The Annals of Clinical and Translational Medicine (ACTM), published by Read and Research Publications, is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, and scholarly excellence. The journal promotes academic freedom, editorial independence, transparency, and responsible scientific communication.
Editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of scientific merit, originality, methodological quality, and relevance to the journal’s scope, without influence from sponsors, institutions, funding agencies, or other external interests.
All participants in the publication process—including authors, editors, reviewers, and publishers—are expected to adhere to internationally accepted ethical standards to ensure the integrity of the scientific record.
Editorial Policies
ACTM follows internationally recognized publishing and ethical guidelines, including:
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (COPE, DOAJ, WAME, and OASPA)
The Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Board are responsible for ensuring fairness, confidentiality, transparency, and scientific rigor throughout the editorial process.
Handling Allegations of Misconduct
ACTM takes all allegations of research and publication misconduct seriously. Investigations are conducted fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with COPE recommendations.
• Plagiarism
• Self-plagiarism or text recycling
• Duplicate or redundant publication
• Citation manipulation
• Peer-review manipulation
• Authorship misconduct
Where misconduct is confirmed, the journal may reject manuscripts, publish corrections or retractions, notify relevant institutions, and take other appropriate actions to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.
AI and Authorship
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for scholarly work.
Authors may use AI-assisted technologies for language editing, data analysis, literature exploration, or manuscript preparation, provided that:
- Their use is clearly disclosed in the manuscript.
- Authors remain fully responsible for all content.
- AI-generated material is reviewed, verified, and edited by the authors.
- Data privacy, copyright, and intellectual property rights are respected.
- Falsification or fabrication of data
- Citation manipulation
- Peer Review manipulation
- Authorship misconduct
AI & Authorship
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for scholarly work.
Authors may use AI-assisted technologies for language editing, data analysis, literature exploration, or manuscript preparation, provided that:
• Their use is clearly disclosed in the manuscript.
• Authors remain fully responsible for all content.
• AI-generated material is reviewed, verified, and edited by the authors.
• Data privacy, copyright, and intellectual property rights are respected.
Anonymous Authorship
ACTM generally requires full disclosure of author identities. In exceptional situations where revealing an author's identity may pose a genuine risk to personal safety or security, requests for anonymous authorship may be considered by the Editor-in-Chief on a case-by-case basis.
Approved anonymous authorship arrangements will be handled confidentially while maintaining accountability to the journal.
Conflicts of Interest
All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any financial, professional, institutional, or personal relationships that could influence the conduct, interpretation, or publication of research.
Authors must include a Conflict of Interest statement in their manuscript and disclose all sources of funding. Editors and reviewers with relevant conflicts will not participate in the evaluation of affected manuscripts.
Competing interests may include personal relationships, financial support, grants, patents, institutional affiliations, or professional commitments that could affect the research. All sources of funding must be disclosed in the acknowledgments section.
Studies Involving Human Participants
Research involving human participants must comply with the ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and applicable national and institutional regulations.’Manuscripts must include:
• Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval details.
• Approval number and date, where applicable.
• Confirmation that informed consent was obtained.
• Assurance that participant privacy and confidentiality were protected.
Authors are encouraged to ensure diversity and inclusiveness in participant recruitment and reporting.
Informed Consent and Patient Privacy:
Written informed consent must be obtained from all participants or their legal representatives before inclusion in research studies. When manuscripts contain identifiable patient information, photographs, videos, or clinical data, authors must obtain specific consent for publication. Personal identifiers should be removed unless explicit permission for disclosure has been granted.
The journal reserves the right to request evidence of informed consent at any stage of the review or publication process.
The journal reserves the right to request evidence of informed consent at any stage of the review or publication process.Special Issues and Thematic Collections
The Editor-in-Chief may appoint Guest Editors to oversee Special Issues or Thematic Collections focused on emerging areas of clinical and translational medicine. All manuscripts submitted to Special Issues undergo the same editorial assessment and double-blind peer-review process as regular submissions. Final publication decisions remain the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief.
Plagiarism policy
ACTM maintains a strict policy against plagiarism and unethical publication practices.
- Manuscripts must be original and properly referenced.
- Similarity levels should generally not exceed 10%.
- Direct copying, inappropriate paraphrasing, duplicate publication, and self-plagiarism are prohibited.
- All submissions are screened using plagiarism-detection software, including Turnitin.
Manuscripts failing to meet ethical standards may be rejected or withdrawn from consideration.
Generative AI Policy
Authors must disclose the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies during manuscript preparation.
AI tools may be used to support literature review, language improvement, data organization, and content refinement. However, they must not replace human intellectual contribution, critical analysis, or scientific judgment.
Authors remain fully accountable for:
- Accuracy and reliability of AI-assisted content.
- Verification of sources and factual claims.
- Original interpretation and scholarly contribution.
- Compliance with ethical, legal, and privacy requirements.
Research Data Sharing
ACTM encourages authors to share research data that supports published findings whenever ethically and legally appropriate.
Data sharing promotes transparency, reproducibility, collaboration, and scientific advancement. Authors are encouraged to deposit datasets in recognized repositories and provide relevant access information within the manuscript.
Ethics Approval
Research involving humans or animals must receive approval from the appropriate ethics committee or regulatory authority before study commencement.
Where applicable, manuscripts should include:
• Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee approval number
• Clinical trial registration number
• Animal Ethics Committee approval
• Data protection or privacy approvals
• Other institutional or regulatory permissions
Authors should retain all supporting documentation and provide it upon request.
Informed Consent Policy
All human research must comply with ethical and legal requirements for informed consent.
Consent Requirement
Informed Consent Requirement
Authors must confirm that written informed consent was obtained from all participants or their legal guardians before enrollment in the study.
Protection of Participant Identity
Identifiable information, images, videos, or case details should not be published without explicit written consent. Authors must ensure appropriate anonymization of participant data and clinical materials.
Failure to comply with informed consent requirements may result in manuscript rejection, correction, or retraction in accordance with COPE guidelines.
Privacy and Confidentiality
The journal treats all submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, and personal information with strict confidentiality. Information collected during the submission and publication process is used solely for editorial and publishing purposes and is handled in accordance with applicable privacy and data protection regulations.
