Publication ethics

This Publication Ethics Policy outlines the ethical standards and responsibilities of authors, editors, reviewers, and the publisher of ARSHI Veterinary Letters. The journal is committed to maintaining integrity, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in all stages of scholarly publishing.

1. Originality and Exclusive Submission

All manuscripts submitted to ARSHI Veterinary Letters must be original works that have not been published previously and are not under consideration elsewhere.

  • Authors must declare that the manuscript does not involve duplication, redundant publication, “salami slicing”, or republication without transparent disclosure.
  • Any reuse of previously published materials, including text, data, figures, or images, must be properly acknowledged.
  • Authors must obtain permission when copyrighted materials are used in the manuscript.

2. Data Presentation and Methodology

Authors are responsible for ensuring that all data are presented honestly, accurately, and without manipulation. Data fabrication, falsification, or misleading presentation is considered serious misconduct.

  • Methods and analyses must be described in sufficient detail to ensure reproducibility.
  • For clinical case reports, authors should include clear details of the clinical history, diagnostic procedures, interventions, outcomes, and discussion highlighting the educational or clinical value of the case.
  • Authors are encouraged to follow the CARE guidelines for case report submissions.

3. Ethical Approval, Animal Rights, and Regulatory Compliance

  • Research involving animal or human subjects must include a statement of ethical approval, such as approval from an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for animals or an Institutional Review Board (IRB) for humans.
  • The ethical approval statement should specify the approval number and the institution that granted the approval.
  • For animal clinical cases, authors must confirm that informed consent was obtained from the animal owner for publication, including identifiable images when applicable.
  • When owner consent is not applicable, identifying details must be anonymized.
  • All authors must comply with national and international standards for animal welfare and ethical research practices.

4. Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest and Funding

  • All authors are required to disclose any financial, institutional, or personal conflicts of interest that might influence the interpretation of the data.
  • Sources of financial support, including institution name, grant number, and the funder’s role, must be clearly stated in the manuscript.
  • Editors and reviewers must also declare potential conflicts of interest before participating in the peer review process.

5. Peer Review and Editorial Decisions

  • All submissions are subject to independent peer review by at least two qualified reviewers.
  • Reviewers must maintain confidentiality, provide objective feedback, and disclose any conflicts of interest.
  • Editorial decisions are made solely on the basis of the manuscript’s scholarly merit, originality, and relevance to the journal’s scope, without external influence.
  • If an editor has a conflict of interest with a manuscript, the review and decision process will be managed by another independent editor.

6. Plagiarism, Duplication, and Research Misconduct

  • All manuscripts are checked for similarity using Turnitin or equivalent software.
  • Submissions containing plagiarism, duplicate publication, or unethical reuse of data will be rejected and may be reported to the authors’ institutions.
  • If misconduct, such as plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, image manipulation, or undisclosed conflicts of interest, is discovered after publication, ARSHI Veterinary Letters will follow COPE guidelines to issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions as appropriate.

7. Post-Publication Corrections and Retractions

  • If significant errors affecting the interpretation of results are identified after publication, the article will be corrected through an erratum or retracted transparently.
  • Retraction or withdrawal may also occur due to proven ethical violations or upon the authors’ justified request.
  • All corrections and retractions will be permanently linked to the original article to maintain scholarly transparency.

8. Copyright, Licensing, and Open Access Policy

ARSHI Veterinary Letters is an open-access journal that publishes articles under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA) .

  • This license allows anyone to share and adapt the published work for any purpose, including commercial use, provided appropriate credit is given to the original authors.
  • Any derivative works must be distributed under the same license.
  • Authors retain copyright over their work but grant the journal the right of first publication under the CC BY-SA license.
  • Authors are responsible for obtaining permissions for any copyrighted third-party materials included in their manuscripts.

9. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Manuscript Preparation

  • If AI-based tools, such as tools for language editing, image generation, data processing, or manuscript preparation, were used, their use must be disclosed in the acknowledgment section.
  • AI tools cannot be listed as authors.
  • Human authors remain fully accountable for the content, accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript.
  • AI-generated data, figures, or text are only acceptable when the generation process is transparent and adheres to ethical and scientific standards.

10. Data Transparency and Reporting Standards

  • Authors are encouraged to include a Data Availability Statement indicating where supporting data can be accessed or providing reasons for restricted access.
  • Case reports and applied veterinary studies should follow recognized reporting standards to enhance clarity, reproducibility, and educational value.
  • Recommended reporting standards include CARE for case reports and ARRIVE for animal studies.

ARSHI Veterinary Letters is committed to promoting responsible research conduct, ethical publication practices, and transparency in veterinary and biomedical science publishing.