) prior to the commencement of the study. Authors must state that their research has been reviewed by an ethics committee and provide the study-specific ethical committee approval number in their submission. For example, “This study was approved by [Ethics Committee], approval number [XYZ123].” For research conducted in multiple countries, ethical approval must be obtained in each relevant jurisdiction.

Informed consent must be obtained from all participants prior to their involvement in the research. Participants must be provided with clear and comprehensive information about the purpose of the research, procedures, potential risks and benefits, and their right to withdraw at any time without penalty. The consent process must be voluntary, free from coercion, and culturally appropriate.

Authors are encouraged to include a detailed description of the ethical considerations in their manuscript outlining:

• The name of the ethics review committee that approved the research
• The informed consent process
• The measures taken to protect privacy and confidentiality
• Any potential conflicts of interest
• Any limitations on data sharing

IDPJ reserves the right to request additional information about the ethical aspects of a study and may reject submissions that do not meet our ethical standards.