Scientific Journal of Dermatology and Venereology (SJDV) — e-ISSN 3025-6208 · Published by Phlox Institute: Indonesian Medical Research Organization · Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
The Scientific Journal of Dermatology and Venereology (SJDV) is an international, open-access, peer-reviewed medical journal committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity in scholarly publishing. This statement defines the ethical responsibilities and conduct expected of every party engaged in the publication process — authors, editors, peer reviewers, and the publisher — and the procedures the journal follows to safeguard the integrity of the published record.
The journal's policies are explicitly aligned with the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals issued by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the principles of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). These standards correspond to the ethical and governance criteria required for indexing by major international databases. Where an ethical question is not addressed by this statement, SJDV is guided by the relevant COPE guidance and flowcharts.
Because SJDV publishes clinical research, case reports, and image-rich material in dermatology and venereology, this statement gives particular attention to the protection of human subjects, the confidentiality of patients with sexually transmitted infections and other stigmatising conditions, and consent for the publication of identifiable clinical photographs.
1. Editorial Independence and Journal Governance
Editorial decisions at SJDV are made solely on the basis of scholarly merit and are free from interference by the publisher, advertisers, sponsors, professional societies, or any commercial interest. The publisher guarantees the autonomy of the Editor-in-Chief and the editorial board in all matters of content. Decisions to accept or reject a manuscript are never influenced by the origin of the work, the standing of the authors, or any commercial consideration.
2. Duties of Editors
Publication Decisions and Fair Play
The Editor-in-Chief holds final responsibility for deciding which submitted manuscripts are accepted for publication. Decisions are driven exclusively by the clinical significance, scientific validity, methodological rigour, originality, and relevance of the work to the journal's scope. Manuscripts are evaluated on their intellectual content without regard to the authors' race, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnic origin, citizenship, religious belief, institutional affiliation, or political philosophy. In reaching decisions, editors are bound by the legal requirements regarding defamation, copyright infringement, and plagiarism.
Confidentiality
Editors and editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, the assigned reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. Submitted manuscripts and their associated data are treated as privileged and confidential communications and may not be used for an editor's own research without the explicit written consent of the authors.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Unpublished material disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used by any editor in their own work without the written consent of the author. Editors must recuse themselves from handling manuscripts in which they have a competing interest arising from collaborative, competitive, financial, or personal relationships with any of the authors, companies, or institutions connected to the work, and must arrange for an alternative member of the editorial board to manage such submissions.
Ethical Oversight
Editors critically assess the ethical conduct of all submitted research. Any study involving human participants must explicitly state compliance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki, and editors verify that appropriate ethics-committee approval and informed consent have been documented. Editors will not consider, and may reject without further review, manuscripts for which adequate ethical clearance cannot be demonstrated.
Integrity of the Published Record and Post-Publication Vigilance
Editors are responsible for maintaining the integrity of the academic record. When genuine errors, ethical concerns, or evidence of misconduct come to light, editors act promptly and proportionately — issuing corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions in accordance with COPE guidance — and publish such notices clearly and without undue delay.
Cooperation in Investigations
Editors take responsive measures when ethical complaints are raised concerning a submitted or published manuscript. This includes contacting the authors and giving due consideration to their response, and, where necessary, communicating with the relevant institutions, research bodies, or regulatory authorities. Every reported case of unethical publishing behaviour is investigated, even when discovered years after publication.
3. Duties of Reviewers
Contribution to Editorial Decisions
Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and, through constructive communication with the author, may also assist the author in improving the scientific and clinical quality of the manuscript. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication and lies at the heart of the scientific method.
Promptness
Any invited reviewer who feels unqualified to assess the research reported in a manuscript, or who knows that a prompt review will be impossible, should notify the editor without delay and decline the invitation so that alternative reviewers may be approached.
Confidentiality
Manuscripts received for review must be treated as confidential documents. They must not be shown to, or discussed with, others except as authorised by the editor. This obligation applies equally to manuscripts that are declined. Reviewers must not retain copies of the manuscript for personal use and must not use the data, arguments, or interpretations contained in it for any purpose prior to publication.
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Review
Confidentiality and AI: Reviewers must not upload a submitted manuscript, or any part of it, to generative artificial-intelligence tools, large language models, or other third-party platforms, as doing so breaches the confidentiality of the work and the authors' proprietary rights. Any use of AI-assisted tools in preparing a review must be disclosed to the editor. Reviewers remain personally and fully responsible for the content, accuracy, and impartiality of their reports, which must reflect their own expert judgement.
Standards of Objectivity
Reviews must be conducted objectively. Reviewers should express their views clearly and support their assessments with specific, evidence-based arguments so that authors may use them to strengthen the manuscript. Personal criticism of the authors is inappropriate and is strictly prohibited.
Acknowledgement of Sources
Reviewers should identify relevant published work that has not been cited by the authors. Any statement that an observation, derivation, or argument had been previously reported should be accompanied by the corresponding citation. A reviewer should also alert the editor to any substantial similarity or overlap between the manuscript under consideration and any other published work of which they have personal knowledge.
Disclosure and Conflicts of Interest
Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. Reviewers must decline to evaluate manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, financial, or other relationships with any of the authors, companies, or healthcare institutions connected to the work.
4. Duties of Authors
Reporting Standards
Authors reporting original research must present an accurate account of the work performed together with an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data must be represented accurately. A manuscript should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Reporting should conform to the recognised reporting guideline appropriate to the study design (for example, CONSORT for randomised trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews, and CARE for case reports). Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements, including the fabrication or falsification of clinical data, constitute unethical behaviour and are unacceptable.
Originality and Plagiarism
Authors must ensure that they have written entirely original work, and that any work or words of others have been appropriately cited or quoted. All submissions are screened with similarity-detection software. Plagiarism in any form — including verbatim copying, paraphrasing without attribution, and the appropriation of ideas — constitutes unethical conduct and is unacceptable.
Data Access, Retention, and Reproducibility
Authors may be asked to provide the raw data of their study together with the manuscript for editorial review and should be prepared to make such data publicly available where this is feasible. In any event, authors should retain the underlying data for a reasonable period after publication and provide access to it on reasonable request, subject to the protection of patient confidentiality and the legal rights concerning proprietary data.
Concurrent and Redundant Publication
Authors must not submit a manuscript describing essentially the same research to more than one journal concurrently, nor publish a manuscript that substantially overlaps with work already published elsewhere. Submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal at a time constitutes unethical publishing behaviour and is unacceptable.
Authorship of the Manuscript
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study, in accordance with the four ICMJE authorship criteria. All who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors; those who participated in substantive aspects of the work without meeting the authorship criteria should be acknowledged. The corresponding author ensures that all appropriate co-authors are included, that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version, and that all have agreed to its submission. Any change to authorship after submission requires the written agreement of all authors and the approval of the editor.
Disclosure of the Use of Artificial Intelligence
Authors who have used generative artificial-intelligence tools or large language models in the preparation of a manuscript must disclose this clearly in the methods or acknowledgements section, specifying the tool and the manner of its use. Such tools cannot be listed as authors, since they cannot accept responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, or originality of the work. Authors remain fully accountable for all content of the manuscript.
Human Subjects, Animal Welfare, and Ethical Approval
For studies involving human participants, authors must include a statement confirming that the research was approved by an appropriate Institutional Review Board or research ethics committee, citing the approval number, and that the study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Authors must confirm that written informed consent was obtained from all participants. For experiments involving animals, authors must confirm compliance with the relevant institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals, report in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines, and provide the approval number issued by the responsible animal ethics committee.
Patient Confidentiality and Consent for Identifiable Material
Dermatology and venereology — patient protection: Clinical images are central to dermatology and venereology, and their publication carries a heightened duty of care. Authors must obtain explicit written informed consent for publication from any patient (or the patient's legal guardian) whose identifiable images — including clinical photographs of the face, distinctive lesions, tattoos, or anogenital regions — or identifiable clinical details appear in the manuscript, and must state that such consent was obtained.
Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, hospital record numbers, and dates, must be omitted from all text, figures, and supplementary material unless the information is essential and the patient (or guardian) has given written consent for publication. Where complete anonymity cannot be guaranteed by the removal of identifying features alone, consent for publication is mandatory.
Given the sensitive and potentially stigmatising nature of sexually transmitted infections and other conditions within the journal's scope, authors and editors exercise the strictest confidentiality. Consent for publication may not be inferred from consent to treatment, and patients have the right to withhold it without prejudice to their care.
Clinical Trial Registration
In accordance with ICMJE policy, clinical trials should be prospectively registered in a publicly accessible, recognised trial registry before the recruitment of the first participant. The trial registration number should be reported in the abstract and at the end of the manuscript.
Disclosure of Funding and Conflicts of Interest
All authors must disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of the work. All sources of financial support for the project, including pharmaceutical or device-industry funding, grants, and the role of any sponsor in the design, conduct, or reporting of the study, must be explicitly disclosed.
Fundamental Errors in Published Works
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in their own published work, it is the author's obligation to notify the journal's editor promptly and to cooperate in the retraction or correction of the article. If the editor learns from a third party that a published work contains a significant error, it is the author's obligation to correct or retract the work or to provide evidence to the editor of its correctness.
5. Duties of the Publisher
Phlox Institute, as the publisher of SJDV, is committed to safeguarding the integrity of the scholarly record and supports the editors in the proper handling of all ethical matters. The publisher recognises and respects the editorial independence of the journal, provides the editorial and technical infrastructure necessary to detect and respond to research and publication misconduct, and assists in communications with other journals, editors, and institutions where this is required by an investigation. The publisher is committed to the permanent preservation and continued availability of published scholarship through reliable digital archiving.
6. Plagiarism Screening
Every submitted manuscript is checked for textual similarity using recognised plagiarism-detection software before peer review and again prior to acceptance. Manuscripts found to contain plagiarised content, or to recycle the authors' own previously published text without acknowledgement (self-plagiarism), are handled in accordance with COPE guidance and may be rejected or, if already published, corrected or retracted.
7. Conflicts of Interest and Competing Interests
All parties involved in the publication process — authors, reviewers, and editors — are required to declare any relationships or interests that could be perceived to bias their work. Declared interests are evaluated transparently and managed so that they do not compromise the integrity or objectivity of the editorial process.
8. Complaints, Appeals, and Allegations of Misconduct
SJDV welcomes substantive appeals against editorial decisions and complaints concerning the conduct of the journal, its staff, editorial board, or reviewers. Appeals should be addressed to the Editor-in-Chief and should set out the grounds clearly. Allegations of research or publication misconduct — including data fabrication or falsification, plagiarism, image manipulation, redundant publication, undisclosed conflicts of interest, and authorship disputes — are investigated rigorously and impartially in accordance with the relevant COPE flowcharts, irrespective of when the concern is raised. Authors are given a fair opportunity to respond, and the confidentiality of all parties is protected throughout the process. The journal will, where appropriate, refer matters to the authors' institutions or to relevant regulatory bodies.
9. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern
SJDV maintains the published record through the timely publication of corrections (errata), retractions, and expressions of concern as warranted. Corrections address material errors that do not invalidate the findings. Retractions are issued where findings are unreliable as a result of misconduct or honest error, where the work constitutes plagiarism or redundant publication, or where unethical research is reported. All such notices are linked to the original article, are clearly labelled, and are made freely available, in keeping with COPE retraction guidelines.
10. Data Sharing and Research Reproducibility
SJDV encourages openness and reproducibility. Authors are encouraged to include a data-availability statement describing whether, where, and under what conditions the data underlying their findings can be accessed, consistent with the protection of patient privacy, applicable law, and ethical constraints.
11. Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Open Access
SJDV is a fully open-access journal. Articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) licence, which permits non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and any derivative work is shared under the same terms. Authors retain copyright of their work. The journal respects the intellectual-property rights of others and expects authors to obtain permission for the reproduction of any previously published material.
12. Advertising and Direct Marketing
Any advertising or direct marketing associated with the journal is kept entirely separate from editorial decision-making and the scholarly content of the journal. Advertisements have no influence on editorial decisions, and the journal reserves the right to decline any advertisement that is incompatible with its scientific and ethical standards.
13. Reporting Ethical Concerns
Concerns regarding any aspect of publication ethics relating to SJDV may be raised in confidence with the editorial office at editor.sjdv@gmail.com. All concerns are taken seriously and handled in accordance with the principles set out in this statement.
Editorial Office
Scientific Journal of Dermatology and Venereology (SJDV)
Phlox Institute: Indonesian Medical Research Organization
Jl. Sirnaraga, 8 Ilir, Ilir Timur III, Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia
E-mail: editor.sjdv@gmail.com
This statement adheres to the COPE Core Practices, the ICMJE Recommendations, and the principles of the World Association of Medical Editors. It is reviewed periodically and may be amended to reflect evolving best practice in publication ethics.