COPE-aligned ethics. ICMJE recommendations. OASPA conduct.

Ethics is not a marketing claim. It is documented policy enforced by trained staff under public scrutiny via our transparency pages.

Our Ethics Framework

Datarsoft Publishing House operates under the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Code of Conduct and Best Practice Guidelines for Journal Editors and Publishers. We align with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Recommendations, the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) policies, and the Open Access Scholarly Publishing Association (OASPA) Code of Conduct.

Author Responsibilities

Originality and Plagiarism

Authors must ensure their work is original, properly cited where it draws on others' work, and never submitted simultaneously to another journal. Plagiarism — including self-plagiarism (republishing your own work without disclosure) — results in immediate rejection and may lead to a permanent submission ban.

Authorship

All listed authors must have made substantive contributions to the work, per the ICMJE four-criteria definition. Ghost authorship, gift authorship, and guest authorship are forbidden. We require CRediT contribution statements for all submissions.

Conflict of Interest

Authors must declare all financial, personal, institutional, and competitive conflicts of interest at submission. Failure to disclose is a serious ethics violation.

Data Integrity

Authors must be prepared to share underlying data if requested by editors or reviewers. Data fabrication, falsification, or manipulation is research misconduct and grounds for immediate retraction.

Ethics Approval

Research involving humans, animals, or sensitive subjects must include ethics committee approval references in the manuscript. Clinical trials must be pre-registered.

Reviewer Responsibilities

• Confidentiality — manuscripts are not to be shared or discussed.
• Objectivity — reviews must be evidence-based, not personal.
• Promptness — agreed deadlines must be met or declined upfront.
• Disclosure of conflicts of interest — declare before reviewing.
• Constructive feedback — even when recommending rejection.
• No AI-generated review content (see AI Use Policy).
• No use of manuscript content for personal benefit.

Editor Responsibilities

• Make decisions based on academic merit, not author identity or institution.
• Maintain editorial independence from commercial pressure.
• Ensure reviewer anonymity (in double-blind review).
• Resolve disputes fairly and document decisions.
• Address ethics complaints promptly per COPE flowcharts.
• Recuse on submissions involving conflicts of interest.

Plagiarism Policy

All manuscripts undergo iThenticate similarity screening at submission AND pre-publication. Thresholds:

• Under 10% similarity — proceed to review.
• 10 to 19% — flagged for editor assessment (often due to legitimate methods or quoted material).
• 20 to 29% — returned to authors with similarity report and revision request.
• 30%+ — desk-rejected with explanation.

Retraction & Correction Policy

Articles found to contain research misconduct, fabrication, falsification, severe error, plagiarism, or duplicate publication are retracted per COPE retraction guidelines. The retraction notice is published, the article PDF is watermarked "RETRACTED," and the lifecycle page is updated with the retraction reason and date. Corrections (errata, corrigenda) follow the same transparency standard.

Whistleblower & Complaint Channel

Concerns about any Datarsoft article — by readers, authors, or third parties — can be reported toethics@datarsoft.tech. The Publishing Director investigates per COPE flowcharts. Findings are documented and, where appropriate, made public on the article's lifecycle page.