Editorial Policy

Use of AI in Manuscript Preparation

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in manuscript preparation has gained prominence in academic publishing. These tools offer significant advantages, however, the use of AI in manuscript preparation also raises important ethical considerations. This section outlines the ethical guidelines for using AI tools in preparing manuscripts submitting to Barw Medical Journal.

Ethical Considerations

Transparency: Authors must clearly disclose the use of AI tools in the manuscript preparation process. This disclosure should specify the tools used and the extent of their contribution. For instance, if AI was used to generate portions of the text, this should be explicitly stated in the cover letter or in a section entitled “Use of AI” at the end of the manuscript just before references.
Authorship Criteria: According to guidelines such as those from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), all authors must meet the criteria for authorship, which include significant intellectual contribution. Since AI tools do not meet these criteria, they should not be listed as co-authors, even if they contributed to the content generation.
Data Integrity: When AI is used in data analysis, authors must ensure the accuracy and validity of the results. The responsibility for verifying the correctness of the analysis lies with the authors, not the AI tool.
Avoiding Plagiarism: Authors should use AI tools with caution to avoid unintentional plagiarism. AI-generated content may replicate existing literature without proper citation, leading to ethical violations. All AI-assisted content must be reviewed and properly cited where necessary.
Bias and Fairness: AI tools may introduce biases, particularly in literature review and data analysis. Authors should critically evaluate AI outputs and ensure that the tool's inherent biases do not skew the research findings.

Best Practices

Critical Evaluation: Authors should critically assess the output of AI tools rather than accepting it at face value. This includes verifying the accuracy of AI-generated references, checking for plagiarism, and ensuring that the content aligns with the manuscript’s objectives.
Human Oversight: Human oversight is essential throughout the manuscript preparation process. AI should be used as a supplement to, rather than a replacement for, human judgment and expertise.
Regular Updates: Authors should stay informed about the capabilities and limitations of AI tools. Regularly updating their knowledge ensures that they use the latest and most effective tools while remaining aware of potential ethical issues.
Acknowledgment: Proper acknowledgment of AI tools in the manuscript's methodology or “Use of AI” section helps maintain transparency. This practice also contributes to the reproducibility of research by allowing others to understand the tools and methods used.

Authorship and author responsibilities

An individual can be recognized as the author of a manuscript if he/she fulfills a minimum of two of the following criteria:

Preparing the first draft of the study or critically revising it.
Any kind of data acquisition, conception and design of the study, or data-analysis and interpretation.
Final approval of the manuscript before submission. Authors contributing to only one or two of the above aspects do not qualify for authorship.

All contributors who do not meet the required authorship criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgments section.

Authors’ responsibilities

Authors should adhere to the following requirements in order to maintain the quality and trust of the Barw Medical Journal and practice science in accordance with the relevant guidelines and standards:
The manuscript should not be submitted to any other journals at the time of submission or consideration for publication in our journal.
The work must be unique and not have been published in any other journal in any form or in different languages except to expand the work.
Plagiarism, or using others’ texts or speeches without quoting or mentioning them, must be avoided.
Authors must avoid splitting a single study into several parts with the aim of increasing the quantity of submissions and submitting them to several journals or to a single journal over time.
The results should be demonstrated clearly without falsification, fabrication, or improper manipulation of data.
Proper acknowledgments should be made to respect the efforts of all parties who supported or aided in the completion of the work, as well as to respect other works from which a material or procedure was derived in the course of the study.
Authors should be able to provide any documentation or raw data at the time of request in order to verify the validity and originality of the data presented. If the journal detects any misbehavior or misconduct, it has the right to reject the work directly at the time of submission or consideration for publication. If after publication an error is detected by the authors themselves, they should inform the journal and determine the impact of this error on the literature, and a correction or retraction should be requested depending on the size of the impact.

Corresponding author

The corresponding author is the author acting on behalf of the other co-authors, and his/her responsibilities include the following:

Ensuring that the final version of the manuscript is approved by all authors prior to submission and that they are all listed and named correctly on the title page.
Acting as a representative of authors to manage any communication between the journal and co-authors at any stage of the pre- or post-publication process.
Ensuring that the manuscript has been prepared in accordance with the author guidelines and editorial policy of the Barw Medical Journal.
Informing the journal about any issue, unpublished data, supplementary files, and data transparency.
Confirming that the work has not been previously submitted for or is not under consideration by other journals.

Affiliation

Affiliation refers to the institution or organization where the authors currently work or where the work was completed. Authors should ensure the correctness of the provided affiliation; otherwise, addresses cannot be changed following publication.

Changes to authorship

During the submission process, authors should ensure that they provide the correct corresponding author as well as the correct list and order of authors. Changes in authorship, either by adding or re-order authors, making changes in the corresponding author, or making changes in the order of authors, are not permitted following the manuscript acceptance. While authors may be allowed to add or re-orderco-authors at certain points during the revision stage if there is a convincing explanation, all authors must agree on the change to be made and send proper document (Author consent form).

Changing author-name

The journal will publish the names of authors exactly as they are submitted, so authors are strongly encouraged to ensure they provide their names correctly during submission. Changes to an author's name cannot be made after publication.

Authorship issues or disagreement

Any author disagreement or issue that arises during the peer review, acceptance, and publication processes should be dealt with and resolved by the authors. The journal is not supposed to investigate or intervene. If the authors cannot resolve the issue, the journal has the right to withdraw the manuscript without any compensation.

Disclosures and declarations

Authors should provide information about the authors contribution, funding source of the work, financial interest (if any), ethical approval of the study by a specific and reliable ethics committee, patient consent (if humans participated in the research), data availability statement, conflict of interest (if any), and a data transparency statement. All these statements should be written before the reference section of the manuscript under the heading " Declarations."

Competing Interests

Authors are supposed to reveal any interests related to the work submitted for publication. Disclosure of interests aims to create a transparent and detailed process that allows readers to make their own decisions about the existence of any potential bias. This is not to consider that financial relationships with any party that sponsored the work are discouraged. Interests that are requested to be considered mainly include the following:

Funding and Financial interests: The agencies, companies, organizations, and any other parties that support the work or may profit or lose financially should be clearly stated in the manuscript. In addition, no intervention in data analysis or data generation by sponsors should be ensured.
Employment: Any current or expected employment with an organization that may experience financial gains or losses due to the publication of the manuscript should be disclosed within the manuscript.
Non-financial interests: Authors are required to disclose any non-financial interests that could potentially introduce bias to the work submitted for publication. These interests may include personal relationships, personal beliefs, professional affiliations, serving on editorial or advisory boards, holding positions on boards of directors, engaging in educational writing or consulting, or any other relevant non-financial associations.

Confidentiality

All communication between the authors and the journal, such as correspondence with Editors-in-Chief and reports from reviewers, must be treated as confidential until consent is obtained from the journal to share or re-use it.

Citation ethics

In each type of study (research articles and non-research articles), there must be an appropriate citation and reference to the literature used to reinforce the claims made. Unnecessary and excessive self-citation, grouping of several authors to make citations for each other or increase the number of ineligible citations, or any other form of citation manipulation is strictly prohibited and unacceptable by the Barw Medical Journal. Any kind of such attribute can result in a request for edition or even rejection. Also, authors are encouraged to inform the journal when reviewers request such a practice.

In the process of citation during manuscript preparation, authors should adhere to the following guidelines:

There must be a reference(s) and in-text citation for any external statement not based on the author's ideas and findings.
Whenever authors use a particular content or statement, they should cite the original studies or articles where the finding was presented rather than the works that cited the original work.
Authors must properly cite other works and ensure that the cited work clearly supports the claim made or that each statement is attributed to the appropriate study. Authors must not cite haphazardly or sources that they have not read.
Authors must avoid citing works unrelated to the field or subject of the work.
Authors should gently cite and avoid using an excessive number of references to support a claim.
Authors should avoid citing works published in predatory journals and non-peer-reviewed materials.

Predatory journals/publishers

As the Barw Medical Journal, we strongly encourage the authors and scholars to be aware of the predatory publications and avoid citing them, using any material from them as a reference, or relying on their content as scientific. These journals/publishers do not adhere to the standard process of peer-review and their aim is to attract the attention of scholars mostly by sending spam emails offering rapid publications and pretending that they are highly impacted. To summarize, they simply engage in illegal activity while diverting attention away from the correct and standard scientific path.

It is our policy to search the reference list of any work submitted to the journal to ensure that no content from predatory journals is cited or used as a reference or scientific content. When such an attribution is discovered, authors will be notified and asked to replace the reference (s) with a correct and eligible one.

To better recognize and find the predatory journals/publishers the following sources can be used:

Article Withdrawal

The process of article withdrawal is exclusively applicable to in-press articles, which are preliminary versions of articles. These articles may contain errors or might have been unintentionally submitted more than once. In rarer instances, they may breach professional ethical codes like submissions more than once, false authorship claims, plagiarism, deceptive data usage, and similar infractions. Withdrawn is the removal of the article's content (both HTML and PDF formats) and replacing it with an HTML page or PDF, simply indicating that the article has been withdrawn with a link clarifying the reason.

Retracting article

Article retraction is employed when there are contraventions of professional ethical codes like submissions more than once, false authorship claims, plagiarism, deceptive data use, or similar transgressions. Occasionally, retractions are also used to rectify submission or publication errors. A retraction caption titled "Retraction: [article title]," with the signature of the authors and/or the editor, is released in a following issue of the journal. In the electronic version, the original article link is maintained. The online version is started by a screen indicating retraction note. This screen is where the link directs the reader, who can then access the article. The original article remains unchanged, but there will be a watermark on each page of the PDF indicating that it has been "retracted", and The HTML version of the paper is deleted.

Article removal and replacement

In very few numbers of cases, it may become mandatory to exclude an article from the online database. This action will be taken only when the article is clearly libellous, transgressing on others legal rights, subject to a court order, or poses a serious health risk either currently or potentially. In such instances, while the metadata including Authors and title will be retained, the content of the article will be replaced with a screen indicating the removal of the article due to legal reasons. However, in situations where the original article could pose a significant health risk, the authors of the original article may choose to retract the flawed version and replace it with a corrected one. The steps of retraction will be followed in these cases, with the exception that a link to the corrected and republished article, along with a document history, are being added.

Process of Correction in Barw Medical Journal

Errors Identification

Detection: Errors in published articles can be identified by authors, readers, or the editorial team. These errors can range from minor typographical mistakes to more serious issues such as errors in data interpretation or methodology.
Notification: Once an error is identified, the authors or readers detecting the error are encouraged to notify or contact the editorial team of the Barw Medical Journal to take proper action aiming at maintaining the integrity of the scientific record.

Assessment

Evaluation by Editorial Team: The editorial team evaluates the reported error to determine its nature and severity. The team considers whether the error affects the overall findings or conclusions of the article.
Consultation with Authors: The authors of the article are consulted to provide their perspective on the identified error. This step helps clarify the context and implications of the error.

Decision on Type of Correction

Minor Corrections: For minor errors that do not affect the scientific validity of the artcile, the journal may issue a corrigendum (correction notice) without requiring any substantive changes to the article.
Major Corrections: If the error is significant enough to affect the conclusions of the paper, but not to the extent that a retraction is warranted, the journal may require a more extensive correction. This may involve rewriting parts of the article, reanalyzing data, or issuing an erratum (formal correction).

Issuance of Correction

Correction Notice: A correction notice is prepared by the editorial team, often in consultation with the authors. This notice is typically published in a subsequent issue of the journal and is clearly linked to the original article.
Details of Correction: The correction notice provides a clear explanation of the error, the correct information, and how the error was identified. It may also include an updated version of the affected part of the article (e.g., a corrected table or figure).
Indexing and Linking: The article is updated online with a link to the correction notice to ensure that future citations are aware of the correction.

Transparency and Documentation

Record Keeping: All corrections are documented by the journal, ensuring transparency and accountability. The corrected article and the original error are both part of the academic record.
Notification to Readers: Depending on the significance of the correction, the journal may directly notify subscribers or readers who have cited the affected article.

Retraction Policy of Barw Medical Journal

At Barw Medical Journal, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards of integrity in academic publishing. Our retraction policy is designed to address instances where published work is found to be significantly flawed, either due to honest error, research misconduct, or other serious issues that compromise the reliability of the findings.

Grounds for Retraction

Articles may be retracted for the following reasons:

Research Misconduct: This includes but is not limited to data fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, authorship dispute, or unethical research practices.
Honest Errors: Significant mistakes in data analysis, methodology, or interpretation that render the findings unreliable.
Duplicate Publication: When the same research findings are published in more than one journal without proper cross-referencing or permission.
Ethical Issues: Infringements of ethical standards, particularly concerning the treatment of research subjects or non-disclosure of conflicts of interest.

Retraction Procedure

Initiation of Retraction: Retractions can be initiated by the authors, journal editors, or third parties such as readers or institutions. All retraction requests must be supported by substantive evidence.
Investigation: Before issuing a retraction, the journal conducts a detailed investigation, often involving input from the original peer reviewers, the authors, and possibly the authors' institutions or other relevant bodies. Once the investigation is completed and the journal decides that retraction is necessary, the decision moves toward finalization.
Decision Making: The final decision to retract an article will be made by the editor, typically in consultation with the editorial board and/or external experts. The decision will be based on the evidence and the severity of the issues identified.

Retraction Notice

Publication of Notice: If a decision to retract is made, a retraction notice will be published in the journal. This notice will be clearly labeled as a retraction and will be linked to the original article in all its formats (e.g., abstract, full text, PDF).
Content of Notice: The retraction notice will include the reason(s) for the retraction, who initiated the retraction, and a full citation of the original article. It will also state whether the retraction was due to research misconduct, error, or other issues.
Accessibility: Once the retraction notice is published, it becomes a permanent part of the scientific record. The original article will not be removed from the journal’s website, but it will be marked as retracted to ensure that readers know its status.

Post-Retraction Actions

Related Research: If the validity of the original article's findings impacts subsequent work, the journal may issue additional notices or corrections to alert the academic community.
Author Notifications: Authors of retracted articles will be notified in advance of the publication of the retraction notice and will have an opportunity to respond or provide additional context.

Transparency and Record-Keeping

All retraction decisions and procedures will be documented and archived to maintain transparency. This record will be available to readers, and the journal will cooperate with any institutional investigations related to the retraction.

Appeals Process

Authors who believe their article has been unfairly retracted may appeal the decision. Appeals must be submitted in writing to the editor within 30 days of the retraction notice. The editorial board will review the appeal and make a final decision. However, such appeals must occur before the retraction notice is finalized. If the appeal is successful, the retraction may be reversed, but this is uncommon. This policy is aligned with the guidelines set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) to ensure that all retractions are handled in a fair, transparent, and consistent manner.

Understand the Reason for Retraction

Review the Retraction Notice: Authors of the retracted article should carefully examine the retraction notice issued by the journal to understand the specific reasons for the retraction. This will help in preparing a relevant and focused appeal.

Prepare Supporting Evidence

Document Collection: Authors should compile all relevant documents, data, and correspondence that support their case. This might include raw data, original analyses, ethical approvals, or any other material that addresses the issues raised in the retraction notice.
Address the Concerns: Authors are requested to prepare a detailed explanation addressing each point mentioned in the retraction notice. If the retraction was due to an error or misunderstanding, they must provide clear evidence showing why the retraction is unwarranted.

Draft a Formal Appeal Letter

Structure the Appeal: Authors should write a formal letter to the journal’s editor-in-chief. The letter should include:

Introduction: Briefly state the purpose of the letter, mentioning the retracted article's title, authors, and publication date.
Summary of Issues: Summarize the issues that led to the retraction as outlined by the journal.
Counterarguments: Present the evidence and arguments against the retraction decision, addressing each issue specifically.
Conclusion: Politely request the journal to reconsider the retraction based on the evidence provided. Authors may also request further discussions or the involvement of an independent review board if appropriate.

Submit the Appeal

Send the Appeal: Authors can submit the appeal letter along with all supporting documents to the journal’s editorial office. This is typically done via email or through the journal’s manuscript submission system.
Acknowledge Receipt: Authors can request confirmation of receipt of the appeal from the editorial office to ensure that their appeal is being processed.

Await Response

Editorial Review: The editorial team will review the appeal, which may involve further consultations with peer reviewers, the editorial board, or independent experts.
Outcome: The journal will communicate its final decision to the authors in writing. If the appeal is successful, the journal may issue a notice restoring the article or amending the original retraction notice.

Language

Manuscripts submitted to the journal are required to be exclusively in the English language, strictly adhere to proper spelling and grammar, and refrain from evident linguistic errors to prevent Desk Rejection. In the event that researchers believe their manuscript requires linguistic revision, our journal suggests seeking Language Editing Service from the Board of Linguistic Experts prior to submitting the manuscript for publication evaluation. The request can be processed through this email: [email protected]

At the time the authors get the language editing service from other third parties, they should provide the language certification confirming the edition by a reliable language-service company or institution.

Inclusive Language

Inclusive language recognizes and respects diversity, considers the unique qualities of all individuals, and strives for fairness. It is crucial to employ inclusive and respectful language that is free from prejudice towards any individual, while being particularly mindful of avoiding language that portrays or characterizes individuals negatively based on age, gender, sexual orientation, culture, race, ethnicity, disability, neurodiversity, socioeconomic status, or health condition. Authors are advised to maintain impartiality and refrain from incorporating bias, stereotypes, slang, slurs, references to dominant culture, or cultural assumptions in their writing. It is recommended to avoid using descriptors related to personal attributes unless they hold scientific or clinical relevance that can be supported by evidence. Furthermore, when applicable, authors should provide clarification on how terms and definitions utilized in the supporting evidence justify the use of specific terminology.

Using capital letters for racial and ethnic terms

In order to maintain consistency with the capitalization conventions used for other racial and ethnic categories, it is necessary to designate racial and ethnic groups with proper nouns and capitalize them accordingly. Hence, it is appropriate to capitalize terms such as "Black," "White," and "Brown", Asian , European, African, Hispanic etc., when used in a racial or ethnic context.

Religious, cultural, and political beliefs

It is imperative to accurately portray religious, cultural and political beliefs, organizations, and practices in a formal manner. Statements and claims regarding religion, culture and politics should be based on factual information and supported by evidence from reliable sources.

Copyright

To facilitate the publication and widespread dissemination of research articles, it is essential for the Barw medical Journal to obtain specific publishing rights from authors. These rights are established through a formal publishing agreement between the journal and the respective authors. In the case of open-access articles, authors grant the Barw medical journal exclusive rights to their work when they select a CC BY-NC-ND end-user license. Conversely, authors retain non-exclusive rights when they choose a CC BY end-user license. In the context of articles published under the subscription mode, it is customary for authors to transfer the copyright of their work to the Barw medical journal.

Irrespective of the decision to opt for open access or subscription mode with the Barw medical journal, authors are bestowed with a range of the same rights as per our publishing agreement, which uphold their imperative to distribute, disseminate, and optimize the influence of their research. Regardless of the mode of publication, the Barw medical journal is dedicated to safeguarding and upholding the integrity of authors' contributions and their standing. We treat accusations of infringement, plagiarism, ethical conflicts, and fraud with the utmost gravity.

Author rights

Author rights in the Barw medical journal	Open Access Publication
Maintaining ownership of patent and trademark rights	Available
Maintaining unrestricted rights to utilize their research data without any limitations.	Available
Receiving appropriate recognition and acknowledgment for their published work.	Available
Accessibility to reuse research material in new projects with no need for permission or financial compensation, while ensuring referencing the original article. This includes the following scenarios: – expanding an article into a book-length publication. – Incorporating an article into a upcoming compilation of their projects. – Reusing portions, figures, and tables from the original article in other works.	Available
Using and sharing their research or works for scholarly purposes with proper acknowledgment of the original article. The following permissions apply: – Classroom teaching, authors may utilize electronic and hard copies of the article for distribution. – When being a speaker at a conference, authors can represent the article and provide copies to attendees. – Authors may share the article by email, to their students and colleagues for personal or scientific use. – Sharing and publicizing the article though Share Links is permitted, granting free access for 50 days to anyone without the need for signup or registration. – Authors may include the article in their thesis or dissertation, as long as it is not commercially published. – Privately sharing copies of the article with a work group based on invitation-only in commercial sites, after having a hosting agreement by the publisher with such sites.	Available
Sharing the preprint of their work publicly on any website or repository at their discretion, without any restrictions or limitations.	Available
Sharing the accepted manuscript of their work publicly on non-commercial sites.	Available
Make the final published article accessible to the public for sharing purposes.	Available
Copyright retaining	Available

Institution rights (Authors’ institutions)

Institution rights in the Barw medical journal	Open Access Publication
Copies can be distributed in both electronic and hard copy formats for the purpose of classroom teaching and scientific training.	Available
Materials can be incorporated into the coursework and awareness programs that are presented within the institution.	Available
Articles can be used for grant funding, allowing researchers to utilize their published work to support their funding proposals.	Available
Theses and dissertations containing final version of published articles as integral components of the formal submission may be disseminated publicly by the awarding institution, accompanied by DOI links belonging to the respective formal publication.	Available