Ethical Issues & Publication Policy

General Principles
The Van Medical Journal adheres to robust publishing ethics and malpractice policies guided by well-established industry standards:

• Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing (COPE, DOAJ, WAME, OASPA).
• ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.

Authorship and Contributor Roles

The journal follows the ICMJE authorship criteria. All listed authors must meet all four conditions: (1) substantial contribution to conception/design or data acquisition/analysis; (2) drafting or critically revising the work; (3) final approval of the version to be published; (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

CRediT Taxonomy: Authors are required to declare individual contributions using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT). A "Author Contributions" statement must be included at the end of the manuscript, specifying each author's role (e.g., Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Supervision, Funding Acquisition). See: https://credit.niso.org/

Artificial Intelligence (AI)
AAI tools (such as ChatGPT, LLMs, or image generators) do not meet authorship criteria and cannot be listed as authors.

• Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, including parts produced by AI tools.
• If AI tools were used in writing, data analysis, or image generation, this must be transparently disclosed in the "Materials and Methods" or "Acknowledgements" section, specifying which tool was used and how.

Ethical Consent, Human and Animal Rights

The Van Medical Journal upholds stringent ethical standards aligned with the Declaration of Helsinki and WAME Recommendations.

Ethics Committee Approval: For studies involving human subjects, human tissues, or animals, the name of the ethics committee, the approval date, and the approval number must be clearly stated in the "Materials and Methods" section and in a dedicated ethics statement before the References.

Clinical Trial Registration: In accordance with ICMJE recommendations, all clinical trials must be registered in a public trials registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov, DRKS, or a national registry) prospectively — at or before the time of first patient enrollment. Retrospective registration is not acceptable. The Trial Registration Number (TRN) and registration date must be included in the Abstract and the Methods section.

Data Availability and Transparency

Data Availability Statement: Authors are strongly encouraged to deposit their raw research data in recognized open repositories such as Zenodo. All accepted manuscripts must include a "Data Availability Statement" before the References section. Authors should choose one of the following standard statements:

• "The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request."
• "The datasets generated during the current study are available in the [NAME] repository, [LINK]."
• "Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study."

Informed Consent: Written informed consent must be obtained from all participants. Statements regarding informed consent must be included in the article text. Patient anonymity must be preserved unless written consent for identifiable information is explicitly provided.

Conflict of Interest
All authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose any potential conflicts of interest. Authors must use the ICMJE Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form, which must be submitted together with the manuscript. Funding sources must be acknowledged in a dedicated section.

Sex and Gender Equity in Research (SAGER Guidelines)

The Van Medical Journal is committed to inclusivity. Authors should:

• Use the terms "sex" (biological attribute) and "gender" (socially constructed) carefully to avoid confusion.
• Report the sex and/or gender of study participants and, where appropriate, analyze data by sex and gender.
• Use gender-neutral language throughout the manuscript.

Research Misconduct, Complaints, and Appeals

Plagiarism and Misconduct: The journal takes a strong stance against plagiarism, data fabrication, and manipulation. Suspected cases are investigated following COPE Flowcharts. If misconduct is confirmed, the article may be rejected or retracted, and sanctions may be applied.

Complaints and Appeals: Authors who wish to appeal an editorial decision should submit a formal rebuttal letter to the Editor-in-Chief. All complaints are handled confidentially in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Retraction Policy: Articles may be retracted due to unreliable findings, redundancy, or unethical conduct, in accordance with COPE Retraction Guidelines.

Responsibilities of Stakeholders

Authors:

• Obtain and state ethical approval and informed consent.
• Ensure originality and avoid plagiarism (similarity below 20% as assessed by iThenticate/Turnitin).
• Declare all potential Conflicts of Interest (using the ICMJE form).
• Acknowledge all funding sources.
• Provide a CRediT Author Contributions statement.
• Include a Data Availability Statement.

Reviewers:

• Maintain confidentiality of the review process.
• Provide objective, constructive, and timely reviews (within 15 days).
• Declare any conflicts of interest immediately.
• Adhere to COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers.

Editors:

• Ensure scientific quality and integrity of the academic record.
• Maintain reviewer anonymity.
• Prevent business needs from compromising intellectual and ethical standards.
• Take action on suspected misconduct.