Ethical Principles

Research and Practice in Couple Therapy is committed to maintaining the highest ethical standards in all stages of the editorial and publication process. The journal adheres to the principles and best practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). We expect all authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members to comply with these ethical principles to promote integrity, transparency, and accountability in academic publishing.

This document outlines the journal’s expectations and responsibilities related to authorship, plagiarism, data integrity, conflict of interest, peer review ethics, editorial responsibilities, and handling of misconduct.

1. Ethical Responsibilities of Authors

Authors submitting manuscripts to the journal must ensure:

  • Originality: Submitted manuscripts must be original and not under consideration elsewhere. Authors must not engage in plagiarism, duplicate publication, or text recycling. Any overlapping content must be properly cited and justified.

  • Authorship Criteria: All listed authors must have made substantial contributions to the research. This includes contributions to conception/design, data collection or analysis, manuscript drafting, and final approval. Contributors not meeting authorship criteria should be acknowledged separately.

  • Acknowledgment of Sources: Authors must appropriately cite all ideas, findings, or content derived from others, including previously published work of their own (self-citation must be limited and justified).

  • Data Transparency: Authors must accurately present their data and ensure its integrity. Data manipulation, selective reporting, or fabrication are strictly prohibited. Authors should retain raw data and be prepared to share it upon request.

  • Ethical Approval: Research involving human participants (including therapy clients) must adhere to ethical guidelines such as the Declaration of Helsinki and must have prior approval from a recognized institutional ethics committee. Participants must have provided informed consent.

  • Conflicts of Interest: Authors are required to disclose all financial, personal, or institutional conflicts of interest that may influence their research or interpretation of results.

  • Funding Disclosure: All sources of research funding must be declared in the manuscript.

  • Corrections and Retractions: If authors discover a significant error after publication, they must promptly notify the editor and cooperate in issuing corrections or retractions.

2. Ethical Responsibilities of Reviewers

Reviewers play a critical role in maintaining the integrity of the scholarly record and must:

  • Confidentiality: Treat all manuscripts as confidential documents. They must not share, discuss, or use the content for personal benefit.

  • Objectivity: Provide fair, unbiased, and constructive feedback. Criticism should be objective, not personal. If a reviewer feels unqualified or cannot review promptly, they must decline the invitation.

  • Conflict of Interest: Reviewers must disclose any potential conflicts of interest (e.g., financial, institutional, personal) and decline to review if they cannot maintain impartiality.

  • Acknowledgment of Sources: Reviewers should identify relevant work not cited by the authors and report any suspected ethical breaches to the editor (e.g., plagiarism, duplicate submission, data falsification).

3. Ethical Responsibilities of Editors and Editorial Board Members

The editorial team is responsible for upholding the integrity and quality of the publication process. Editors must:

  • Editorial Independence: Make editorial decisions based solely on academic merit, originality, clarity, and relevance to the journal’s scope, without discrimination based on race, gender, nationality, institutional affiliation, or political/religious beliefs.

  • Fair Decision-Making: Ensure all submissions are evaluated in a fair and timely manner. Editors must not exploit their position for personal gain or influence.

  • Peer-Review Integrity: Maintain a double-blind review system, ensuring confidentiality and neutrality throughout the process.

  • Confidentiality: Editors must protect the confidentiality of all submitted material and correspondence. Manuscripts should not be discussed with others except those involved in the review and publication process.

  • Conflict of Interest: Editors must recuse themselves from handling a manuscript if they have a conflict of interest with any of the authors or content.

  • Handling Misconduct: Editors are obligated to investigate allegations of research or publication misconduct and take corrective actions such as issuing corrections, retractions, or expressions of concern when warranted.

4. Plagiarism and Academic Misconduct

The journal has zero tolerance for plagiarism, data fabrication, falsification, duplicate publication, or any form of academic misconduct.

  • Plagiarism Detection: All submitted manuscripts are screened using iThenticate plagiarism detection software. Manuscripts with significant overlap (above acceptable thresholds) will be rejected or returned for revision.

  • Duplicate Submission: Manuscripts must not be submitted to multiple journals concurrently. If discovered, the submission will be withdrawn, and the author may be blacklisted.

  • Sanctions: Confirmed cases of misconduct may result in rejection, retraction of published articles, notification to the author's institution, and a permanent ban from future submissions.

5. Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure

All stakeholders must transparently disclose any relationships or circumstances that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work:

  • Authors must declare all sources of funding, affiliations, consultancies, or financial interests.

  • Reviewers must recuse themselves from evaluating work where there is a conflict.

  • Editors must avoid involvement in decisions where conflicts exist and must disclose relationships with authors or institutions.

Disclosure statements will be published within accepted articles when relevant.

6. Corrections, Retractions, and Expressions of Concern

If serious errors or ethical issues are discovered post-publication:

  • Corrections will be issued when errors do not invalidate the findings but need clarification.

  • Retractions will be published in cases of data fabrication, plagiarism, or unethical research.

  • Expressions of Concern may be issued if an investigation is underway, pending final outcomes.

All corrections and retractions will be linked to the original article and clearly labeled.

7. Ethical Oversight and Compliance

The journal reserves the right to:

  • Refer suspected ethical violations to institutional review boards or funding agencies.

  • Update this policy regularly to reflect emerging standards and best practices.

  • Provide training and support to authors and reviewers on publication ethics.

For unresolved ethical issues, the journal follows the recommendations and flowcharts issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Transparency Statement on the Use of Artificial Intelligence

In light of the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in academic writing, translation, data analysis, and editorial processes, our journal is committed to ensuring full transparency and ethical responsibility in the use of such technologies throughout the submission, peer review, and publication processes.

To uphold the highest standards of academic integrity and align with the recommendations of the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), our journal has adopted the following principles regarding the use of AI:

  1. Transparent and Responsible Use: Authors are required to clearly disclose any use of AI tools—such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, DeepL, or others—at any stage of manuscript preparation (e.g., literature review, results description, discussion writing, language editing, or translation). This disclosure should appear in the acknowledgments section or a footnote on the title page.

  2. AI Tools Cannot Be Authors: According to the WAME guidelines, AI tools cannot be credited as authors of scientific manuscripts. These tools do not meet authorship criteria because they lack legal responsibility and the ability to consent to publication or accountability for the content.

  3. Human Oversight and Validation: All AI-generated content must be critically reviewed, edited, and validated by human authors. The final responsibility for the accuracy, coherence, and integrity of the manuscript lies solely with the human contributors.

  4. Use in Peer Review: Peer reviewers using AI tools to assist with manuscript evaluation must ensure they do not share confidential information with such tools. Any AI use during review must comply with confidentiality and data protection standards.

  5. Misuse and Ethical Violations: The inappropriate use of AI—such as generating fabricated content, falsifying data, or committing plagiarism—will be treated as a serious ethical violation and subject to disciplinary action in accordance with publication ethics.

  6. Policy Review and Updates: This policy will be reviewed regularly in response to evolving AI technologies and ethical considerations. Any updates will be published on the journal’s official website.

Our journal is committed to transparency, integrity, and accountability in scientific publishing. We fully adhere to the WAME statement entitled “Recommendations on Chatbots and Generative Artificial Intelligence in Relation to Scholarly Publications.”

For the complete text of WAME’s recommendations, please visit:
https://wame.org/page3.php?id=106