Ethical standarts and procedures

These ethical standards are based on the Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. Medical Sciences Editorial Policy and are in agreement with existing Elsevier policies and COPE Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors.

Buletinul AȘM. Științe medicale, as publisher of Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. Medical Sciences, takes seriously the responsibility to reflect the highest in publication ethics and commits to meet and uphold standards of ethical behavior at all stages of the publication process.

Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova. Medical Sciences serves the international community   and promotes academic discussions of topics, irrespective of their nature – whether religious, gender-based, environmental, ethical, political or other potentially or topically contentious subjects.  Publication of an article in an academic peer-reviewed journal involves many parties, each of which plays an important role in manuscript management procedure. In this context, the author, the journal editor, the peer-reviewers and the publisher have responsibilities to meet expected ethical standards at all stages in their involvement from submission to publication of an article.

Publication and authorship

• Papers are submitted on the understanding that the subject matter has not been previously published and is not being submitted elsewhere.
• Authors who want to publish translations of the articles that have been published elsewhere should ensure that they have appropriate permission(s), should indicate clearly that the material has been translated and re-published, and should indicate clearly the original source of the material.
• Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors.  The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no  inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
• Redundant (multiple) publication / re-publication: abstracts and posters at conferences, results presented at meetings (for example, to inform investigators or participants about findings), and results databases (data without interpretation, discussion, context or conclusions in the form of tables and text to describe data/information where this is not easily presented in tabular form) are not considered to be prior publication.
• If applicable, authors can include an information about who has funded research and on the role of the funders in the research.

Author’s responsibilities

• Authors must accept full responsibility for the factual accuracy of the data presented and should obtain any authorization necessary for publication.
• Authors must confirm that the manuscript as submitted is not under consideration or accepted for publication elsewhere. Where portions of the content overlap with published or submitted content, to acknowledge and cite those sources.
• Authors must confirm that all the work in the submitted manuscript is original and to acknowledge and cite content reproduced from other sources. To obtain permission to reproduce any content from other sources. Plagiarism takes many forms, from “passing off” another’s paper as the author’s own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Submitted manuscripts which are found to contain plagiarized text are rejected.
• Authors should ensure that any studies involving human or animal subjects conform to national, local and institutional laws and requirements and confirm that approval has been sought and obtained where appropriate. Authors should obtain express permission from human subjects and respect their privacy.
• The contents of manuscripts are the sole responsibility of the authors.
• Manuscripts submitted under multiple authorship are reviewed on the assumption that all listed authors concur in the submission and that the final version has been seen and approved by all authors.
• The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
• The authors must declare any potential conflicts of interest.
• To notify promptly the journal editor or publisher if a significant error in their publication is identified and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.