You should only submit your research to us if the following conditions apply:

• The research has been conducted with the highest standards of rigor and integrity.
• The article/chapter/book/case study is original.
• The work has not been submitted elsewhere and is not under consideration with any other publication.
• Novelty of research paper: a novel idea means something that is unique in the field or scope you’re analyzing. It can be a new methodology or a new design that sets the stage for new knowledge. It could be an approach that purposefully attempts to add more understanding to the current knowledge base. 
• The work does not include libelous, defamatory or unlawful statements.
• Permission has been cleared for any third-party material included.
• Proof of consent has been obtained for any named individuals or organizations.
• Authorship has been agreed prior to submission and no one has been ‘gifted’ authorship or denied credit as an author (ghost authorship).

Ethics issues

Clinical trials

We can only accept submissions featuring clinical trials if the following applies:

• The trial is registered in a publicly-accessible database. This must have been done prior to the start of the trial or enrolment of the participants. 
• You can demonstrate you obtained clearance from your institutional ethics board for the trial.

Authorship

When it comes to listing the authors of your paper, we understand that it can be tempting to include everyone who has assisted you in your work. It’s also easy to forget someone who may have been involved at the very start of the process. Authorship issues vary, but include:

• Ghost authorship – exclusion of a contributor from the list of authors.
• Gift/guest authorship – Inclusion of someone who hasn’t contributed to the paper, or who has chosen not to be associated with the research.
• Disputes over the order of the authors and the level of contribution that each has made to the paper.

These issues can overshadow your work, and potentially lead to retractions, so it’s important to agree authorship prior to submitting your paper.

  Authorship principles outlined by the International Council of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). These state that for someone to be considered an author, they must have:

• Made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work.
• Drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content.
• Given final approval of the version to be published.
• Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

If an individual is solely responsible for obtaining the research grant that funded the research, this does not constitute authorship. If a contributor does not meet all four of the ICMJE criteria, they should be included in the acknowledgments instead.

Any authors listed should be able to identify which co-author wrote which section of the paper and have full confidence in the integrity of their co-author’s work.

If you have any doubts about meeting the above criteria, please discuss these with your co-authors or with your institution’s Research Integrity Officer, prior to submission.

When authorship disputes arise, we always try to help the parties involved reach an agreement.  However, as it relates to the research stage, it’s not possible for us or our editors to comment on the level of contribution by each author. 

Informed consent

If your article has a medical focus and there is a human subject involved, you must obtain clearance from your institutional ethics board and confirm recognized standards (for example the Declaration of Helsinki) have been followed to minimize harm to the individuals taking part.

If your article includes an image of someone’s face, or anything else that might identify them, you must provide proof of informed consent via a completed consent to publish form.

Citation manipulation

Citations and referencing are important when writing any research, however, researchers should be mindful of the following behaviors:

Self-citation

Coercive citation

'Citation pushing'

Defamation/libel

You are required to obtain written proof of consent for studies about named organizations or people before you submit your work.

If inaccurate, unsubstantiated or emotive statements are made about organizations or people in a submission, we may ask you to change the text, or reject the work prior to publication.

Critiques and reviews of products and services are acceptable, but comments must be constructive and not malicious.

We advise all authors of case studies to inform the subject (person or organization) and to seek their consent. If we think the study is potentially libelous or contains sensitive information, we will require written proof of consent before placing the paper in the production process.

Fabrication and falsification

The authors of submitted manuscripts or published articles that are found to have fabricated or falsified the results, including the manipulation of images, may incur sanctions, and published articles may be retracted.

Plagiarism

The content you submit to a publisher should be based on your own research and expressed in your own words. Authors must not use the words, figures, or ideas of others without attribution. All sources must be cited at the point they are used, and reuse of wording must be limited and be attributed or quoted in the text.

DSNJ uses  Crossref Similarity Check (iThenticate) to detect submissions that overlap with published and submitted manuscripts.

Manuscripts that are found to have been plagiarized from a manuscript by other authors, whether published or unpublished, will be rejected and the authors may incur sanctions. Any published articles may need to be corrected or retracted.

Conflicts of interest

Conflicts of interest (COIs, also known as ‘competing interests’) occur when issues outside research could be reasonably perceived to affect the neutrality or objectivity of the work or its assessment. This can happen at any stage in the research cycle, including during the experimentation phase, while a manuscript is being written, or during the process of turning a manuscript into a published article. 

Conflicts may include the following:

• Financial — funding and other payments, goods and services received or expected by the authors relating to the subject of the work or from an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work
• Affiliations — being employed by, on the advisory board for, or a member of an organization with an interest in the outcome of the work
• Intellectual property — patents or trademarks owned by someone or their organization
• Personal — friends, family, relationships, and other close personal connections
• Ideology — beliefs or activism, for example, political or religious, relevant to the work
• Academic — competitors or someone whose work is critiqued

Attribution

You should cite any previous publication or presentation of the ideas featured in your current submission. This includes conference papers, workshop presentations and listserv communications. This ensures that a complete history of the work is documented.

All references should be carefully checked for completeness, accuracy and consistency.